The President's Message 10/31/22

“True Silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and good refreshment" -William Penn

As we draw closer to the holiday season, there can be mixed emotions regarding this time of year. We love to see the leaves change colors, feel the crisp air, and grab our favorite sweaters. These things are comforting to most as we embark on one of the most difficult times of the year. I’ve noticed over the past few years of serving the community, the holidays are joyous and can be a time of great grief. Families feel the pressure to provide great memories, gifts and meals for their loved ones. If one of those things is missing, we label it a bad holiday or tough time of year. We lose sight of the blessing of life, rest, and togetherness.

This year has been the toughest year of my life. I lost the love of my life in January and my life seemingly spiraled out of control. By the summer, I was in the darkest place. However, I was able to pull through with self-care. Rest shouldn’t be contingent upon how life is going. But more times than we care to admit, it is. As a leader, I found myself struggling to sleep, to get the proper rest and to give my best at work.

We’ve all been there or are there. I regained control of my rest and sleep cycle. I start everyday with self-care. I pray and mediate, I hydrate and even get a cup of coffee. I affirm myself with a new affirmation a day. My affirmation is based on my mood. If I’m feeling unmotivated, weary or stressed, I declare motivating, refreshing and grounding affirmations. I added melatonin to my nightly routine at least 3 times per week for a month. I was leery at first. I thought I would wake up groggy or even oversleep because my body wasn’t able to rest for so long. I woke up refreshed and had better success on night’s I didn’t take melatonin with falling asleep and staying asleep.

I noticed a few things when I started using this regime. One, it worked for me. It may not work for you. I learned more about my body and my needs. I was able to better satisfy my body’s needs for rest and sleep when I paid more attention to my cycles and learned how to address them. There is nothing wrong with a nap mid-day. I learned how to slow down and rest for at least 20 minutes every day.

This November, we will talk about the many ways you can get the rest you need to improve your outlook and enjoyment of this beautiful time of year. Hopefully, this will help you establish a healthy sleep ritual and allow your body the rest it needs.

William Penn understood that sleep and rest are desperately important for us to survive and thrive. This November is Sleep Comfort month. There’s no surprise there as many of us feel more exhausted, lethargic and just downright tired over the winter months.