Over the past couple of months, I’ve covered a pretty wide range of emotions, and they’ve primarily been the less than pleasant ones.

Now, it’s time for a rest.

That’s right, this week is all about rest and rejuvenation and why it’s important to build rest into our lives in an intentional way.

Maybe you’re saying “Yeah, Jess, but like, I sleep and that’s enough!”

In Canada this week, there is the observance of Orange Shirt Day; Every Child Matters, also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, on September 30th. It’s a day of remembrance for victims of the residential school system that was launched around 1894 until the last one closed in 1997. These schools were designed to colonize indigenous peoples.

Self-sacrifice is defined as the giving up of one's own interests or wishes in order to help others or advance a cause and self-denial is defined as a restraint or limitation of one's own desires or interests. To quote the great Spock, “The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few.” Studies have revealed that more women experience burnout than men with 68% of women reported suffering from burnout, compared to 58% of working men.

It’s the start of back to school and routine for many coming off of summer vacation, but the past 18 months have seen us experience life at a very different pace. Maybe summer was relaxing and a nice change of pace, but maybe it was just added stress from a seemingly endless lack of structure. Regardless of what your reality is as we shift into September, I think this week’s subject will be helpful.

In my last blog I wrote about overwhelm and I shared about how extended periods of unresolved overwhelm and stress can lead to burnout. The Canadian Centre for Addiction and Mental Health says burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.

Overwhelm is one of the most common issues my clients identify when we start working together and while I would love to say that once you get all the strategies in place, you will NEVER FEEL OVERWHELMED AGAIN! I can’t.

My magic doesn’t run as deep as genie levels, but becoming aware and implementing strategies are helpful in reducing the amount of time spent in overwhelm overall.