Reclaiming the pause button: Rest could transform your personal life and quality of work
You might be reading the title of this blog post and think that I am full of bologna.
Well, to be honest, the same thought crossed my mind when I was first acquianted with the idea of how rest could transform my personal life and quality of work.
So, if you’re just as sceptical as I was back then, read along and see whether there will be food for thought for you
Wondering why reclaiming the pause button is hard?
Well, before we talk about reclaiming the pause button, I think it will be helpful to get on the same page about what we mean by that pause button aka rest
In all fairness, I know that the words rest, productivity, creativity may sound like a paradox altogether. Can’t help it really, when we live in a world that twisted the meaning of these words.
Rest is often associated with slow, being lazy, not productive, inefficient.
In a way, these associations stem from the fact that capitalism treats us like a cog in the whole machine, so we have to constantly produce, refining the production system in such a way so that we can do it in the most efficient way possible, with the end goal being more revenues.
Rest is promoted as a reward for having gone through painstaking long work hours, so that you can go, spend some time away from work to rest, so that you can go back to work and be more productive.
If I were to apply it to my practise, that translates to seeing as many clients in a day (since I am just another cog in the whole system of society)
On the surface it sounds good making mental health more accessible to everyone.
When in fact, this is a great recipe for burnout, which is not good!
Curious how choosing not to reclaim the pause button will cause burnout (for me) in a therapy setting?
Compromised quality of care, which translates into a therapist who is less engaged, attentive, and invested in what the clients bring into the space. Like it or not, most likely client could tell if or when the counsellor is there physically, BUT don’t appear to be really there mentally/emotionally.
Countertransference, quite a mouthful there, though essentially when I am listening to a client’s story, I personally have my own reaction, though if I am that tired, I may feel resentful and find it harder to regulate my own emotional reactions and blurt out an unhelpful response to my client
Okay, so by all means the points I have above are not meant to be exhaustive. I listed what came to the forefront of my mind at this time
If you think of anything else, or have experienced those yourself, and would like to share, I welcome you to share that on my DM @thespunkycounsellor
All in all, regardless of our professions, aren’t we all sojourners in this voyage of life, doing our best to make it in this world…
In my own journey of establishing myself professionally, I need to put myself out there, and it took a lot out of me.
What got me started with reclaiming the pause button…
Sometimes I felt like there was not enough hours to my day and at other times I noticed that I did not have the same reserve energy to do all the things I used to be able to do in my early 20’s (haha that might be a total give away of my age wink)
After thinking long and hard, and in case you were wondering, I did not experience burnout.
Thankfully so, I decided to take a few steps back, and it was pretty transformational reading the book Rest is Resistance, especially when we got to the part about rest.
I so resonated with Tricia’s take on rest as giving my body the permission to be.
Curious what ‘giving my body permission to be’ means?
I welcome you to check out my previous article where I elaborated a bit more on what that means and how it may look like in practise.
What reclaiming the pause button can do for you
It was super surprising that when I honour my body’s needs for rest, take a pause (instead of hitting the accelerator button), I felt calmer, more in-tune with myself and the world.
The rest replenishes my energy reserves, that I have consumed during my work.
Curious what taking a pause and resting look like for the Spunky Counsellor?
Find out in this article where they flesh out these topics out some more.
This was me last month when I did the very bare minimum to keep my practise going while my mom was around for a visit.
This past week, I gradually return to work at ¾ full steam, and I have been able to approach my work from a renewed, fresh perspective.
Surprise, surprise 😉
I feel like I have a lot to give to my clients, and this drive allows me to show up as my best self during session.
My focus and drive are sharp, and I have been personally surprised (in a good way) by how robust my creative juice is pouring out all this thought into paper now.
So well, in some ways my decision to honour my need to rest last month is bearing sweet fruit.
I become more productive.
Though in saying that out loud, it makes me wonder whose definition of productive am I talking about.
Perhaps that would be the content of my next post: Let’s examine what productivity and success actually mean…
I so welcome you to reach out to me personally via my Instagram @thespunkycounsellor if the article above resonated with you, and prompted you to do 1 restful thing for yourself.
Hello, I’m Nita Agustin
Registered Clinical Counsellor based in Burnaby, BC
My jam is working with queer youth and young adults, especially those who do not want to be defined by what society told them about themselves. I help clients figure out who they are, who they want to be, and how to get there. We do this by processing how their past impacted the way they live out their life today. From our work together, I noticed clients develop better self-awareness and experience improved quality of life as they can show up differently in their relationships.
I offer virtual and in-person sessions near Brentwood, North Burnaby. In the summer I also offer walk-and-walk in Confederation Park. I am licensed to practise in BC, as well as all across Canada, so I support clients all over BC, all the way from Vancouver to Kitimat. Other than working with clients who reside in BC, I also can support clients who reside in Yukon Territories, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland.
Check out my About me page to learn more about what I do and have to offer for you. Also, explore my Services page to see how I can guide you in making shifts in your life today. If you feel ready to discover ways to live life on your own terms, I welcome you to book an initial intake session. I am so stoked to meet you and start figuring out how you can show up as your best self!
Throughout this pandemic, I witnessed telehealth virtual sessions become more of a norm, and it has been super transformative seeing clients can access mental health services from the comfort of their home.
There are lots of different stereotypes out there, and society tells us who we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to do in the world. It can feel very overwhelming and confusing to compare our personal experience against those ideas. The thing is, you no longer have to be defined by what society tells you. It is your life to live, and you get to decide who get a say about your life.
