Before You Start the Weekend, Have You Finished the Week?

Friday evening arrives, you shut the laptop, finish the last job or walk through the front door.

So the week is finished.

Or is it?

Because sometimes our body arrives at Friday evening while our head is still somewhere around Wednesday.

We replay the conversation that annoyed us.

Think about what didn’t get finished. Check another message. Remember something that needs doing on Monday. Before we know it, Saturday morning has arrived and we’re still carrying Friday around with us.

Perhaps we need to get better at finishing the week.

What Are You Still Carrying?

The NHS describes stress as our body’s response to feeling threatened or under pressure. Too much of it can affect our mood, body and relationships, and longer periods of severe stress can leave us physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

I don’t think the answer is pretending we can breathe away every problem.

But we can create a boundary.

And tonight I’m suggesting five minutes.

Sit somewhere comfortable. If you’re home and being naked is how you’re naturally most comfortable, get naked. Put the phone somewhere you can’t absent-mindedly pick it up.

Then breathe.

The NHS has a wonderfully uncomplicated breathing exercise for stress. Let the breath travel comfortably towards the belly without forcing it, breathe gently through the nose and out through the mouth, and count steadily if that helps. Continue for at least five minutes.

Try the NHS five-minute breathing exercise⁠

That’s it.

No incense required. No expensive retreat. No need to sit cross-legged making mysterious noises.

Just five quiet minutes.

But Here’s the Bit I’d Add

Each time you breathe out, ask yourself:

What am I still carrying?

You don’t have to solve it.

Just notice it.

The NHS describes mindfulness as paying attention to what is happening inside and around us in the present moment. Crucially, it isn’t about somehow emptying the mind.

Thoughts will appear; we can notice them and return our attention to what is happening now.

Perhaps that’s what Friday evening needs.

Not another attempt to fix everything.

Just recognition that today’s work has finished.

Naturism Has a Place Here

September is reminding us rather forcefully that summer doesn’t last forever. Wales is bright initially today, but rain is expected to spread eastwards this afternoon, with stronger winds and gales possible around northwestern coasts.

Our naturism doesn’t disappear with the sunshine.

Naturism is how we live.

Through autumn and winter, home becomes one of the places where that way of living can become particularly valuable. Taking off the day’s clothes can become a little psychological punctuation mark:

I’m home. I’m comfortable. Today is finished.

I’m not claiming nudity reduces stress. That’s not what the evidence says.

I’m saying that if being unclothed at home already represents comfort and normality for you, combining that familiar ritual with five minutes of deliberate quiet can create a useful transition between one part of life and another.

That’s the Wellness Wheel in ordinary life.

Emotional wellbeing doesn’t always require a major intervention. Sometimes it’s recognising that rest deserves a boundary too.

So tonight, before television, dinner, messages or weekend plans take over, try something.

Five minutes.

Phone down.

Clothes off if that’s your normal.

Breathe.

Notice what you’re carrying.

And decide what can stay in this week rather than accompanying you into the next two days.

Before you start your weekend, what are you ready to leave behind in this one?