So believe it or not this is me resting…. A stack of books in a quiet nook of my favorite bookstore. The tactile feel of actual pages, highlighting meaningful passages and stilling my mind for a few moments of pondering as an ideal beautifully written by the author raptures my attention. It’s not everyone’s rest practice but it certainly is mine.
I agree with the Calm article; rest is often misunderstood or even overlooked. When we rest, we’re not just stopping physical activity or work; nor is rest merely about sleeping well. When we truly rest, we’re reaching a state where our mind and body can relax and recover from the stresses and strains of daily life. Medically, rest has long been recognized as a key component in maintaining good health, preventing burnout, and ensuring long-term wellbeing.
According to Psychology Today:
- Sleep alone is not effective in managing exhaustion and fatigue.
- Our minds and bodies need 7 different types of rest to feel refreshed and rejuvenated.
In order to take a more meaningful approach to rest, I did some research on 7 common forms of rest and how to improve my rest practice. Upon researching, I noticed there are many more rest forms I chose not to include in this post. I selected these 7 as they most closely aligned with the 7 dimensions of health I write about each week on the blog. Feel free to conduct additional research for forms that may align more closely to your needs.
Intellectual Rest
According to Harvard College of Health Promotion, intellectual wellbeing consists of critical thinking, stimulating curiosity, problem solving, and creativity. Intellectual wellbeing isn’t confined to the classroom or office, but instead requires lifelong sustainment and cultivation.
In the above photo, my husband became photographer with me quickly plastering joyful smile; so happy to check out with my latest book haul. I adore spending time reading excerpts from each book widdling down the stack to a more reasonable number. Professionally my required reading is full of contracts, emails, presentations, memos ect… ect…. Having the intellectual freedom to step into a bookstore and read for pleasure is a level of rest my mind craves quite often.
P.S– if you are interested in my book stack, my 2024 TBR blog post is here. I used the TBR to select the books in the stack.
Social Rest
Social wellness is defined as developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed support system.
We also must be cognitive of our social limits as highlighted well in the Psychology Today article. Our innate “social battery” can help us realize when we need to recharge.
In a previous post I focused my obsession with using ecotherapy as a means of social battery recharge in nature. Originating in Japan in the 1980s, essentially you take in forest atmosphere; a calm and/or wooded area of the forest mindfully and in a present way. Some of the psychological effects cited are, boosts wellbeing in a natural way, heightens our senses focusing on the now instead of our to-do lists, decreases feelings of anxiety, allows us to disconnect from technology in a natural way. I discuss a bit more about my love for ecotherapy in the blog post here.
Sensory Rest
There are many ways to reduce sensory overstimulation. As I researched this type of rest, it seems the primary reason most coalesce around is intentionally seeking moments of sensory deprivation to help recharge ourselves from being overstimulated. A few I’ve mentioned in previous posts that may be of interest are:
Physical Rest
Common definition of physical rest of taking a break from the physical activities we do all day. How does one “practice rest”? Well let me direct you to Ms. Tricia Hersey and her book “Rest is Resistance“. Tricia defines the opposite of Slow Living as “Grind Culture”. Tricia states “Grind Culture weakens our love of self and community”. Ms. Hersey runs a “nap ministry” in Chicago, Illinois. Her signature program is the Collective Napping Experience. Using yoga mats, blankets, pillows, curated soundtracks and a post nap talk She has led hundreds through facilitated naps in art galleries, living rooms, and even parks! It was after I read her book I committed Myself to weekly naps which have greatly improved my rest practice.
Creative Rest
One way to achieve creative rest is to surround yourself with inspiration while simultaneously taking the pressure off having to “do” something with it (Psychology Today). Art, music, culture whatever inspires you can create rejuvenation for your daily profession.
The pic above is of a sculpture that inspired me so much during a trip to NYC. I think I stood staring before I even took a pic for close to 7 min. I couldn’t take my eyes off the intricacy of her headgear, the intentional facial features or her look of inquisitive confidence.
Notable mention recently read in bookREST by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang references one of the foremost designers Stefan Sagmeister. Every 7 years he takes a year-long creative sabbatical in which he closes up his office and spends the year following passions and rest. What I find incredibly interesting is that the following year after his sabbatical he’s won a grammy, almost consistently. Sabbaticals are a form of creative rest that seem to be very effective.
Spiritual Rest
Spiritual rest means connecting on a deeper level with something greater than ourselves. Engage in something greater than yourself in day to day. One of Florence Nightingale’s most notable observation centered around the positive influence of nature on patient recovery (initially read in book The Well-Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith). She discovered that patients exhibited faster healing and experienced improved overall well-being when exposed to natural light and had access to views of nature through windows.
Rest deficit
Dr. Sandra Dalton-Smith in a TedxAtlanta talk she shares rest deficit leads to burnout, chronic fatigue and mental chaos. She states we need more than just sleep. We need rest such as resort deprivation.
I hope this post gave you a few ideas on how to expand your practices beyond sleep.
In peace,
J