Recovery… ?

You are only as good as your recovery. Makes sense, right? In all things you do, if you are not taking the time to let it sink in, to sleep, to rebuild and come back stronger, you are simply chipping away at your foundation and it will inevitably crack and fail. We all know that to improve at something, it takes an amount of stress, a growth phase which should be harder than a maintenance phase, challenging your limits physically and mentally. You cannot maintain this type of growth, it is finite. And it only becomes growth when you allow yourself time to recover, so that you can rebuild the walls, thoughts, processes that have been broken down for new ideas, new limits.

But how do you know when it is time to step back, time to allow some breathing room for recovery, to come back stronger? If you have already fallen, slowed down, become injured then you have surpassed your recovery period and now you are recovering longer, possibly losing the footing that you gained. It is trusting the process, it is knowing what your limits feel and look like. Do you feel lack of motivation, do you feel more fatigue than usual, do you feel foggy and scattered? Guess what, you need some recovery time. Push through it, ignore the signs, and you will be sorry.

But WHY is it SO hard to step back and trust the process, to allow yourself some down time, some extra sleep, some extra days off? We are engrained with the push push mentality, that slowing down is a sign of weakness and laziness, when in reality pushing and pushing will only lead to less productivity, sub-par performance and a breakdown of all the things you are pushing so hard to achieve.

Yet, we all do it. I bet, like myself, you have been pushing and pushing these last two months! With the return of stressful school schedules, fall sports, work changes, political unrest and general social upheaval, we are exhausted. When was the last time you slowed down, shut out the noise, walked through the woods, held your partner's hand, slept in or took a day off? The beauty of life is that it is never too late, you can always start NOW. What can you do for yourself this week to take a step back, get that needed rest, to reset your mind and your body? Do it. Your body and your well-being will thank you for it ❤️