I know we’re just getting started. We’re going to take a break, just when we’re getting started. I want us to learn how to go hard, push, and put our all into something. Then we can practice some deep rest and restoration so that what we’ve learned together can get integrated into our lives.

Rest Like a Composer

One of the ways that I’ve been thinking about rest recently is like a piece of music. When a composer puts a piece of music together, they put in quarter notes and half notes and full note rests.

The quarter note rests are just like those little mini micro-breaks we give ourselves whether they’re eye breaks to look away from our screen or something outside a window, or whether they’re breath breaks, where we slow our breath down to take a long inhale and long. Or maybe it’s a movement break where you put everything aside, plug in your ear pods on this little bonus episode and take a walk around the block. We all need these quarter note rests in our day to reset our minds, reset our bodies and reconnect with ourselves.

Half-note rests are a little bit bigger. Those are things like paying attention to your sleep, making sure you’re prioritizing it, making room for it, preparing for it, and creating a ritual around it. Half-note rests are things like taking a moment to just lie on the floor, or maybe taking an hour mid-day to go to a yoga class or an hour at the end of the day, to play a board game with your kids, or maybe some friends.

And then there are those full-note rests that we all need. We need breaks. We need weekends when we don’t talk about work. We need vacations. And for me, I need retreats. It’s one of the ways that I get my full-note rest. I step out of life for a little bit, go into nature, get back in my body with some good movement get some good sleep, and just stop producing.

So take some of those quarter note rests, take some half note rests and some full note rests. I will see you back here refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to share with you.

Looking Forward to Season 2

When I come back on Season 2, we are going to have quite a lineup. Steven Hayes is going to be on the show, talking about process-based approaches to living well. The renowned meditation teacher and physician Christiane Wolf is going to explore physical pain, ultra marathon running, and how to use body awareness to relate differently to our physical form. And Brad Stulberg is going to join us and talk about how to get grounded. So I can’t wait to share those episodes with you.

Thank you for listening to Season 1 of YLIP. We are resting before we begin Season 2. Please join us for a well-deserved rest.

About Diana Hill

Diana Hill, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, speaker, and co-author of ACT Daily Journal: Get unstuck and live fully with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. A specialist in Acceptance and Commitment Training, Diana guides high achievers, leaders, and organizations to develop psychological flexibility so that they can take wise action toward more fulfilling and meaningful lives. Diana hosts the podcast Your Life in Process, blogs for Psychology Today, teaches on Insight Timer, is on the clinical advisory board of Lightfully Behavioral Health, and is a guest teacher at InsightLA, Blue Spirit Costa Rica, PESI, and PraxisCET. Go to drdianahill.com or her channels on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (@drdianahill) to learn more.

Related Resources

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Connecting With Diana

Thank you for listening to Your Life in Process! Subscribe to the podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts. If you have any questions or feedback you can contact Diana by email podcast@yourlifeinprocess.com or leave Diana an audio message at (805) 457-2776. Follow Diana at YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thank you to the team Craig, Angela Stubbs, Ashley Hiatt, and Abby Diehl. Thank you to Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Remember when you become psychologically flexible, you become free.