honoring the body's need for rest

you are not the Energizer Bunny, beloved. go take a nap.

#WednesdayWisdom

“The systems make us hard. Rest keeps us tender. There is power in our collective rest and care.” ~ Tricia Hersey

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Morning Musings

Photo credit: @NappyStock

The last week has been trying to say the least. After combatting a cold, ya girl came down with a stomach bug and then woke up Monday morning with a migraine followed by day one of my period. Like, can a bitch catch a break?!

But instead of pushing through as I’m wont to do, this time I took a cue from The Nap Ministry and decided to lay my ass down … several times. And it was much needed.

thenapministry

A post shared by @thenapministry

I tweeted earlier this week how I’m grateful to be freelancing in this season because…can you imagine having to ask for three days out sick without a doctor’s note? Now that I’ve mostly caught up on work and emails (and am treating my anxiety with medication), I felt comfortable and confident in taking a break and allowing myself to rest.

I mean, that’s one of the perks of freelancing, right? Make my own schedule. Take a midday (or midmorning) nap when I feel like it. But for the last six months I haven’t really given myself permission to pause. This past week I had no option but to take a beat and get some sleep. So after daycare dropoff (because there is no PTO when it comes to parenting…freelance or not), grabbed some meds, purple Gatorade and got some much needed rest—trusting that my business and everything else would be fine while I took care of myself: a radial concept for Black women who’ve been conditioned to work twice as hard for half as much. No más, mi amor.

Recently I’ve hearing a lot about cyclical business planning (literally twice within one hour on Tuesday, so if you know my rule of three, then you know this was clearly a sign from The Universe. The idea is aligning your workflow so that you’re working with your energy, instead of against it (shoutout to my business coach,

Jenni Gritters

, for putting it so eloquently (side note: you can sign up for her FREE workshop on the topic HERE!). You can also learn more about living in alignment with your menstrual cycle at HatetheDot.com (shoutout to Lauren Strayhorn of

Notedd

for sharing this resource).

I’d previously heard about aligning your workout schedule to your menstrual cycle, which made sense to me (though I’ve yet to try it), so I’m curious to see how the same logic applies to business planning. Because listen, the way my energy is set up this week, mama needs to chill.

BTW, as Jenni mentions, this is not just for menstruators, but caregivers, those living with chronic illness and people with neurodivergent brains. If that’s you and you’re a business owner, I hope you seriously consider signing up for the workshop. And no, I don’t get any kind of kickback from this, but I do know every workshop of Jenni’s I’ve attended has been beneficial in some way (and has resulted in me making more money for my business) so I figured I’d share the wealth!

Have you tried cyclical business planning? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Let’s all work smarter, not harder. 💜

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ICYMI

Pop quiz: How much do you think the Tooth Fairy is shelling out these days? For my latest Yahoo column I found that out and how parents can push back on the pressure to shower kids with cash and gifts.

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Links I Love

• Angela Davis: Standing With Palestinians (Hammer & Hope)

• How the 19th’s Editor-at-Large Gets It Done (The Cut)

• The Real Reason I Take So Many Selfies with My Daughter (Romper)

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