A few years ago, during a conversation with a friend, they mentioned taking a rest. When they returned, I asked, “How was your sleep?” They looked puzzled and replied, “When did I mention sleeping?” It then struck me that I had always assumed rest meant sleeping.
Sometimes, I wonder if I hadn’t realized that rest comes in different forms, I might never have understood why I feel joyful and relaxed at a dinner with friends. Mind you, going to dinner after work might sound exhausting, but somehow, it’s refreshing. Throughout our upbringing, we’ve been told that the best way to cope with tiredness, sadness, overwhelm, or exhaustion is to rest, which often translates to sleep. However, rest comes in various forms.
In our journey through life, we often delude ourselves into believing that we’ve adequately rested simply by ensuring we get enough sleep. Yet, in this misguided pursuit, we often overlook the various other forms of rest that our weary souls yearn for. The result? A society where individuals are driven to overachieve, and constantly produce, all while wrestling with relentless fatigue and the ever-present threat of burnout.
Perhaps, amid today’s hustle and bustle, we can find moments to rest.
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD, a physician and a researcher categorizes rest into different types in her book “Sacred Rest“
- Physical Rest: It can be passive or active in nature. One can physically rest by either sleeping or taking power naps, or actively rest by engaging in activities like yoga, pilates, stretching, or jogging.
- Mental Rest: You know how you’re working on a laptop with seven or more tabs open, each serving a different purpose, and after a while, your laptop heats up and starts to lag? That’s your cue to pause, slow down, and let your brain process. Similarly, mental rest is about giving your brain time to process information, allowing it to step away from the constant stream of information it’s processing.
- Sensory Rest: In this tech-savvy world, being online is almost equivalent to being alive. According to a study, the average screen time for an Indian is up to six hours, accompanied by the constant ringing of phones, text notifications, and mindless scrolling on social media. All of this can leave our senses overwhelmed. Personally, I can relate, and using a peppermint roll-on somehow does the trick to center me. You can schedule a small digital detox to be mindfully absent from the digital world or simply close your eyes for a few minutes.
- Creative Rest: It’s about immersing oneself in the beauty both around and within us. Creative rest can be especially helpful when struggling to find solutions or brainstorm. For many people, creative rest involves taking a walk, watching a sunset, listening to music, dancing, lying on the beach, or spending time with animals.
- Emotional Rest: It’s about staying in touch with your authentic self. It doesn’t mean you’re not your true self at other times. It’s about giving yourself time and space to express yourself through whatever means you’re comfortable with.
- Spiritual Rest: Spirituality holds different meanings for different people, but generally, it’s about having and feeling a deep connection to the world around us or to universal energy.
- Social Rest: It’s about engaging mindfully in interactions with friends who rejuvenate us. After a long day, it’s often just what we need.
In a world that often glorifies the rat race, it’s time to challenge the conventional perspective on rest. It’s a departure from what we’ve long been conditioned to believe. For many, rest remains synonymous with sleep, but it can be much more. It can be a leisurely dinner with friends, a quiet moment of meditation, or perhaps a creative pursuit that sparks joy. In a culture that celebrates being constantly on the go and perpetually productive, I hope we can set an intention to be there for ourselves, actually making a choice to rest, and prioritize our well-being in a world that often forgets the true value of taking a break.