Doing Business Gently - Online Business, Work From Rest, Midlife Christian Women, Aligned Business

111 | Why You Need Emotional Rest (and what it feels like when you don't get it)

You know that feeling when you can't quite put your finger on what's wrong, you're just... off? That restless, angsty feeling that shows up out of nowhere, especially in the middle of a busy season or a caregiving stretch? That's often a sign you're missing emotional rest, and it's easy to miss because we don't always know to look for it. In this episode, part of the ongoing series on the five types of rest, you'll learn what emotional rest actually is, why it's different from mental rest, and how to start building small, doable practices into your life and business to get more of it. What You'll Learn * The difference between mental rest and emotional rest, and why they get confused * Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith's definition of emotional rest from her book Sacred Rest * How setting boundaries with clients, family, and yourself creates space for emotional rest * Why journaling by hand works differently than typing, and what the research says * How naming your fear can loosen its grip on you * Why community and safe spaces to express yourself matter for your emotional health In This Episode, You'll Find Answers To * What is emotional rest, and how is it different from mental rest? * What does it feel like when you're not getting enough emotional rest? * What are simple ways to build emotional rest into a busy season? * Why does writing by hand matter for processing emotions? * How do boundaries support emotional rest? Related Episodes * Episode 109: Rest isn’t a luxury, it’s a business strategy (the 5 types your missing) * https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/109-rest-isnt-a-luxury-its-a-business-strategy/id1691564245?i=1000775125976 * Episode 110: Mental Rest https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/110-youre-not-lazy-youre-mentally-maxed-out/id1691564245?i=1000776091006 * Episode 112: Physical Rest (coming next) Links & Resources Mentioned * Sacred Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith - https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Rest-Recover-Energy-Restore/dp/1478921676 * Blog posts about journaling by hand:  * Journaling by Hand: https://selahreflections.com/benefits-of-journaling-by-hand/ [https://selahreflections.com/benefits-of-journaling-by-hand/] * Journaling for Business: https://selahstudios.co/category/journaling/ [https://selahstudios.co/category/journaling/]  * Gentle Business Mastermind: https://selahstudios.co/mastermind [https://selahstudios.co/mastermind]

110 | You’re not lazy, you’re mentally maxed out

You know that feeling of being tired without quite knowing why? Not physically tired, just... foggy, unfocused, maxed out, even when nothing on your calendar looks that demanding? In this episode, Marta continues the series on rest for entrepreneurs by digging into mental rest: the type of rest that gets skipped most often because it doesn't look like anything on the outside. As a "chronically capable" entrepreneur, you're used to over-leveraging your mind: troubleshooting, coaching, creating, deciding, all day long, without ever seeing how much energy that actually takes. Marta shares her own history as a self-taught workaholic, what changed when she started treating mental rest as a business necessity instead of a someday/maybe, and practical, doable ways to build intentional mental breaks into your schedule, including a simple practice she uses before every coaching and mastermind call. What You'll Learn: >> Why mental rest gets overlooked even by entrepreneurs who take rest seriously in other areas >> The signs your brain is overleveraged: indecision, irritability, spinning in circles, staring at your laptop >> Why capacity is resource dependent, not fixed, and what that means when you feel like you've hit your limit >> Simple, low effort ways to build in mental rest: margin between calls, brain dumps, a capture system, gratitude practice >> The ADMAR practice Marta uses to help herself and clients release mental tension before diving into deep work In This Episode, You'll Find Answers To: >> Why am I so tired when I haven't done anything that looks physically demanding? >> What's the difference between self-care and actual rest? >> How do I know if I'm mentally maxed out versus just having an off day? >> What's a quick way to give my brain a break without taking a whole day off? >> Why does capacity feel like it shrinks some days and not others? Related Episodes:  >> EP 109: Rest and the Chronically Capable Entrepreneur https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/109-your-business-plan-needs-to-include-rest-its-not-a-luxury/id1691564245?i=1000775125976 Links & Resources: >> Take the rest quiz: https://itstartswithrest.com/quiz >> Learn the ADMAR practice: EP 27: You need a simple weekly business examen review practice: https://selahstudios.co/27 >> Gentle Business Mastermind: https://selahstudios.co/mastermind

109 | Rest Isn't a Luxury, It's a Business Strategy (the 5 types you're missing)

