I don’t always follow my own advice…

One of the main features of my work is flexibility and self-kindness - regularly reminding clients to be kind with themselves, to allow themselves the space to take the foot off the gas when energy levels fluctuate - whether that’s due to unpredictable work schedule, a 4am wake-up from a little one or the time of the month.

Do I do that myself? Hmm, not as much as I should!

I’ve always prided myself on my work ethic and used to think my ability to “push through” was a good thing - I’m lucky to have generally high energy levels and can maintain a lot of balls in the air.

For a while now I’ve understood that that “pushing through” is not always the best policy and wouldn't recommend it to anyone I work with!

But on days when I do have low energy I’ve always felt guilty when I can’t get things done - whether its my exercise session or dance practice or something work related. I’d be feeling miserable because I couldn’t do the thing I’d planned to do and felt like I was falling behind…

For a long time I’ve wanted to try and live more cyclically and honour my body’s natural rythms but something has been blocking me from actually doing it… Ive felt so tied to our patriarchal 7 day week it’s hard to let go of…

But in the last month something has flipped. Instead of planning to maintain the same level of activity for the whole month I plotted out last few days of my cycle and the first few days of the next as a “rest and refresh” week.

I didnt stop entirely of course - your body needs movement - but I planned myself sessions that were low intensity and “flowy”.

My energy levels actually were OK that week and I probably would have been fine with my usual, stronger workouts.

But stuck to the plan! And you know what happened?

The following week, when I started to build up the intensity again, it felt AMAZING! I had so much energy - it really blew my mind the difference I felt.

And it has continued all month. I'm now approaching my second “rest and refresh” week and I can't bloody wait! Not because I need a break but because I'm excited to see how it makes my body feel.

Can anyone else relate to this? Do you have a tendency to chastise yourself when your body doesn't always allow you to do all the things you think you should do? Or have you mastered an “ebb and flow” routine?

I would love to know!