The Most Productive Thing You Can Do Today Is Pause


Hi Reader,

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the turning point where light slowly begins to return. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment to offer you this message:

You have permission to pause.

These last weeks of the year often come with a quiet pressure one more task, one more hour, one more thing to finish before we “stop.” But here’s the truth: when we push past the moments meant to fill us, the work we rush through rarely satisfies us professionally or personally. It lands flat, and we’re left feeling empty instead of complete.

This season invites something different.

The Winter Solstice is a time to lean inward, to create fallow space, and to choose presence over intensity. It’s a moment to stop pushing and start listening beneath the noise.

So today, I invite you to take a hard stop on your projects.
What has been done is done.
What hasn’t can wait.

Let this be a time to nurture yourself and those around you in whatever way feels honest and true.

A Gentle Practice for the Solstice

I’m sharing with you a pre-recorded Simple Four-Pose Restorative Practice (about 25 minutes) to support you during this pause.

You don’t need to do all the poses. These can be stand-alone moments of rest.

Choose one pose for 5 minutes, then rest in a simple savasana for 5 minutes.
You’ll feel refreshed and ready without effort.

The Practice Includes:

  • Legs over a chair (3–5 minutes)
  • Supta Baddha Konasana (3–5 minutes)
  • Legs Up the Wall (3–5 minutes)
  • Savasana (10 minutes)

Create a Ritual Space

Set the tone gently:

  • Pillows and blankets
  • Comfortable pajamas
  • Something warm to drink
  • A journal or paper nearby

Let your body guide you. Return to this space again and again over the coming days as a way to celebrate your year and soften into what’s next.

May this Solstice remind you that rest is not withdrawal, it's preparation.

With warmth,
Sarah
Founder of Restored by Donna Sarah
Guiding women home to themselves—one breath, one bloom, one sacred pause at a time.
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