🇬🇧 Still feeling tired after resting?
The part of stress nobody really talks about: what happens AFTER a stressful time in life:
Do you ever feel super tired when you finally have time off? 💛
We spend so much time talking about how to cope with stress, but hardly ever talk about what can happen AFTER a stressful period in life. (Or maybe we do – but not enough?)
Maybe you’ve experienced it lately: if you were busy this spring and kept telling yourself:
“I’ll rest when I get a holiday.”
Then the holiday came, you finally had time off, and it felt great… but there was also this feeling of being a bit… low? Or just not feeling like yourself?
I know it’s common that people get sick at the start of a holiday, when the body finally starts to relax. But what about the mental exhaustion, and the transition of going from DOING to BEING? Let’s say you’ve had two weeks off and slept a lot and you STILL feel really tired. The frustration! And maybe even worry!
Be gentle with yourself. When the stress starts to release, we often get MORE tired at first. And that can be a bit uncomfortable! “I’m resting and resting, and it doesn’t seem to help?!”
Things ARE changing, even if you can’t see it yet.
You’re not lazy! You’re probably depleted, and that’s not the same thing.
So instead of asking yourself,
“Why can’t I just get on with things?!”
maybe ask yourself,
“What do I need today?”
I know for myself that I really need to set aside time sometimes to be “unproductive”, to give my brain and body a chance to catch up. It took me years to give myself “permission” to slow down.
So here I am in rainy and cosy monsoon-Goa. Not doing much at all. 🙂 Hanging out with the cats and cows, reading books, sleeping a lot. Here’s what Goa looks like during monsoon. So pretty, isn’t it!
As my wise friend Moa Edlund put it: (translated from Swedish)
“Pausing.
Resting.
Observing.
Not much activity on the outside,
but a lot is moving within.”
I just wanted to share this with you, to remind you that you’re not alone.
Just because you can’t feel the progress doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Your body isn’t trying to hold you back. It might simply be asking you to slow down long enough to heal.
You won’t feel like this forever.
Love,
Jennie
P.S. If you spot any spelling or grammar mistakes in the text above, it’s because I’m human! I don’t use AI to write my texts. I’m not against AI, but I enjoy writing texts myself. That means they’re not polished or perfect, and I’d rather be real than perfect. That’s my approach to life these days: perfect is boring. The same goes for my classes. Come as you are, even if you’re having a “bad day”. ❤️