Rest is a Holy Act

Reclaiming My Rhythm: Day 6 of My Cycle

Learning to Hold Better Boundaries With Myself

Something I’ve been sitting with lately is how much my health depends on the promises I make to myself — especially when it comes to sleep, rest, and my daily rituals.

Lately it’s felt simpler to navigate boundaries in relationships with other people. But when it comes to the relationship I have with myself, things can blur.
The temptation to stay up late, push through exhaustion, or skip the small daily practices that nourish me can be so subtle... and yet they have a real cost over time.

When I don’t hold loving, firm boundaries with myself around sleep or self-care, I feel it in my body first — fatigue, eczema, emotional fragility, brain fog, cycle shifts. My body keeps the score, even when my mind tries to justify, “Just one more hour. Just one more thing.”

Sleep is sacred. Without deep, consistent rest, my hormones struggle to regulate. My brain doesn’t repair and reset the way it needs to. My emotional landscape becomes harder to navigate.

Setting better boundaries with myself isn’t about restriction — it’s about protection. It's about choosing to stay loyal to the version of me who feels vibrant, resilient, and at ease in her body. It’s about creating a life where my rituals are anchors, not obligations.

What I'm Focusing On Right Now:

• Setting a “sacred container” for bedtime:
  Lights out by 10PM whenever possible, no endless scrolling, no "just one more thing" tasks.

• Keeping nighttime rituals simple and nourishing:
  Herbal tea, magnesium, gentle stretching, and journaling. Just enough to tell my body, “It’s safe to slow down now.”

• Forgiving myself when I slip:
  Slipping doesn’t mean failing. It’s just an invitation to return, again and again, with more tenderness.

Boundaries with myself are a form of self-respect. They're how I tell my body and spirit: "I value you enough to honor your needs." They're how I become someone I can trust — not in theory, but in practice, one night, one choice, one breath at a time.

Tonight, I’ll choose myself again.

---

Rest is a Holy Act

There is a temple inside my body
where the stars come to drink from my dreams.

When I stay too long at the gates of waking,
the temple doors grow heavy,
the constellations dim.

But when I honor the call to stillness —
when I cross the threshold of night with reverence —
the temple opens wide.

My bones hum ancient songs,
my blood stitches itself back to wholeness,
my spirit slips back into the river
that remembers who I am.

Tonight, I do not bargain with the dark.
Tonight, I lay down my mind like an offering,
and the sacred ones of sleep gather me
into their quiet choir.

I choose to remember:
Rest is a holy act.
Dreaming is a kind of prayer.
Sleep is where I return
to the mystery of becoming.

With love,
Jessica