Embracing Rest on Quiet Winter Days
I wrote this post on January 2 – while it’s a bit out of date now, I wanted to share as I think the theme of embracing rest is timeless.
I am very fortunate that my jobs over the years have often shut down the office between Christmas and New Year’s, giving me time at the end of the calendar year to enjoy the holidays. In the past, that has sometimes meant traveling, whether to see family or going on a trip to take advantage of the days off, spending time with friends, and generally filling the days with fun activities (not to mention sleeping in!).
This year, I embraced the quietness of these days off and gave my mind and body some much-needed rest. I thought of the time off as an opportunity to rest, recuperate, and reflect – and even help myself to define what “resting” means to me in my life with MS.
As a culture, we often feel guilty for resting or that we aren’t using free time to be productive. Every hour of the day needs to be optimized, including how we take breaks. I have certainly struggled with this and seem to always push myself to achieve something when I have a day off work.
Living with MS, fatigue can be a persistent symptom for me, and stress only makes it worse. Rest can be difficult for me because my mind will be racing, or I’ll be worried that I’m not doing something I should be. Winter is also a challenging season due to the cold and shorter days. But this year, during the holiday break, I’ve really leaned into having quiet, cozy moments and not putting pressure on myself to achieve a perfect, yet unattainable, “rest day.”
I didn’t approach the days off with any agenda or checklist – I let ideas or quiet moments come to me. One big choice I made at the beginning of the holiday was to delete Instagram from my phone. Lately, I’ve realized that I spend too much time on my phone, and I need to take a break from endless scrolling. My mind needs a breather from content and comparison, as well as from bad news or topics I know will upset me. I think we could all use a social media break now and then. Especially because scrolling through apps on our phone, even if we’re relaxed on the couch, isn’t really rest, right? As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, mindless scrolling isn’t really mindless, because we’re making hundreds of micro-decisions while we scroll. Personally, my brain needs a break.
This time of rest has also meant taking time for reflection, something I tend to put off when I’m feeling stressed out or caught up in work. I wasn’t sure where to begin, so I used AI to help create a bunch of journaling prompts, intentions, and mantras I can use moving forward – related to creativity, handling stress, and managing MS. For example, I now have writing prompts to help me reflect on how I spend my energy, exploring rest and boundaries, and practicing gratitude.
Finally, I’ve gotten into these “ambiance” videos on YouTube. If you haven’t seen one yet, I highly recommend checking it out! I would describe them as distant cousins to the classic yule log videos. Leading up to Christmas, I enjoyed putting on a holiday fireplace ambiance video, which usually depicted a cozy sitting room with a roaring fire and tons of sparkling holiday decorations. But I also like the non-holiday ones that take place in libraries or castles, or my new favorites – coastal ambiance videos with crackling fires and rolling waves. I put on a video, get under a cozy blanket, and read a book or article, or sometimes journal. If I’m really feeling relaxed, I just watch the video and zone out. There is something about the sound of waves that instantly makes me feel at rest.
There will always be stressors in our lives, and even in moments of relaxation, annoying MS symptoms or persistent thoughts can pop up and take us out of our restful place. For me, I’m learning how to let these things happen and rest at the same time – while also continuing to define what rest means to me. These quiet winter days have proven to be the perfect time to try out this new approach.
