Jas Rawlinson is an Australian mental health speaker, book writing coach, and the author of the best-selling series ‘Reasons to Live One More Day, Every Day.’ With a passion for empowering trauma survivors to transform their adversities into inspiring life stories, Jas is committed to changing communities through the power of words. She has been featured across major outlets like ABC News, 9 News, News.com.au and Non-Fiction Authors Association, and has had her work endorsed by high-profile names and charities, including Kevin Hines, Professor Patrick McGorry, Lifeline Hunter Valley, and Destiny Rescue. Find out more about Jas at www.jasrawlinson.com/my-story.
Jas Rawlinson is an Australian mental health speaker, book writing coach, and the author of the best-selling series ‘Reasons to Live One More Day, Every Day.’ With a passion for empowering trauma survivors to transform their adversities into inspiring life stories, Jas is committed to changing communities through the power of words. She has been featured across major outlets like ABC News, 9 News, News.com.au and Non-Fiction Authors Association, and has had her work endorsed by high-profile names and charities, including Kevin Hines, Professor Patrick McGorry, Lifeline Hunter Valley, and Destiny Rescue. Find out more about Jas at www.jasrawlinson.com/my-story.
Find inspiration as we talk to Jas Rawlinson in our #StrongHealthyWomen interview.
Hi Jas! Thank you for being part of the Health and Fitness Travel, Strong, Healthy Women Interview Series, where we are shining a light on the importance of self-care, not as an indulgence but a necessity to reduce stress and general health issues.
Is there such a thing as a typical day for you and what does that look like?
Being a solo entrepreneur as well as a stay at home parent to a little one, it’s hard to plan exactly how each day will go. That said, I try to keep to a strong routine with my son, which helps me to stay on track (as much as possible) with work and personal plans. Generally, I try to keep the early mornings and late afternoons free for mindful playtime with my son, and during his nap time, I focus intensely on work. I also try my best to fit in some ‘me’ time – even if it’s just sitting in the sun for 30 minutes and reading a book.
Can you share a time when you felt your well-being was challenged in the past and what did you do to overcome it?
Earlier this year, after 10 months of absolutely slogging my guts out to finish my newest book, I hit a wall. At the time I didn’t think much of it, as I expected my body to bounce back pretty quickly. However, after struggling through a 3 week flu, then being hit by a spell of lethargy that was so strong I didn’t even have the energy to drive into town some days, and then developing a severe and constant ‘stress’ twitch on one side of my face, I realised how serious things were. My first thought was, ‘well, I guess I just need to spend some time relaxing and everything will go back to normal’ – but I soon discovered I couldn’t even sit and read a book for five minutes without thinking about work! For me, re-learning how to just sit and relax was like a foreign language. It felt ‘selfish’ and unnatural. What helped me most during this time, was scheduling self-care and relaxation time into my day – much like anything else in my business. I also implemented little self-care hacks, like turning off all social media alerts on my phone and avoiding looking at any of these apps before 9am in the morning.
What does ‘being healthy’ mean to you and how do you keep this at the forefront when life gets unavoidably busy?
Health is more than just physical – it also encompasses our emotional, spiritual, and mental wellbeing. Working in the mental health space as a speaker and also a writing coach for trauma survivors, means that I really have to work hard to stay on top of my own self-care routines and practice what I preach. Although we can’t always control how our days will go, or how busy things may get from one week to the next, we can definitely schedule little things into our day to help offset stress and avoid future burn out. Daily gratitude journaling (particularly at the start or end of the day), as well as getting to the gym at least three times a week, are little things I do to make sure I stay mentally and physically healthy.
Have you ever taken a holiday specifically for your well-being? Can you share what the experience was like?
After a bad break up in 2010, I remember being at a very low point and struggling to find motivation in my daily life – both at work and home. It was around that time that I decided to book a getaway trip to Western Australia – which was essentially the other side of the country, and about as far away as I could get without going overseas. The experience ended up being exactly what I needed! Over the course of 2 weeks, I was able to replace a lot of the negative emotions and memories swarming around my mind with new, exciting, and surprising experiences, and begin to dream about changes I’d like to make in my life when I returned home. To date, this trip holds some of my fondest memories.
These days I don’t get much of a chance to take time out (being a full-time stay at home parent), but I did recently book a weekend away for my husband and I to kick back and recuperate. We’ve also booked a week away for a camping trip with some mates, which I’m super excited about!
Every woman’s idea of self-care is different, please tell us what does self-care mean to you?
Whenever I look at wellness features on TV or in magazines, I tend to see a really glamorous, one-dimensional view of what self-care encompasses. Pamper sessions; yoga retreats; weekend hotel getaways; bubble baths. These are all awesome – but the reality is, everyday self-care is pretty boring and un-sexy.
For me, self-care is about going to bed at the same time every night and hassling my husband to do the same, so that we don’t wake up tired and grumpy. It’s about turning off all social media notifications so that I can actually ‘live’ and ‘be’ in each moment, without being on call 24/7. It’s about eating healthy meals every day, but also allowing myself to enjoy little treats. It’s about being open with my husband when I’m struggling emotionally and being brave enough to listen to my body and cancel plans if I need to rest. It’s also about learning to listen to my gut instinct and say no to people or opportunities that don’t serve me in a positive way.
Want to tell your story? Reach out to us via info@healthandfitnesstravel.com.au and be featured as our next strong, healthy woman.
