The summer holidays have started and many of the women who come to me expect this to be the moment they finally catch their breath. No alarm clock, no school routine, a bit more room in the schedule. Yet in practice I see that these weeks often don’t bring the rest you’d expect.

Why a holiday with children doesn’t automatically mean rest

I have four children myself, so I know this from close up too. When the kids are home, you’re available all day. There’s no moment where you’re truly on your own, no fixed structure shaping the day for you. Your body ends up staying in the same watchful mode as during a busy school week, it just looks different from the outside.

With a lot of women I see that the mind knows it’s holiday time, but the body never gets that message. Shoulders stay high, the jaw stays tight, and settling down in the evening still doesn’t happen by itself.

What your body needs, even when the schedule looks empty

Rest isn’t the same as free time. Your body needs moments where it can actually let go, without anyone asking anything of it. For most mothers that’s exactly what’s scarce during the summer holidays, even when the calendar looks wide open.

In my practice in Hoofddorp I work with targeted massage to help your body release that watchful mode, whether you’re coming from Hoofddorp itself or from Haarlem, Amstelveen or Aalsmeer. Often one treatment is enough to feel how far your body actually was from relaxing.

Want to know what that could mean for you, even in the middle of a busy summer? Read more about tension pain or make an appointment.