Permission to pause - Sara Campin, Founder of The Nourish App

Permission to pause.

Do you sometimes find it hard to slow down?  Hard to pause? Hard to sit down and do nothing? Yes even in lockdown! 

Our busy, always-on culture and never ending to do lists mean that many of us find this really hard. It's especially hard when we've got little humans to look after and maybe you are also juggling the pressures of a demanding job or even your own business. 

In addition to the demands of motherhood, work and daily life, the constant digital distractions mean there is always something else demanding our attention. The present moment can seem pretty boring in comparison to our social media or news feed - which does exactly that - feeds our brain with more information, training it to be constantly busy, in overdrive, missing out on those magic moments which would otherwise keep our happiness topped up. 

Even though my business is all about empowering mums to take a break and nourish their minds. I still find this really hard! Especially when I'm hitting up against deadlines and external pressures. The intensity of the lockdown situation has made this even harder for all of us. Our time and headspace has been squeezed more than ever before. All those barriers to self-care - the lack of time, energy, money and of course the guilt about taking time for ourselves are higher than ever before. 

But never before has it been more important. Because when we do slow down, or even just take a few moments to pause, to soothe our frazzled nerves, to calm our whirring minds and rest our aching bodies, we are more able to access our best selves. More able to find that compassionate inner voice. More able to accept and navigate all the complex emotions. More able to let go of perfection, and more able to find that inner and outer calm. 

Towards the end of last week I could really feel the overwhelm rising. I became hypersensitive to noise - a tell tell sign for me- and tough when you’ve got a loud, boisterous 5 year old bull tearing round the house! My to-do-list felt just too much. I was grumpy and irritable with the kids and my husband. I started to feel like I was failing at everything - at being a good mum, a good wife, a good daughter, a good teacher, a good entrepreneur, a good citizen.The inner critic was raging - and I fell into all my old bad habits. I prioritised work over sleep and self-care and just kept pushing. I knew it was the wrong approach but I couldn’t help myself. And the fact that I wasn’t ‘walking the talk’ just gave me yet another stick to beat myself with. 

Now I have been down this route a fair few times and luckily for me I typically notice this slip into bad habits before things get too bad, but also my husband is pretty good at calling me out on too. Even if it does start with an argument, once the dust settles, he’s pretty good at then helping me prioritise some me-time. And you know what? Once I gave myself permission to slow down, to pause, to do some mindfulness and Yoga Nidra meditation and step away from the phone and computer for a day, the world felt a completely different place. 

I wish I could tell you I had the winning formula to never falling into those traps, but the truth is self-care is really really hard. In fact it’s because I find this so hard personally, but have seen the positive benefits first hand, that I’m so passionate about empowering mothers with the self-care tools to nourish their minds and prioritise their mental health. Creating proactive habits is essential for being able to ride you through the tough times. But even then it’s easy to fall off the wagon. When we do, the first step is noticing it and giving ourselves a break - being compassionate with ourselves. Acknowledging that this is hard. But then it’s SO important to give ourselves that permission to slow down, and pause. Even just for a little bit. And implement those tools which nourish our minds and bodies and top up our energetic bank balance. 

If you get stuck on the permission piece. Just take a moment to think about the best version of you and ask yourself what is true when that version of you exists? Yes maybe you can’t get rid of all the external pressures, but what actions CAN you take to help yourself find that version of you? If you need inspiration, check out the Nourish app (www.thenourishapp.com). 

We can’t pour from an empty cup. You deserve some nourishment - and I promise you your kids will reap the rewards. ❤️

With love & kindness Sara Campin (Founder, The Nourish App)

Nourish is a new wellbeing app created by mothers for mothers. It’s jam packed with bite-sized, relevant and relatable meditations, videos and short reads across mindfulness, yoga, yoga nidra, positive psychology and more, all created by a team of wellbeing experts who understand the challenges of motherhood first hand.  

You can check out the app for FREE with a 1 month FREE trial. Only £1.50-2.99/m thereafter. You won't be charged until the end of the first month. Cancel anytime. 

Download on Apple’s App Store or Google Play Store or via www.thenourishapp.com.