Honoring Your Need for a Pause

Have you ever found yourself apologizing for taking a much-needed break? I certainly have, and it's this very vulnerability that sparked a heartwarming connection with someone who thanked me for showing that it's okay to rest. In today's episode, I share my own experience with the relentless drive for perfection and the transformative realization that sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is honor our need for a pause.

We'll explore the pressures of high achievement and the often-ignored whisper of self-care, diving into a candid discussion about the importance of listening to our internal cues for rest, and how this self-compassion can foster resilience.

In this episode, I cover the following:
1. Importance of rest and self-honor.
2. Acknowledging burnout in high achievers.
3. Reconnecting with what brings joy: the power of play.

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💗 Dr. Steph
@DrStephanieLopez
www.brave-method.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Hi, I'm Dr Steph and I'm here to guide you on your journey to healing from a difficult relationship with your mother, whether she was narcissistic, emotionally immature or just plain toxic. I want you to know that you are, in fact, not broken and you do not have to suffer from anxiety or explosive emotional reactions like lashing out. You can break the cycle. You are a strong, capable woman who can handle any challenge that comes your way, and I'm gonna show you how to have the ultimate control over your reactions so that you are unstoppable. Welcome to the Broken to Brave podcast. Welcome back to the Broken to Brave podcast. Welcome back to the Broken to Brave podcast. I have a quick episode for you today.

Speaker 1: 0:55

I had this flashback when I was pretty new in my business. I think I maybe had a business for like two months and I can't remember exactly what I said, but I posted something on Instagram and I was like I think I apologized for like not doing stories or something. Mind you, I was still working full time and I had a very small baby, sophie. She was like five or six months at the time and so I received a message from somebody and she said thank you for sharing this, for telling us like, you're going to rest and you're not going to worry about putting out a post or stories. We need to see this, we need to see this and that stuck with me. That was a good. How many years ago was that at this point? Three and a half, three and a half years ago. And it's still with me. We need to see this.

Speaker 1: 1:54

And if you resonate with this podcast, then I'm willing to bet that you are a high achiever, high functioning, perfectionist type A. You name it, it's you. And if that's true, it's also probably very likely that you are not giving yourself time to rest, to recharge, to be human. Maybe, if you're like some of my clients, if you're like the old version of me, maybe you're grinding or you're telling yourself like, oh well, if you're like the old version of me, maybe you're grinding or you're telling yourself like, oh well, I'll rest when, or I'll do. You know, I'll be good enough when, but when never comes.

Speaker 1: 2:33

So I'm coming here today to tell you I'm tired. I am tired. I was up in the middle of the night for a couple hours, couldn't fall back asleep, and this has happened in the last like two weeks a number of times. Sometimes it's. You know, annabella came in because she was sick or this or that multiple times a night and so it's just been a lot lately and I'm tired and I'm flying out. Today I'm going to Arizona on a business trip and I haven't packed a single item yet and I need to do that.

Speaker 1: 3:13

And yeah, I just want to be real with you. You have those days, I have those days and you know what I could choose to get down on myself. I could choose to be like come on, steph, you got to get know what I could choose to get down on myself. I could choose to be like come on, steph, you got to get this done. I could choose to push and to grind or I could pause and I could notice and that's what I am doing. Everything inside of me wants to slow down, wants to pause, wants to rest. What if I honor that? And what if you honor that for yourself?

Speaker 1: 3:50

I had a client recently, just last week actually. She came, she hopped on a what the F was Steph call, which is part of Brave Academy. We have a call once a week where you can ask questions and get coaching on your specific issues. So she came on and she's like I feel like a mess. My anxiety is so high. I'm crying, all of these things. And then, when we really dug into it, what came up for her? I don't want to reveal all the details. I didn't ask if I could share her story, but really what came up for her is she was not honoring herself. So what do I mean by not honoring yourself? It's like inside of you, what is that part of you begging you for that you're ignoring that, you're pushing to the side that, you're telling yourself that you can't have that or can't do that. What if, just this once you try switching to honoring yourself and you do that thing instead of ignoring yourself? Miraculously she feels a million times better. This week she had a great conversation with her husband. She put a plan in place to counteract some of the feelings of overwhelm that she was experiencing, and she's doing so much better just by taking that one tip.

Speaker 1: 5:07

So I wanna leave you with something else concrete today. I want you to make a list. Also, if this feels like it's coming out of nowhere, it's not I want you to make a list of what play is for you. This can be part of rest. It doesn't have to be like you laying down physically, taking a nap or going to bed earlier which it totally could but like what fuels that fire within you, what lights your soul up, what makes you feel alive and think about what you like to do.

Speaker 1: 5:41

When you were a little girl, one of my clients this was over the summer she told me an unexpected benefit from working together. She said I feel so much more creative. I'm doing things that I forgot that I liked and loved to do. So sit down, make that list. What did you like to do as a child? Did you like to garden? Did you like to color? Did you like to go ice skating or roller skating? What did you like to do? Did you like to play with Barbies?

Speaker 1: 6:15

Make a list and take one thing from that list this week and do it. Make that commitment to yourself. Take one thing from that list and do it this week. All right, that's all I've got for you today. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your week and I'll see you in this week. All right, that's all I've got for you today. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your week and I'll see you in a week. Thank you for listening today, if you're ready to heal, so that triggering situations no longer control you and so that you can feel empowered, brave and thrive in any situation. Dm me the word brave on Instagram and I'll send you a training where you will learn three of the most common mistakes driven women are making that are keeping them stuck in negative emotions, and what you can do instead.