Learn to Rest

Not that REST 🙄

Photo by Aleksandar Cvetanovic on Unsplash

Can’t seem to be able to catch up on rest? We’ve all been there. The weekend passes, and you don’t feel well rested, and the new workweek is already upon you.

There can be so many reasons for this, but one is definitely our poor relationship with and understanding of rest.

We’re not great at unwinding (we move from screen to screen, we shift our focus only). We glorify the hustle. We focus on being productive, as if that was a goal in itself. We are not really taught about the importance of proper rest. We grow up in the “more, more” culture.

The goal of this post is to raise awareness that rest is multifaceted, and you might be missing out on some types of it.

The following categorization of rest is totally arbitrary, and not all of them will apply to all of you (or you’ll feel some of it is pure BS, which is fine). As always, find out what applies to you, and be open to others which you might not have realized you needed.

So, here’s my absolutely scientific™️ list of the 7 types of rest

1. Physical Rest

Yeah, we all know this one. This IS rest, right? Activities that recharge the body. It’s either passive, e.g. lying down, a nap, or a proper sleep, or active, like a good massage, or even yoga.

Super important and can even help with stress.

2. Mental Rest

We kind of know about this, too, these are things that help you unload your mind, calm it and give you some “me time”. Meditation, mindfulness practices, journaling, etc. work well here.

Also, super important because pure physical rest won’t always help with your busy mind.

3. Social Rest

Now we’re getting into a touchy territory. Wait, we need people, we’re social animals, and actually, we’re kind of expected to socialize, right?

Sure, but we all have our limits. We’re all somewhere on the introvert-extrovert spectrum (which place, btw. is not constant!) and we need our alone time, too.

So, don’t be afraid to say “no” and be explicit that it’s not about them, but you requiring your “me time”. Also, spend time with energy-givers.

4. Sensory Rest

Something we rarely think about. It’s about taking a break from constant stimuli, e.g. audio and visual. Some of us really need this (I, for one, sure do). Sleeping is a form of it, but I also get easily overloaded with stimuli during the day, and it helps a lot to find a quiet corner and just “exist” for a couple of minutes.

A trivial way to practice it is a “no phone in bed” policy.

5. Creative Rest

I’m terrible at this and I don’t feel I miss it from my life, but I have many friends who love it. This is about recharging through creativity, e.g. having a hobby in which you create, pottery, painting, crocheting, etc.

Some others swear by doing puzzles or brain-teasers.

6. Emotional Rest

Another touchy topic — and it ties somewhat to social rest. This is about finding some stability in your emotions, “avoiding drama” because as much as it’s a part of our lives, it can drain you. Spend time with real, deep friends, and people who “get you”. Spend more time being your most authentic self and less time faking it. Ideally, that’s already your life 0-24. Ideally ;)

7. Spiritual Rest

I left this as last, as this one’s quite controversial. Many people need spirituality in their lives, and thus, need this type of rest. It can mean a lot of different things to different people, for some this is practicing religion, for others this is new-age spirituality, for me, this is a nice long walk in nature. Activities that make you feel connected.

Call To Action

for this coming weekend, pick one that you’ve neglected / never tried and give it a go. Then come back and tell me in the comments how it went :)