Give Yourself Permission to Rest

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of climbing the corporate ladder, but what good is achieving success, or changing the world, if you are too burnt out to enjoy it? Our workloads may hold weight, but they are only a portion of what brings substance to our lives. It’s important that we give ourselves time to relax and cultivate joy. This Black History Month, we encourage you to take a step back and prioritize your most significant responsibility –?you.

As a collective, Made in Color understands the importance of being present, listening to our bodies, and giving ourselves time and space to recharge. Rest is essential to finding balance; rest reduces stress, relieves pressure, and allows us to be in a state of stillness and liberation. Rest is vital for a healthy and fulfilling life, mind, body, and business.

Our co-founder, Selena Davant , describes rest as "a delicious scoop of Young Coconut Ice Cream on a hot summer day! It’s a must-have treat in this run-of-the-mill life." Whether it's a quick nap, getting lost in a book, or jamming out to music for 15 minutes, Selena genuinely believes that the best way to think about rest is to listen and trust our inner voices.

To be practical, we wanted to share some?tips to get more rest and relaxation into any workday:

• Reserving at least 8 hours of sleep every night
• Securing 1 hour in the morning for personal rituals (and things like brushing your teeth)
• Creating a 30-minute “warm-up” block to answer emails and ease into the day
• Humanizing meetings with a 5-minute wellness check-in before diving in
• Silencing iMessage and phone call notifications to increase focus
• Blocking “action-item” periods on your calendar to complete essential tasks
• Dedicating a day each week as a “no-meeting/no-call” day to stimulate ideation
• Switching up your work environment to stay away from mundanity?

The source of inspiration behind our radical perspective on rest is renowned author Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry. In her groundbreaking manifesto, Rest is Resistance, she powerfully declares that “...rest isn't an afterthought, but a basic part of being human. Rest is a divine right. Rest is a human right.” Keeping that in mind, take a deep breath and answer this question – what does rest look like for you?