How to Rest: Pregnancy Edition

Postpartum is not the time to create new habits, pregnancy is.

If RESTING is hard for you I recommend practicing how to rest during your second and third trimester (chances are you’ll be so tired you’ll be forced to rest during your first trimester, thanks progesterone).

For many of us, the ol’ saying “sleep when the baby sleeps” is not an easy reality and actually really difficult to do.

And let’s be real, it can be REALLY hard to prioritize rest: to stop doing dishes, stop tidying the house, stop switching the laundry, and stop returning work emails (even on maternity leave!)

It takes time to form a new habit and to teach your mind and body that it is really and truly is okay to do nothing at 11am. Or 4pm.

treating a client to a hot herbal compress massage while she rests with baby. resting can look like so many different things!

So, how do you practice resting?

• Put down your phone. Stop scrolling. Turn off notifications.

• Find a comfortable spot! Is it your bed, your couch, or in a sun soaked window seat?

• Close your eyes and notice how you feel. Take a few deep breaths.

• Practice resting gradually maybe 1-2x a week for 10-15 minutes at a time and then as you get closer to your due date add in additional times per week and and for longer amounts of time per “session.”

• Get up and notice how you feel!
  
  

I promise you’ll thank me later!