Sleep and recovery are a little different than the skills we’ve been working on so far. For one thing, they’re inherently pleasant. You’d think that would make them easier to prioritize, but no.
Here is your takeaway: you, you wonderful human you, deserve to rest when you are tired, to sleep when you are sleepy, and to recover as needed. Some people, some forces in our culture, will try to deny this, but they are wrong. Fight the power: go take a (short) nap.
To improve our sleep, we might have to admit that our moms were right. We need a bedtime. When we are consistent about when we go to bed and when we get up, our bodies adapt and we fall asleep more quickly. Please note: the bedtime and the wake up time need to be at least seven hours apart. Planning to be underslept is not good planning.
Setting that bedtime and wake up time can make us feel really efficient because look: we just implemented a recovery technique! Two things at once and we accomplish them in bed? Sign me up. However, our bodies do need more than sleep. We might need to think about what kind of food would help our bodies recover, or whether we’ve had enough water recently, or if massage might help.
It can feel overwhelming when we take stock of how much recovery we could use. Baby steps. Treating ourselves with love takes practice.
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