I recently became certified in “Pain Reprocessing Therapy” f(PRT) which is a fancy way to say that I help people who suffer with chronic pain.
I am so excited about this! The notion that there’s a “way out” of chronic pain is so exciting and hopeful.
The past few months I have been trying to “walk the talk” by doing some of the things that are helpful to get out of chronic pain.
One of which is to do less. (Which is why I haven’t sent an email in a while – I’ve been busy “not doing.”)
We are socialized that we have to do so much. Keep our houses perfect, work to provide for our families, and if you have kids in the house - take care of them perfectly, volunteer at their schools, help them with homework etc etc etc…
We do do do till we drop.
Or we don’t allow ourselves to take a break until we’ve done done done till we are literally dropping.
Why? Capitalism? Unconscious family expectations from our childhood? Or in my case it’s often to feel deserving. To offset a deep, mostly unconscious, feeling of unworthiness.
So, what would it look like to do a little less?
Well, it’s uncomfortable because it’s habitual to do, at least for me. (More about this in another email.)
Also, maybe not as many things get done.
But I’ve found that sometimes other people start pitching in more. I noticed my husband or my kids unloaded the dishwasher a few times – without me even having to ask them!
And I’ve noticed that some things on the to do list – when they didn’t get done - didn’t really need to be done and eventually just fell off the list.
The best thing though is that I rested more. I prioritized things like meditating, reading, connecting with others and I’ll admit it – watching TV which is totally my guilty pleasure.
I feel physically healthier and more present with myself and my family.
Ok I’ll be honest. It’s been challenging keeping up with doing less as December and holiday season is upon us. But I’m doing the best I can to still “do less” even though the “to do” list is growing.
So that’s what I’ve been up to (or not up to.)
I hope that you are hanging in there this holiday season and are giving yourself the rest and rejuvenation that you deserve!