Rest… too often we view it as something we have to earn in our businesses. It’s time we change that.  We’re kicking off a new series on rest for what I call “the chronically capable entrepreneur”: the ones who show up for everyone else and in the process forget to show up for themselves. I’m sharing five types of rest every entrepreneur needs: mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, and rest from work itself. What You'll Learn: * Why "just getting more sleep" rarely solves burnout * The five types of rest, and why most of us only think about one * Why you are the most valuable asset in your business, not just the person running it * How to build rest into your week as an action step, not an afterthought Related Episodes: * Episode 1: Why we need to work from a place of rest: https://selahstudios.co/1 [https://selahstudios.co/1] * Episode 53: Tired? Learn to rest, not quit your business: https://selahstudios.co/53 [https://selahstudios.co/53] Links & Resources: * Take the What Type of Rest Do You Need quiz: https://itstartswithrest.com/quiz [https://itstartswithrest.com/quiz] * Sacred Rest by Dr. Sandra Dalton-Smith: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Rest-Recover-Energy-Restore/dp/1478921676 [https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Rest-Recover-Energy-Restore/dp/1478921676] * Gentle Business Mastermind: https://selahstudios.co/mastermind [https://selahstudios.co/mastermind]

108 | Why Asking "Why" Is the Most Powerful Thing You Can Do for Your Business Right Now

Why Asking "Why" Is the Most Powerful Thing You Can Do for Your Business Right Now You've built your business. You've shown up, served your clients, done the work. But somewhere along the way, you may have stopped asking one of the most important questions of all: why? In this episode, Marta shares why asking "why" isn't just a reflective exercise... it's one of the most intentional, purposeful things you can do as a business owner. She gets personal about her own season of questioning, and why not having all the answers right now is actually okay. In this episode, you'll find answers to: * Why regularly asking "why" protects you from burnout and misalignment * How to apply the "why" question to your products, services, and marketing channels * Why your original reason for starting your business may no longer fit, and what to do about it * How community and safe spaces can help you dig deeper than you can alone * Why you are the most important asset in your business, and how asking "why" helps you protect that RELATED EPISODES:  The Reason You Feel Disconnected From Your Business - EP 104 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/104-the-reasons-you-feel-disconnected-from-your/id1691564245?i=1000769971758] Disconnected From Your Business? You’re Not Alone - EP 105 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/105-disconnected-from-your-business-youre-not-alone/id1691564245?i=1000771128516] Do You Need to Know the WHY Behind Your Business? Maybe, Maybe Not! [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/38-do-you-need-to-know-the-why-behind-your-business/id1691564245?i=1000644461456] WORK WITH MARTA:  Gentle Business Mastermind: https://selahstudios.co/mastermind [https://selahstudios.co/mastermind]Selah Strategy Sessions: https://selahstudios.co/private-coaching/ [https://selahstudios.co/private-coaching/]  MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:  Business Alignment Audit: selahstudios.co/alignmentaudit [http://selahstudios.co/alignmentaudit]

107 | There's a Reason You Keep Losing Your Business Voice (here's what actually helped me)

In this episode of Doing Business Gently, Marta shares what it really looks like to lose your voice in business, not once, but twice, and the concrete steps she took to find it again. She gets honest about what survival mode did to her business during the hardest season of her life, why leaning too hard on outside voices (yes, including AI tools) contributed to the disconnect, and how she rebuilt from there. This episode is part of an ongoing series on reconnecting with your business, and it sets the stage for the upcoming "Confidently Connected" workshop at the end of June. What You'll Learn in This Episode: * Why losing your voice and losing connection with your business are directly linked * The negative cycle that keeps established entrepreneurs stuck, and how to break it * The three core practices Marta used to find her voice * How AI tools can help or hurt your reconnection process, and how to use them without losing yourself * Why better input always leads to better output, from AI tools and from yourself * What to expect inside the "Confidently Connected" workshop on June 26, 2026 LINKS:  Confidently Connected Workshop - June 26, 2026 https://selahstudios.co/confidently-connected/ [https://selahstudios.co/confidently-connected/]  Episode 106: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-a-gentle-business-actually-looks-like-feat-kim/id1691564245?i=1000772176723 The listener survey: https://forms.gle/FHYroAQR61djquN87 [https://forms.gle/FHYroAQR61djquN87] My favorite Podcasting tool: https://www.descript.com [https://www.descript.com]   TIMESTAMPS [00:00:00] Welcome and series overview: reconnecting with your business  [00:01:20] How voices get buried: busyness, fear, and survival mode  [00:02:00] Marta's story: "I've outgrown my business" and what that realization changed [00:04:30] The survey that reshaped this series and the upcoming workshop  [00:05:45] Step 1: Journaling... getting below the surface to what's really going on  [00:07:00] Step 2: Conversations and manual analysis, finding themes and patterns  [00:08:30] The second season of survival mode: caregiving, loss, and rebuilding  [00:11:30] Step 3: Recording yourself, and why it works differently than writing  [00:13:00] Using AI tools with your voice as the input, not theirs  [00:17:00] What "Confidently Connected" will cover and how to join