When We Do Less, We Experience More
Last week, I was juggling work deadlines, training a new team member and packing up to head out of town. On Wednesday evening, while driving to my community singing class (an hour away), I found myself feeling more and more tired. More than halfway there, I paused at a stoplight. As committed as I was to this program—and even though it was the last class—I realized what I most needed was to take a hot Epsom salt bath and go to bed early. So I turned around and went home.
Doing less in a culture that prizes busy-ness and productivity takes courage and a deep commitment to our own well-being.
Overdoing taxes our adrenals and keeps us from experiencing life in the present moment. The hyper-stimulation and constant busy-ness we’ve become accustomed to, comes at a cost to our well-being. When we do too much:
- we are more distracted. Even when we’re together, we aren’t present and focused on each other, and we don’t feel fed by our time together.
- we are overly focused on activities, goals and outcomes, which sends the powerful, subconscious message to those around us—and to ourselves—that we are only worthy if we’re “doing.”
- we’re in constant motion and rarely rest, we are perpetually overextended, and so we become resentful and even grumpy, at both ourselves and others.
- physically, we feel chronically tired and exhausted. Our poor bodies, overworked and overstimulated, rarely have time to truly rejuvenate (and this chronic stress can lead to depression, feeling unsettled and constant, low-grade anxiety).
- over time, the ongoing stress from our relentless pace affects our bodies’ immune, endocrine and hormone systems, which are frequently out of balance. Living in “fight or flight” around the clock has become the norm, and this stress is the root cause of 90% of all disease.
We’re living in the era of the unknown—a whole new frontier—that requires us to have more space to breathe, think, dream and digest. We’re craving more time to just be—so we can actually integrate all these new ways of seeing and being
This week I’m reminding myself that “Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should,” and asking, “Is this the best use of my energy and talents?” I’m slowing down and making the conscious choice to lower my expectations, give myself full permission to “do less,” and to pay less attention to my to-do list and more attention to what makes me come alive.
My colleague author/teacher Joan Borysenko says, “Remember—your to-do list is immortal. It will live on long after you’re dead.”
UPCOMING SELF-RENEWAL EVENTS ~ THREE OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND YOUR CENTER:
- March 8th, March 15th & April 5th, April 18th ~ “Refill Your Well: Tools & Practices to Build Resiliency.” Live in Western NC, work in education/healthcare/nonprofit management and feel burned out? Through the generous support of several NC foundations, The Center for Trauma Resilient Communities will offer four complimentary half-day self-renewal retreats for leaders in healthcare, education and nonprofit management. I’m excited to facilitate these self-renewal events for men/women. Register here to attend one of the four retreats.
- April 26 – 28th ~ Awakening Your Wild Soul: A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (Berkshire Mountains, Western MA). Join me for a spring re-set: replenishing rest, divine natural foods cuisine, healing bodywork, restorative yoga and more. I’d love to mentor you in learning to revere your energy and direct it to what matters most. Packages start at just $635 for this deeply supportive, replenishing weekend. Learn more/register.
- *NEW OFFERING!* Secrets to Facilitating Life-Changing Women’s Groups/Retreats in Uncertain Times ~ the course. Are you passionate about empowering other women in your area? It’s a whole new world and now more than ever we need each other–in person. Created by Renee, this beautiful mentoring/training “jump start” package–based on our now retired wildly popular 18-year-old Facilitator Training Program–offers everything you need to masterfully facilitate women’s circles/retreats. Only $195 for a limited time. Learn more.
Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by mindfulness coach/author/speaker and self-care evangelist Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women find balance through the art/science of self-care, Renee has been facilitating high-impact, interactive workshops for Fortune 500 companies, national nonprofits/conferences and organizations/teams worldwide for 25 years. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, Yoga Journal, AARP Magazine, Spirituality & Health and more. She and her team have certified more than 450 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead self-renewal groups/retreats based on her pioneering self-care curriculum. She’s the author of two books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life. She and her husband live in Western North Carolina; her latest venture is Wild Souls Nature Adventures. More on Renee here.
