The Consciously Parenting Project

The picture in our heads when we hear the word rest, someone in bed, doing nothing, with no responsibilities for a whole weekend, is so far from most of our lives that it might as well be a fantasy.

And if rest is something that only happens on a perfect Sunday with no one needing anything from us, then most of us will never rest. We'll just keep waiting.

So what does rest actually look like, in the life you have? Sometimes it looks like this. What does it look like for you?

This June, from the 19th through the 21st, Meredith and I are hosting a live online retreat to actually rest, together, wherever you are.

Three days. No rigid schedule. Two live calls to connect, share, and orient.

The rest of the time is yours to do as you wish, knowing others are doing what's right for them, too. It's space to come back to yourself, with people who won't try to fix you.

The link is in my bio. And if a live weekend isn't right for you, there's a self-paced version you can move through whenever you're ready.

One of my favorite ways to rest is this: going to watch the sunset with Trä. We try to do it almost every night. It's only a few minutes, it costs nothing, and it asks nothing of us except to stop and look.

That's rest too, the small daily kind, the kind you share with someone, the kind that's woven into an ordinary evening.

We've spent this week redefining what rest actually looks like, hands in soil, paint on your fingers, a cat who never earned her nap, a walk with no destination. None of it has to look like anyone else's.

So I'll ask once more: what did rest look like for you this week, even for five minutes? I've loved seeing your answers.

This June, I'm hosting a live online retreat with my dear friend and co-host Meredith Alvarado.

Three days, June 19 to 21, to explore real rest together, in community, wherever you are.

No rigid schedule. Nothing you have to do perfectly. Just space to come back to yourself, with people who won't try to fix you.

If that calls to you, the link is in my. And if the timing isn't right, there's also a version you can move through on your own. Either way, you get to decide.

https://thrivinghumans.newzenler.com/courses/radical-rest-retreat

For me, this is rest. Hands covered in paint, no plan, no one to please, completely absorbed in making something. This is where my Visual Medicine paintings come from, the ones you've seen all over Thriving Humans.

It doesn't look like lying down. It looks like losing track of time in the best way. And that's the whole point: rest looks different for everyone.

So I'm genuinely curious, what does real rest actually look like for you? Not the version you think you should want. The one that truly fills you back up. Tell me in the comments, or share a photo. I'd love to see.

Join us in the Radical Rest Retreat: https://thrivinghumans.newzenler.com/courses/radical-rest-retreat

If something in you has been suspecting there's another way to live, less pushing, less performing, more actually being here, you might like our podcast.

Thriving Humans is where Meredith and I have real conversations about cycle breaking, boundaries, rest, and what it actually takes to stop just getting by.

Three episodes are out now.

We trust you already have your answers; these are just conversations to think alongside.

Listen at the link in our bio.

Listen: bit.ly/th-podcast

Meet my teacher. This is Mia, and she is an expert rester. Look at her: belly up, fully surrendered, sound asleep while someone she trusts holds her. She didn't earn this first. She didn't finish her to-do list, didn't wait until she was allowed, doesn't feel one ounce of guilt about it. She just rests, completely, because her body asked her to and because she feels safe.

Most of us were taught the opposite. That rest comes after. If there's time. If we've done enough. If we've been good enough.

What would it be like to rest a little more like Mia? To let yourself be held, to let yourself drop all the way down, not as a reward you finally earned, but simply because you're alive and your body asked?

This was rest, for me. Lying in the grass, reading, with nowhere I needed to be. It's a rare treat, the kind of thing I have to seek out and protect. And that's part of the point: real rest often asks us to claim it on purpose. When you hear the word 'rest,' what do you picture? I'm guessing not this. Let's make the definition bigger.

A reminder for Sunday:

Check in with yourself.

What do you need today?

What do you want for yourself today?

You get to decide what is best for you.

You may not be able to clear your whole calendar or escape to the woods if that's your first impulse. But what can you do to nurture yourself today?

Please try not to underestimate the importance of a small decision for yourself, even if it's pausing for a few extra minutes before getting out of bed.

Something I've been working on is almost ready.

The Radical Rest Kit is a free guide to the seven kinds of rest your body might be asking for. If sleep isn't fixing your tired, that's because there are six other kinds of rest you might be running low on.

It'll be available as a free download in the next few days. Email subscribers will get it first.

If you want to be among the first to receive it, link in bio to subscribe.