REST WITH JOY DUSHEY

It’s time for you to give yourself permission for self-care. That’s the first thing breathwork healer and holistic coach Joy Dushey tells the ladies with whom she works.

In this interview, Joy, who is also a distance runner, tells us about a time when she was running away from unhappiness. She shares the transformation she experienced after suffering a stroke at age 29 and the role rest played in her recovery. Plus, she explains why sleep is vitally important and how we can be our highest selves.

RITUAL

WHAT ARE YOUR RITUALS TO RELAX, REJUVENATE, AND RESTORE YOURSELF?

Although I am piling on more and more in my schedule with starting my practice and The Joyful Approach platform projects, my personal life, and responsibilities to my family, I am conscious about carving out time for restoration.

Self-care and Daily Practice are important components of The Joyful Approach lifestyle.

I meditate daily. Meditating is a wakeful relaxation producing theta waves and when done consistently, meditation can also produce delta wave states which accesses even deeper relaxation.

I use tools like essential oils, incense, ocean stones, and crystals to further benefit my meditations.

I am so blessed to know some gifted healers, so I’ll schedule a healing session like a Reiki session, energy clearing, or a session of massage/body work. I do Breathwork at least once a week. I’ll look for a sound bath event happening, which I find to be so restorative.

At home, I’ll take a salt bath and light white candles and use incense like sage and palo santo to clear out energies.

I’ll also take a walk in nature for grounding and earthing restoration.

EMPOWER

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO EMPOWER WOMEN TO MAKE TIME FOR (GUILT-FREE) REST?

The first thing I tell my ladies is that it’s time for them to give themselves permission for self-care. I find that women culturally take so much on and feel guilty with doing things for themselves. The first step is to have awareness about how a hectic or an overloaded schedule is not serving them.

The first fundamental component of TJA is sleep. When we don’t have proper sleep and rest we can’t function optimally and we are out of balance.

I encourage doing less and making time for self-care so they can be their best selves; they can start accessing feeling better by setting boundaries for themselves to nurture themselves. I believe there is so much freedom in being able to say NO to things that don’t serve us.

We can be our highest selves when we are well resourced. Well resourced means having adequate rest and feeling vital and optimal.

SURRENDER

PLEASE DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN YOU HAD TO SURRENDER TO REST.

When I was 29 years old, I suffered a stroke. It was when I had my most profound transformation and complete overhaul of life as I knew it.

I had to take a year to rehabilitate and recover, which was so difficult for me. My sun sign is in Aries, so by nature, I am very active and like to move and get things done. In this time I had to really stop and reflect on my life up until that point. It was a forced rest in which I couldn’t keep running from what wasn’t working in my life and the unhappiness that I was running away from. I sat in the darkness for the first time in my life and it was painful but it was also very healing. During that time of rest, I was able to nurture myself and take measures to create great shifts in my life and it’s when I embarked on a holistic lifestyle.

TUNE IN

HOW DO YOU TUNE INTO YOUR BODY’S WISDOM TO KNOW WHEN TO REST?

I am pretty in tune with my body. I think this has to do with being an athlete, a distance runner and being sensitive to when things feel off balance.

Intuition is something I have acquired more as a healer. I can tune in to when I feel out of balance or if I feel un-resourced. When I feel like I need more rest, I will shift my schedule and carve out time, even if its only 20 minutes to either do a meditation or take a nap.

An excerpt from an article on The Joyful Approach on sleep :

Lack of sleep leads to lethargy, fragile emotions and furthermore suppresses the immune system. Chronic sleep loss can lead to magnified problems such as depression, memory loss and risk of heart disease.

The body requires sleep just as it does water, food and oxygen to function.

Adrenal glands sit on the kidney. The adrenals pump out adrenaline, we use during the day while the nervous system is so active to go go go all day, and at night we need to recharge those batteries. Sleep is what does that.