How are you resting?
Welcome to our January Newsletter.
How are you doing? After the New Year rush, things are starting to slow down for many of us, towards a softer time to think about rest and renewal. What is health? What does it mean to be well? How do we rest, restore the balance and build up our capacity to not just function but also enjoy life? What does it mean to thrive? What does it mean to rest?
After the first intentions, resolutions and maybe a few new adjustments, many people may finally be settling into their usual routines, so it feels like just the right time to truly, seriously reflect on those. Does the way you work, live, play, and socialise serve your wellbeing? Do your habits support your health? Does your work contribute to your overall health? Are your tribes nurturing? And what is the role of digital technologies in all this?
This month I encourage you to slow down and make time for serious but small, easy adjustments. In fact, long-lasting improvements for better wellbeing are actually very small, almost unnoticeable. For me, for example, it’s the empty glass left next to my sink (which prompts me to have a glass of water each time I pass the kitchen area). I used to forget to drink water, but thanks to this small trick, I feel so much better in front of screens these days! I arrive to work differently now. I used to jump into my office, open my Mac and boom: work! Now, I take it slow. I pet my dog. I water my office plants. I massage my face. I stretch. I plan time for the morning transition into the virtual work. And I allow myself more time for morning admin and organising before I start more serious work.
I am still making adjustments every now and again. It’s those microsteps that can make all the difference. And the beauty of those small adjustments is that they don’t feel as daunting as the word “change”, right?
So how are you resting from the New Year’s resolutions while still supporting small changes for better health and wellbeing?
At Voxel Hub, we are running an AI experiment this quarter exploring how Open AI engine responds to our prompts about digital wellbeing and health in general. It’s interesting to see the results of this extensive data collection compared to our personal definitions and biases. Have a read and let us know how you feel about those responses – do you agree? How do you define those prompts, and how does reading this AI-generated content feel? Does it change how you think and feel about the mentioned themes? We would love to hear your thoughts.
We are blogging more too. We hope you will find our posts useful and inspiring even more small microsteps towards improving your digital wellbeing.
Have a good, restful month!
My favourite topic this month
This month I am exploring resistance – resistance from work (procrastination) but also resisting healing or change:
“The War of Art” by Stephen Pressfield
“The Price we Pay for Procrastination” by Chigozie Nelson
“Trust the Procrastinator” Valerie Brown
“Procrastination is the key to problem solving” Andrea Jackson”
“6 Ideas for Resistance” in therapy by NICABM
“How to Get to the Heart of Resistance with Marsha Linehan” by NICABM
If you have any recommendations on the topic, please let me know! Thank you!
Resources
I have updated my personal Trauma Stewardship sheet and also created an alternative layout closer to the SWAT analisys look (instead of the wheel, I also use four squares, easier to fill out as a form). You can see my main template here.
I do recommend reading the source book to fully understand how this framework works. Enjoy!
To receive our newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash
