The Lawyer Life Podcast

Doing Less Without Feeling Less Than -- Rest as Rebellion

• Autumn Noble • Season 2 • Episode 61

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If you feel guilty when you slow down—or struggle to rest without spiraling into self-doubt—you are not alone. In this episode, we go deeper into the emotional and nervous system patterns that keep us tethered to constant busyness, even when we know we need a break. 

This isn’t about adding another productivity hack to your routine. It’s about creating space on purpose—so you can start meeting yourself with more softness, stillness, and truth. 

Together, we’ll explore: 

  • Why the guilt we feel around rest is really about identity
  • How internalized pressure to be “useful” leads to burnout—even with a cleared schedule
  • What it means to rest without earning it—and why that’s a radical act
  • Somatic tools and practices to help you build tolerance for stillness
  • Simple prompts to explore the discomfort that surfaces when you finally stop

You don’t have to keep proving your worth through overwork. Peace begins not when the to-do list is done—but when you remember that you were already enough before you did anything at all.
 
✨ This episode is your invitation to slow down, breathe, and practice rest as an act of self-trust.
 

Free coaching consult/coffee and more!: https://autumnnoble.as.me

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You are listening to the Lawyer Life Podcast, episode number 61, Doing Less Without Feeling Less Than.

 

Hey, my friends, welcome back to the Lawyer Life podcast. In our episode last week, we talked about how the guilt that we feel around rest isn't actually about what's on our to-do list. It's about how our nervous system is working and the stories that we carry with us. It's about how we think we're supposed to be and why we think that.

 

Last week we talked about the societal and cultural identities that we carry around with us about being the achiever, the helper, the always available person on call.

 

And when we pause, that identity feels threatened. And so here comes all of the guilt and wonderful feelings that go along with it. Today, we're taking this a little bit deeper into how we can begin moving from guilt into peace.

 

am not going to be teaching you more productivity hacks.

 

What I am teaching you is that in order to move away from the guilt, we have to access more truth, more stillness, and a little bit of softness towards ourself.

 

I want to start with the discussion around the lie of constant vigilance.

 

So let's start with some hard truth. A lot of us keep our calendars really full, not because we have to.

 

but because we're afraid of what will surface if we stop. And what I mean is what will surface mentally and emotionally if our calendars are a little bit more open. It's that fear of being seen as lazy, of not being valuable, or falling behind, or doing less than what we perceive others around us are doing. So instead, we stay busy. We stay overbooked. We stay overcommitted.

 

But here is the problem that we bump into again and again and again. You can cut back your hours. You can delegate more. You can even go on vacation and still burn out. Because burnout, it's not just about your schedule.

 

It's about your nervous system never getting permission to turn off the internal pressure to be useful, to be producing. That internal vigilance, the compulsion to always be on is what needs the healing.

 

That is why so many of us when we are burnt out and then we go and actually take time, we don't feel any better. And a lot of that comes back to the fact that we never really let our nervous system turn off and rest because we've got all these judgments and shame and guilt that come up when we try to do that. That's what we have to fix.

 

So one of the solutions that I want to encourage you to play around with today is creating more spaciousness on purpose and intentionally. How to leave time unscheduled and just sit with it.

 

As I even say that, I am confident that some of you are hearing that and thinking, that's ridiculous. I'm not going to do that. And if that is you, I want you to do a little journal prompt right now and ask yourself, what am I afraid will happen if I rest? If I have an afternoon where I have nothing scheduled? What belief is making me feel like I'm falling behind when I'm not constantly acting and doing and producing?

 

Then I want you to ask yourself and consider what if just once a week you left space on your calendar on purpose. Not to fill it in later,

 

not to recover from a sprint or overwork, But simply to practice being with yourself as you are and not doing anything.

 

Stillness like that will likely feel uncomfortable at first.

 

There is something there that needs your attention, that needs to be adjusted because that is not healthy. If we can't sit still and do nothing and be okay with that, that discomfort is a huge sign that there is work there for you to do. Similarly, if the idea of meditating and sitting still for five minutes makes your skin crawl, you need this work. And this is an exploration that is gonna be more than worth your time.

 

But that initial discomfort of sitting still or meditating or just being with yourself, it doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong. It means that you are meeting parts of yourself that don't often get airtime or attention when you're constantly rushing around.

 

This is your opportunity to see what is it that comes up for me along with those emotions, along with that discomfort that makes it hard for me to rest, that makes me judge myself when I'm taking a rest. And really write that down and connect with that and give yourself an opportunity to kind of look underneath the hood of your brain and see what the heck is going on with there, it's up there, that it's so hard for me just to sit here and be with myself.

 

want to offer you a potentially interesting way of reframing rest as an act of rebellion. We live in a culture where we worship the hustle, where burnout is kind of a badge of honor and exhaustion is kind of this humble brag or a mark of your importance. So when you rest without earning it, without apologizing for it, without explaining it,

 

You're not being lazy, you're being radical.

 

You're choosing to believe your body, to listen to your emotions, to hear that whisper that's telling you, hey, I need a break.

 

You are choosing to believe that you deserve self-care and joy, not just recovery. There's a difference.

 

That rebellious act stands up and says, you know, rest is not a reward, it's a right, and I'm going to take it. And pleasure and enjoyment and peace is not a distraction. It's a valid reason to be alive. Otherwise, what are we sprinting so hard for? If we're not going to allow ourselves space to enjoy it, to breathe at any point during this marathon, why are we running it?

 

So I invite you to engage in a rebellious act of rest and an indulgent break. Let yourself want that peace. Let yourself want that enjoyment and happiness. Let yourself experience that rest without waiting for permission or without feeling the need to explain it.

 

So let's talk about how we actually make this happen and how we can practice this kind of rest because we're not good at it. OK, so let's just put that out there out of the gate. We're not going to be good at it. It's going to be really hard. It's going to be really uncomfortable. We're going to judge ourselves the whole way. That's OK. This is a new muscle that has atrophied and we're learning how to rebuild it.

 

And this is more than just bubble baths and Netflix, although those are valid as well. But I'm talking about rest that actually re-regulates your nervous system so that we get better at it and we don't feel so uncomfortable taking a breath.

 

This is rest that's intended to build your tolerance for stillness. So here are a few practices that can support that. Breath work, first and foremost.

 

Breath work is very easy and accessible and you can do it in your office without any need for tools. Try to take five deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. You might consider lengthening those breaths with a simple inhale of four counts, holding at the top, exhaling of four counts and holding at the bottom. In doing that for five breaths can dramatically change how your nervous system is operating and instill

 

a new sense of calm. Second, grounding exercises.

 

Place your hands on your heart or on your stomach. Feel your feet in this space and tell yourself, I am safe to slow down. And do this maybe while you're engaging in some breath work, but really connecting with yourself in this here and now moment.

 

Oftentimes when we are in that marathon and in that sprint, our brains are in one place and our bodies in another place. And when we ground in or engage in breath work, it brings all those parts of ourselves back together and really connects us with this bigger picture. So really grounding in and being present in the here and now and what you're physically experiencing and feeling that connection to the earth or the floor or the chair beneath you and just breathing into that moment.

 

Three, meditation. I'll say it till I'm blue in the face, but I offer five minute meditations for a reason because they have been scientifically proven to help you reset, to train your nervous system to slow down. Even just two minutes of silence can help. If true meditation is not your jam, take two minutes and just scan your body and notice where you feel tight or where you feel tense. Simply doing that is another way to be mindful.

 

to pay attention, which is really what meditation is all about. It doesn't have to be fancy or formal or overly structured, but simply closing your eyes and checking in with all parts of your body. Just noticing what's there is a meditation in and of itself.

 

four sound healing or ambient music. I am a certified sound healer as well, and so I'm a firm believer in the power of sound to re-regulate our nervous system and to allow energy blocks to open. If you run a simple Google search of Hertz levels or sounds for healing or focus or meditation,

 

you will find a world of knowledge that can lead you to sound vibrations that can shift your nervous system.

 

It's a rabbit hole that I really encourage you going down. The physics and the science behind it are fascinating. But a simple way to access this in a moment in your office is to go on to your music platform and simply search for Hertz aligning music or healing music or binaural beats and then put your earbuds in and engage in some simple breathing. But there are certain levels of sound and certain frequencies that have been shown

 

to engage healing and support rest and kind of rewiring your brain. And so I encourage you to do some searching on the internet and try and find those.

 

whatever practice resonates with you, I would invite you to ritualize it and make it something that is as enjoyable as possible.

 

Light a candle or use a room spray or an essential oil. Put your phone away, step away from your desk a little bit and just sit in that discomfort and let it pass. That is the muscle that we're trying to build. Out of the gate, it's not going to feel good. We're going to really struggle,

 

But the longer you can sit there and allow it to pass and move through you, the better you will get at not letting it disturb you and push you into another round of overworking. Instead,

 

those voices, that judgment, that shame, they become less powerful and it's harder for it to kind of knock us out of our flow and out of our peaceful state. But we've got to start practicing and getting better at it knowing that just like anything like lifting weights, it's going to be really hard those first couple of days, but you'll get better at it as you get stronger.

 

In closing today, if there's one thing I want you to take from this, it's that you don't need better time management. You need to heal the parts of you that believe you have to earn your worth, that you're only valuable if you're producing and checking everything off of your to-do list. And that takes practice.

 

It also takes a lot of self-compassion and a new relationship with rest.

 

Because I promise you the peace and restoration that we are all craving, it's not found at the end of that to-do list and checking everything off. Your patterns, your nasty judgmental thoughts are still going to be there when that to-do list is done. That peace,

 

that we're all seeking is found in remembering that you already are enough before you did anything today. And by engaging in this intentional practice of rest and letting that discomfort come up, you're able to reconnect with that innate value in yourself and allow yourself to respect that in that space, in that rest without having the need or feeling the need to do more, to be more valuable because that is a fallacy.

 

So here's the challenge that I invite you all to engage in this week.

 

It's an invitation to try something brave. And that is leave one pocket of fully unscheduled time in your calendar. No errands, no emails, no chores. And just notice what comes up for you. What do you feel? What are the thoughts? You don't have to fix any of it. For now, it's just about witnessing it.

 

And that's where the piece can begin.

 

I look forward to seeing all of you next week where I will be rolling out a brief guided meditation to help you engage in this peaceful rest practice and this noticing practice to help you find more peace and more sustainable relaxation.

 

Until then, take a breath right now just for who you are. You're allowed to do it. You are allowed to rest. You're already good enough as you are, regardless of how many to-do lists you have hanging over you. As always, my friends, thank you so much for listening and thanks for sharing with your friends.

 

As I mentioned last week, if these topics of rest and relaxation resonate with you, one of the simplest ways to take more control over your day, over your schedule, over your to-do list is to have your own independence. And in the legal world, a lot of that comes from having your own client base. If you're someone who enjoys self-guided tools, head over to thelawyerelifecollective.com and download my Finding and Securing Legal Client's Workbook and dig into that right away so that you can start securing

 

your own independent and powerful future. For those of you wanting to take that work a little bit deeper, I'm rolling out a workshop in the next couple weeks that's going to cover exactly how to find your own clients, how to sell yourself authentically, and how to build your own legal brand. If that resonates with you, shoot an email to me, autumn at thelawyerelifecollective.com, and put independence in the re line, and I'll make sure that you get on the list for the information relating to that upcoming workshop.

 

I hope to see you all there. Until then, take care of yourself, take some space, and enjoy your summers.