Making Time to Rest

EP211: The holiday season can be extra crazy for homeschooling families. But along with the preparations and festivities, do you crave a little time to pause and rest?

You might feel like it’s not even possible! So listen in as Jean shares a simple grounding technique that can help you feel calm and rejuvenated, no matter how hectic your schedule is.

This is a short, simple activity that uses the five senses to anchor you in the present moment.

You might even share this practical tool with your children so you can help your entire family navigate through life’s busiest seasons.

Find the Show Notes here  https://artofhomeschooling.com/episode211/

Join the Inspired at Home Community

Chapters

• 0:40 You might feel like you've got no time to rest
• 2:11 What is rest?
• 3:41 The 5-4-3-2-1 exercise
• 7:23 Making time to rest doesn't have to be a big project

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

You're listening to the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we help parents cultivate creativity and connection at home. I'm your host, jean Miller, and here on this podcast you'll find stories and inspiration to bring you the confidence you need to make homeschooling work for your family. Let's begin. When you hear the phrase making time to rest, what comes to mind? Are you thinking, no way, I've got no time for that? Or perhaps, who are you kidding? Rest is not on the calendar this month. Well, my friend, I'm here today to flip the script on your perception of rest and give you one concrete technique that just might help you create some intentional moments amidst all that you have going on, so that you can clear some of that mental clutter and arrive at a place of being present in the moment. Hello, it's Jean here and welcome to this short and sweet episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast, all about making time to rest. It's mid-December as I'm recording this and I want to help you reframe the idea of rest so that you can find ways to fit it into your days, no matter what else you have going on. I want to help you find little pockets of time for rest, rather than thinking of rest as a project with a capital P Ways to slow down your thoughts and give your mind a little moment of ease, because once our mind slows down, then our body can, too, super quick. Here is a definition of the verb to rest it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, to refresh oneself, to recover strength. I love that idea of aspiring to these states of mind. Relax, refresh, recover, rejuvenate, replenish After all, those are things we crave when we get super busy or feel stressed, while at the same time thinking they're impossible. Right? We want to feel, inwardly, quiet and composed, no matter what. I have a refrigerator magnet that I got when my kiddos were little still on my refrigerator to this day, and it reads peace. It does not mean to be in a place with no noise or chaos, but to be in the midst of the chaos and still be calm in your heart. And that's what I want for you, my friend to be calm in your heart, no matter what's going on around you, to be able to relax your mind, feel your body and open your heart. But how do we do that? I've found that I need some sort of specific, concrete technique that I can do privately, inwardly, that can really help when I'm feeling a moment of stress. So today I want to offer you a technique that you can use this holiday season. You can even try it today while listening to this podcast, one that you can teach to your kiddos and even do with them. It's called the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise. It's a grounding technique that can help you manage anxiety and stress.

Speaker 1: 4:06

The way it works is we use the five senses to focus on the present moment and calm our swirling thoughts. You name things that you can see, touch, hear, smell and taste. Here's how to do it. We start with five. Name five things you can see, four. Focus on four things you can feel, three. Name three things you can hear, two. Notice two things you can smell and one. Focus on one thing you can taste. So if I were going to do this right now, right this minute, here's what that would sound like. So I'm going to name five things I can see.

Speaker 1: 4:51

I can see the green bins that I keep homeschooling books in. I can see the purple rug on the floor. I can see my blue walls. I can see a book with a purple heading on it and I can see a basket of colorful yarn balls. Those are five things I can see.

Speaker 1: 5:08

Now, four things I can feel. I can feel the soft blanket on my lap. I can feel my warm slippers on my feet. I can feel my scarf that is woven. I can feel the wooden desk that I'm sitting at. That's four things. I can feel Three things I can hear. I can hear the whoosh of air coming from the heater. I can hear the wind outside and I can hear this tick, tick, ticking sound of this what would you call it humidifier in the other room. Two things that I can smell. I can smell my sweet tea that is sitting in front of me and I can smell the heat, the heated air coming from the heater. And one thing I can taste. I can taste my maple syrup sweetened tea that I'm drinking right now. I had to take a sip just to taste it.

Speaker 1: 6:04

All right, I invite you to try it. You could even pause this episode and try the exercise for yourself. If you want, write this very minute 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. When you're finished, take a deep breath and notice how the present moment feels different than it did before you did this exercise. In my experience, before doing the exercise, I usually have all sorts of swirling thoughts racing around in my mind, usually about something that's already happened in the past I can't change it right or something off in the future that hasn't even happened yet, and this little activity can help bring us back to the present so that we can be here and now and we can rest and relax into the moment. I've found that this 5-4-3-2-1 exercise can help with reducing anxiety, improving mindfulness, regulating emotions, even helping us have more of an experience of equanimity, relieving stress and even improving concentration. So there you have it A simple technique for making time to rest this holiday season or whenever you have a busy season.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Making time to rest does not have to be a big project. That's the main message I want you to get today. We just need to be intentional about practicing rest as a state of mind so that we can appreciate all the moments with our loved ones, the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm down for all of it. How about you? Happy holidays to you and your family. The podcast will be on winter break for the next couple of weeks, so I will see you back here in the new year, sending love and hugs from my house to yours. That's all for today, my friend, but here's what I want you to remember Rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. Thanks so much for listening listening and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast.