Full Spectrum Wellness Podcast
Full Spectrum Wellness Podcast
The Art of Rest: How to Reclaim Your Sleep & Restore Your Energy | Episode 47
Have you forgotten what it feels like to wake up truly rested? Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually nourished? You're not alone.
Sleep deprivation has become a silent epidemic, especially among women juggling multiple roles and responsibilities. We've normalized exhaustion, wearing our tiredness like a badge of honour while our bodies quietly beg for the deep, restorative rest they desperately need.
This episode explores sleep not just as a biological necessity but as sacred medicine for the female body. While we sleep, a remarkable healing symphony unfolds – hormones rebalance, the immune system recalibrates, the brain clears toxins, and our emotional bodies process the day's experiences. Yet women face unique sleep challenges through hormonal fluctuations, caregiving duties, and the never-ending mental load we carry.
For those navigating perimenopause or menopause, sleep becomes even more elusive as progesterone levels decline, bringing night sweats, racing thoughts, and that frustrating 3 AM wakefulness we know all too well. But what if rest wasn't something we had to earn? What if it was our birthright – a revolutionary act of self-care and feminine wisdom reclamation?
I share five holistic sleep rituals that have transformed my clients' relationship with rest: creating a sleep sanctuary, honoring the digital sunset, sipping soothing beverages, incorporating gentle evening bodywork, and the power of reflection. These aren't quick fixes but invitations to reunite with your body's natural rhythms and wisdom.
Your exhaustion isn't weakness – it's your body communicating its needs. When you choose rest, you're choosing healing, wholeness and harmony. Listen to this episode, then give yourself permission to rest deeply tonight. You deserve it.
Checkout our new Digital Sound Bath Meditation Membership and join our Self-care & Wellness Newsletter Club.
*This podcast does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and its contents are intended for informational purposes only.
Hello and welcome back to the Full Spectrum Wellness Podcast. It's been a little while and I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you for being here, thank you for your patience during this sacred pause between episodes, whether you're a long-time listener or you're tuning in for the first time. I'm so grateful you've chosen to share this space with me today in for the first time. I'm so grateful you've chosen to share this space with me today. It feels really special to be back in this space with you, especially as we enter a new season, both energetically and in our lives. Maybe you've been going through some changes or feeling stretched thin, or maybe, like so many of us, you've been quietly longing for something softer. Be like so many of us, you've been quietly longing for something softer, slower, more restorative. This podcast is your safe space to explore women's wellness in its fullest expression body, mind, spirit and soul. Today we're coming back with something that touches every part of our well-being, something so simple yet so often neglected, and that is sleep. Not just the act of sleeping, but the deeper rest we all crave, the kind that restores, heals and reconnects us to ourselves. Not just physical sleep, though we will talk about that, but the broader concept of soulful, restorative rest, rest that heals, rest that nourishes, rest that connects you with your natural rhythm. This episode is your permission slip to press pause, to listen to your body and to reconnect with a part of you that may have been whispering I need a break, I'm tired. Let this episode be a gentle conversation between us, like we're sitting down with a warm cup of tea. I'll also be sharing a sneak peek into our new offerings the 21 Day Sleep and Reset Challenge and the Sleep Well Ritual System, which I've created with so much careful women like me and you, women who give so much and are ready to finally give back to themselves. So get comfy. Maybe light a candle, if it's safe to do so, wrap yourself in something cosy and let's begin. I invite you now to soften, to slow down. Maybe take a few grounding breaths with me right now. Breathe in and out and feel your shoulders drop just a little. I want to ask you something when was the last time you woke up feeling truly rested Not just had enough sleep, but nourished, grounded, clear? If it's been a while, know this you're not broken, you're not failing. You're just living in a world that's taught us to override our natural rhythms.
Speaker 1:Sleep is not a passive activity. It's a deeply active healing process, especially for women. If you've been feeling exhausted lately mentally, emotionally or physically you are not alone. Sleep deprivation has quietly become an epidemic, especially amongst women. So many of us are tired but wired, lying in bed with racing thoughts, unable to switch off and waking up already drained. But sleep isn't just about energy, it's foundational. It plays a role in everything from hormonal balance, emotional regulation, immunity, metabolism, to even how clearly we think and how deeply we feel when we don't sleep well. It ripples through our entire being, and yet rest is often the first thing we sacrifice in our busy but beautiful lives.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk honestly. So many of us are tired, deeply, chronically, soulfully tired, not just from a lack of sleep, but from overdoing, overgiving and overstimulating ourselves. In a world that rewards constant motion, we've been taught to perform, to achieve, to push through, and in that process, many women, especially those in their 30s, 40s, 50s, like me and beyond, have disconnected from one of the most essential forms of healing rest. Sleep isn't just rest, it's medicine. While we sleep, a symphony of healing unfolds. Our hormones regulate and rebalance, especially cortisol, melatonin, estrogen and progesterone. Our immune system recalibrates, our brain clears toxins and files memories, our emotional body processes the day's experiences stress and grief, and our nervous system recalibrates from fight or flight to rest and digest. And yet we keep running on empty. We normalise exhaustion, we joke about needing coffee to survive the day, but here's the truth.
Speaker 1:Women often experience unique sleep challenges fluctuating hormones, caregiving responsibilities, emotional labour, overstimulation from screens and a lifetime of being conditioned to prioritise others over ourselves, and it all adds up. Add to that the perimenopause or menopause transition, and sleep can feel elusive or even out of reach. The result we wake up tired, foggy, irritable and often feeling disconnected from our bodies. But the good news is you can come back to your rhythm, you can relearn how to rest, and that starts with changing the story we've been told about rest. Now many of my clients come to me saying I sleep, but I still wake up tired, and what I often find is that it's not just about the sleep hours, it's about the quality of rest and the state of their nervous system quality of rest and the state of their nervous system.
Speaker 1:For women, sleep is a little bit more complex. Our sleep quality is deeply tied to hormonal shifts, menstrual cycles, perimenopause and menopause. Emotional labour and mental load play a part too, and the constant onness of caretaking and multitasking and the pressure of just keeping it all together. During perimenopause, for example, many women experience disrupted sleep due to falling progesterone. Our calming sleep, supporting hormone, night sweats, anxious thoughts and restlessness can keep us awake at 2am. And yet we still try to power through telling ourselves it's normal.
Speaker 1:But what if rest was a sacred act of rebellion, a reclamation of our feminine wisdom? Rest has been framed as unproductive, as lazy, as something we earn after we finish the to-do list, the housework, the caretaking. But here's what I believe Rest is not weakness, it's not laziness, it's not luxury, rest is not indulgent, it's intuitive, it's ancestral, it's how we heal. Rest is revolutionary and rest is the reclamation of our feminine energy. It's our birthright, it is a sacred feminine power and when we rest, it is a sacred feminine power. And when we rest, we aren't giving up, we are powering up. Rest is cylindrical, it's seasonal and just like nature, the moon waxes and wanes, trees go dormant in winter, flowers bloom only when the conditions are right. So why do we expect ourselves to be productive all year round? Let's reclaim rest as an act of self-leadership, as a sacred practice. This is the root of our sleep well ritual system. It's not a sleep hack. It's a guided return to the body, a toolkit for weaving small, meaningful rituals into our evenings, rituals that say I am safe, now I can soften, I am allowed to rest.
Speaker 1:We live in a world that glorifies hustle and bustle, that tells us that we have to constantly do more, be more, push harder, but rest. True, intentional rest is how we refill the well. When we give ourselves permission to slow down, we begin to hear the whispers of our intuition again. We reconnect with our cycles, our softness, our strength. And that's where our power lies in the quiet, in the stillness, in the moments where we come back to ourselves. When we slow down, when we soften, we shift out of that fight or flight and into that rest and digest. This is where the body repairs, the mind quiets and the spirit finds its way home, if it's safe to do so.
Speaker 1:I want you to imagine for a moment what it would feel like to finish your day not in depletion but in gentle reflection, to enter sleep, not in collapse but in sacred surrender. So how do we reclaim rest in a way that actually feels nourishing? So how do we reclaim rest in a way that actually feels nourishing? I'm going to share some of my most loved holistic rituals for better sleep, beautiful practices that I've used personally and with clients.
Speaker 1:Number one is to create a sleep sanctuary. Your bedroom is not a workspace, a dumping ground or an afterthought. It is your. So keep lighting soft and warm, use amber bulbs or salt lamps, keep your bed clean, comfortable and inviting, and keep the bedroom cool and calm. Your nervous system responds to safety, not chaos, and consider aromatherapy. Lavender, chamomile and frankincense work beautifully in diffusers and pillow sprays and can be added to a warm bath. They calm the mind and they signal safety to the body. Number two honor the digital sunset at least one hour before bed. Turn off your screens and devices. Let your brain wind down from artificial stimulation. Instead, light a candle, write in a journal, breathe slowly and just reconnect with yourself. Number three sip something soothing, warm. Herbal teas like chamomile, passionflower and even a lavender latte or a moon milk made with nut milk and cinnamon can nourish the nervous system. Drink something that soothes your nervous system from the inside out. You can add magnesium or ashwagandha if it feels right for you.
Speaker 1:Number four body work for deep sleep. So, gentle, stretching legs up the wall pose, a walk under the moonlight or even a self-massage using warm oil can prepare your body to release tension. This helps the body shift from doing to being. Even five minutes makes a big difference. And number five the power of reflection. Keep a bedside journal to offload thoughts, worries or gratitudes Each night. Ask what am I ready to release from today, what did I do well today and what am I grateful for? This practice alone can rewire your brain for restfulness instead of rumination. Just a few minutes of connecting with your body or reflecting on what felt good today can shift you into a restful state. Your body or reflecting on what felt good today can shift you into a restful state.
Speaker 1:Now, before we close, I'd love to guide you through a short visualisation so you can feel what this kind of rest might look like for you, if it's safe to do so. Close your eyes and just visualise, imagine, feel sense or know that you are at the end of a long day, the sun has set, your home is quiet, you light a candle. You move slowly. You sip a candle. You move slowly. You sip a warm drink. Your breath deepens, you stretch gently. You thank your body for carrying you through. You lay down not in exhaustion but in gratitude. You feel safe, you feel whole, you feel at peace. This is what you deserve.
Speaker 1:Before we close, I want to leave you with this soft reminder you do not have to earn your rest, you do not need permission to pause. Your body is wise and is worthy of peace. And I want to leave you with this thought too your body is not broken. It is simply speaking to you, and when you listen, when you choose rest, you are choosing healing, wholeness and harmony. You deserve deep rest. You are worthy of peace, and when you sleep well, you live well. If you loved this episode, I would be so grateful if you shared it with a friend, left us a review and tagged us on social media. Your support helps us to reach more beautiful souls, just like you. Until next time, love yourself enough to rest, take care, and I'll speak to you soon.
