Welcome back to This Holistic Life, where faith, science, and holistic wisdom come together to help you thrive in every season. I’m Tracie Braylock, holistic nurse and your guide to rest, renewal, and intentional living.
Today, I want to slow things down and ask you a gentle but important question: What’s occupying your time?
Is it scrolling? Constant busyness? Staying up late trying to recover time you felt you didn’t have during the day? These moments might feel small, but they’re stacking up – and they may be contributing to the very stress and exhaustion you’re trying to escape.
What’s Really Filling Your Time?
Let’s take a breath and reflect.
When your day ends and you finally have a moment to yourself, what do you reach for? Your phone? The TV remote? Another task on your to-do list?
These actions may feel like coping, but they may actually be distractions – filling time instead of refilling your soul.
We often stay busy to avoid feeling overwhelmed. We scroll to feel connected, even though it often leaves us drained. We stay up late trying to reclaim time that was stolen by stress, obligations, or responsibilities.
But here’s the truth: these habits may be robbing you of the very restoration you’re longing for.
How It Contributes to Stress & Imbalance
All of these unconscious patterns can quietly fuel stress in your life:
Scrolling overstimulates your brain and disrupts your ability to relax
Busyness keeps your nervous system in a constant state of alert
Revenge bedtime procrastination – staying up late to reclaim time – throws off your hormones and disrupts healing sleep
And when your brain and body never get a chance to slow down, your stress hormones remain elevated, your digestion slows, your immune function weakens, and your ability to heal becomes compromised.
This is why you’re tired, wired, and wondering why you can’t relax – even when you’re technically “off the clock.
Your body’s not broken – it’s trying to survive your habits.
You Do Have Time to Take Care of You
You may feel like there’s no time to rest. No time to pause. No time to take care of yourself. But the truth is – you do have time.
The question is, what’s filling it?
When you take your mind off of autopilot and start noticing how you’re spending your minutes, you begin to reclaim the power to change your rhythms. You begin to rewrite the story of your day – and your health.
Take Your Mind Off Autopilot
So how do you get off autopilot and reconnect with intentional living? It starts with awareness.
Try this:
Keep a time journal for one day. Write down what you do every 30 minutes. You might be surprised at where your energy is going.
Pause for 3 deep breaths before you pick up your phone or open a new tab. Ask yourself – what am I really needing right now?
Before bed, trade 10 minutes of scrolling for 10 minutes of silence, prayer, stretching, or journaling.
Small, mindful changes break the cycle and open up space for healing.
This Is Why You Can’t Relax – But You Can Relearn How
These are the reasons why you can’t relax. Why your mind races at night. Why your hormones feel out of sync. Why your body isn’t bouncing back the way it used to.
But it doesn’t have to stay this way.
Your peace is still available. Your nervous system can calm down. Your habits can be renewed. Your body can begin to heal.
It all starts with one question:
What’s really occupying your time?
And are those things serving you – or slowly draining you?
Closing Thoughts
If you’re ready to break the cycle and begin reclaiming your time, your rest, and your peace, I invite you to get a copy of my book Radical Relaxation: Releasing the Stress You Were Never Meant to Carry.
It’s filled with practical, faith-based tools to help you shift your habits, reduce stress, and begin living with more intention and ease.
Visit traciebraylock.com to grab your copy and explore more resources to support your holistic healing journey.
Until next time, take your mind off autopilot, breathe deeply, and remember to relax often and enjoy the journey.
Thank You to Our This Holistic Life Sponsors
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