How often do you put yourself last?
How often do you override your needs to meet someone else's needs?
How often do you keep going when your body is asking you to stop?
How often do you tell yourself you'll rest later?
And what might happen if you stopped waiting?
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I invite you to gather with other women who are ready to interrupt this pattern. Not to become better at doing everything. Not to squeeze another self-care practice into an already impossible schedule. Not to become more productive. But to actually stop. To rest. To listen. To notice what you need. And from that place, to begin making different choices. Each week, we will meet in person to Rest, Write, and Share. Together, we'll explore what becomes possible when we stop operating from exhaustion and begin creating our lives from a place of rest, choice, and connection. |
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The holidays will be ramping up around us. But the work we're doing is much bigger than the holidays.
This is about how you want to live.
How you want to show up in your relationships.
How you want to spend your energy.
What you are willing to carry.
What you are ready to put down.
And what happens when you stop abandoning yourself in order to take care of everyone else.
This is about how you want to live.
How you want to show up in your relationships.
How you want to spend your energy.
What you are willing to carry.
What you are ready to put down.
And what happens when you stop abandoning yourself in order to take care of everyone else.
Did you know:
- The American women perform an average of over 280 hours of unpaid caregiving per year, which amounts to $682 billion nationally. When including all forms of unpaid household work (chores, cooking, cleaning), broader economic analyses estimate that women's uncompensated labor equates to roughly $40,000 per year per woman if paid at standard market replacement wages.
- Women spend an average of 3 to 6 hours a day on unpaid work globally, compared to about 30 minutes to 2 hours for men.
- Women shoulder roughly 71% to 86% of family scheduling, household routines, and tracking responsibilities. This goes beyond physical chores like washing dishes; it is about anticipating, scanning, and tracking. Always and forever.
- In professional settings, women are more frequently assigned uncompensated "office housework" that falls outside of their work duties. Think organizing celebrations, note-taking, or emotional mediation.
Why Rest?
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Do you feel like you have to do everything for everybody? That the world will fall apart without you? I know this feeling. As a therapist, a mother, and a caregiver, I am a space holder. I am a tender to others. And I have learned that if I don't attend to myself, no one wins. |
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I cannot hold space for others or have empathy for others unless I first hold space for myself.
This became especially clear to me during Covid, when my dad's health was failing. I learned to lay down every day, tend to myself, and listen to myself.
Because if you always put yourself last--"I'll get to myself after I finish my to-do list"—you will never get to rest.
There is always something more to do.
That is why this is essential: you have to give to yourself first.
And when you do, things begin to shift.
You begin to see the places where you can let go.
This became especially clear to me during Covid, when my dad's health was failing. I learned to lay down every day, tend to myself, and listen to myself.
Because if you always put yourself last--"I'll get to myself after I finish my to-do list"—you will never get to rest.
There is always something more to do.
That is why this is essential: you have to give to yourself first.
And when you do, things begin to shift.
You begin to see the places where you can let go.
About the Practice
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Yoga Nidra is a deeply restful practice. You lie down, listen, and allow yourself to be guided inward. It is a practice of learning to respond rather than react to life. It gives you a place to stop. A place to listen. A place to feel and tend to what is underneath all the doing. Yoga Nidra is a compass back to ourselves—to connection, to something bigger, and back to love. The practice moves beyond simply relaxing the body. It can bring us into a sense of spaciousness and deep connection, where we can see ourselves more clearly. "You are the flow, not the person flowing." And sometimes, from that place of rest, we can finally hear the quieter voice underneath all the shoulds. |
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Research suggests Yoga Nidra may help:
• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Improve sleep and sleep quality
• Support emotional well-being
• Reduce symptoms of depression
• Create a greater sense of relaxation and well-being
What exactly will we be doing for five weeks?
Each week, we will meet in person to practice yoga nidra, practice self-inquiry and journaling, and dream together.
Rest
Rest
- For the first part of our time together, we simply practice resting.
- No fixing.
- No improving.
- No trying to become a better version of yourself.
- Just rest.
- From a more rested place, we begin to look at what you need.
- What would it mean to mother yourself?
- What would it mean to listen to your own needs and take them seriously?
- We'll explore boundaries—not as a way of abandoning other people, but as a way of staying connected to yourself.
- From this place, we begin to imagine a more rested life.
- What do you actually want to take on?
- What can you let go of?
- Where have you been operating from obligation instead of choice?
- What might change if you stopped waiting for everything to be done before you allowed yourself to rest?
- We'll begin to dream together about a different way of being.
What Is Included
- Five in-person gatherings: Rest, reflection, writing, and sharing with a group of women.
- Five Yoga Nidras: A new guided Yoga Nidra each week, following the themes of our journey.
- 35 days of rest practice: Your commitment to approximately 20 minutes of daily rest practice.
- Shorter rest practices: For the days when you don't have time for a full Yoga Nidra—or when you want to add another practice.
- Journaling + soul whispers: Time to listen, write, and notice what emerges when you finally get quiet enough to hear yourself.
- Rest Community + Accountability buddy: Someone to help you stay connected to your practice (if desired).
We're moving from obligation: |
To choice: |
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I have to do it all.
I'll rest when everything is done. I don't want to disappoint anyone. My needs come last. |
I get to decide what I take on.
Rest is something I practice, not something I earn. I can set boundaries without abandoning people. My needs are not negotiable. |
This is not about doing less so you can fit more in.
It's about becoming more intentional about what you give your energy to.
It's about having enough space inside yourself to hear what you actually want.
And then having the courage to act on it.
It's about becoming more intentional about what you give your energy to.
It's about having enough space inside yourself to hear what you actually want.
And then having the courage to act on it.
This workshop is for you if you:
- Over-function your way through life.
- Feel exhausted.
- Do too much and regularly overextend yourself.
- Promise yourself you'll rest after just one more thing.
- Are a caregiver, parent, business owner, manager, partner, or someone others depend on.
- Feel like your needs always come last.
- Have lost your creativity or inspiration because you're just too damn tired.
- Feel like you have to do everything yourself.
- Want to enter this holiday season from a place of greater choice rather than obligation.
- Know that something needs to change, but you're too tired to figure out what.
- You identify as a woman—cis, trans, or non-binary who finds your home in women- and femme-centric spaces.
You don't have to be good at resting.
You don't have to have your life figured out.
You just have to be willing to stop for a little while.
You don't have to have your life figured out.
You just have to be willing to stop for a little while.
The Details:
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Rest Before You Give A five-week, in-person workshop series in Santa Cruz Dates: November 4–December 9 No class Thanksgiving week Time: 5:30–7:00 PM Place: 303 Potrero St. 29-102 |
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Three levels of Investment:
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SUSTAINED: $108
A partially subsidized rate for women who would like to participate but need some financial support to make it possible. This is a scholarship rate, and there is no need to explain or justify your choice. |
SUSTAINER: $216
The standard rate. This reflects the cost of creating and facilitating the five-week series and helps sustain the offering. |
ABUNDANT: $297
For those who have more financial room and would like to contribute beyond the standard rate. Choosing this rate helps make the Sustained rate available to other women. |
Please choose the rate that feels right for you. The goal is to make this work accessible while also honoring the time, energy, and resources that go into creating it.
Please choose the rate that feels right for you. The goal is to make this work accessible while also honoring the time, energy, and resources that go into creating it.
You Don't Have to Wait Until Everything Is Done.
Because it never will be.
The to-do list will still be there.
Someone will still need something from you.
And you can still stop.
You can lie down.
You can breathe.
You can listen.
You can rest.
Come rest with us before you give it all away: SIGN UP HERE