This morning I woke from a vivid and strange dream about being on a pirate ship. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Right before I woke up I was about to explain the difference between what it means when things happen “to you“ versus “for you“.

As my brain often does in those first few moments of waking, I continued the dream where it had left off and found myself filling in my definitions.

When you believe something is happening “to you“, you put yourself in the victim mode of feeling stuck, like you have no choices or no control over the matter and can become frustrated at the unfairness of the situation.

When you believe something is happening “for you“, you start to consider the lesson meant to be learned and how you can potentially benefit from that as well as what control you do have around the situation and what actions you can proactively take to feel more empowered and create change.

As I more fully woke up and connected to how tired I was, I found myself in my own version of “to me“. I have slept pretty terribly the last couple nights and these exceptionally vivid and strange dreams often feel very active and I wake up feeling anything but rested and restored.

After an incredibly busy summer, I spent most of August eagerly anticipating a slower-paced, grounded, post-Labor Day routine and was ready to flip that switch overnight Monday into Tuesday (and in NYC, Mother Nature obviously agreed with my plan).

But our body’s don’t work by flipping switches.

I was choosing to ignore the time my body would need to transition and recalibrate from summer, long weekend mode to Autumn, work and focused mode.

So instead of being frustrated with my lack of sleep and vivid dreams, I paused to consider why they might be happening “for me”.

I recalled something I read last week, “Remembering dreams is a sign of your connection to your intuition”.

Dreams are also the brain‘s way of processing things going on in our waking life (even if they are completely unrelated and make no sense, like being on a pirate ship).

Instead of continuing to focus on what I needed to do to fix or change feeling tired and unrested, I realized I might benefit more by slowing down and noticing.

Becoming aware of other intuitive signs that are showing up to guide me on what my body needs to transition gracefully and thrive, not only this week, but through the next few weeks between Labor Day and Fall Equinox as the weather shifts and we start to lose daylight more quickly.

Besides not sleeping well, here are some other things you might notice now or in the coming weeks that could indicate you too, could use some support during this transition:

Feeling unorganized or constantly behind schedule.

A sense of overwhelm or difficulty making a choice about what to do next.

Lack of focus or stamina.

Like things are hard or taking longer than usual.

If you’re struggling to know what your body needs to transition gracefully, use this 30 second exercise to help you feel more focused and decisive around taking actions.

Whatever you’re feeling, have compassion and take it one step at a time. Each step makes a difference. And don't forget sometimes that step can look like resting.