“If we don’t expect a candle to burn all day, we shouldn’t expect that of ourselves either” (MHN)
In today’s fast-paced world, where productivity often seems to reign supreme, the value of rest is frequently overlooked. We live in a culture that glorifies busyness, where people wear their lack of sleep like a badge of honor and downtime is viewed as a luxury rather than a necessity. Over the last couple of months, my partner and I have prioritized resting. In doing so, our views on what rest is and what it actually means to rest has been forever changed.
Many feel most days are spent rushing from one task to another. Crossing off one thing from the to do list just to add 2 more things. In music, there is a note called a “rest” which indicates a pause in playing. Life has natural rhythms just like music. Time to sleep, time to wake and time to take a beat and rest. The “take the beat and rest” often gets skipped due to rushing. Sometimes the thought of rest can even bring up feelings of guilt, shame, or a disquieted mind. Rest may also be hard to come by on a consistent basis, but one of my favorite quotes is “anything worth doing is worth under doing”.
Rest does not always have to look like a vacation or an uninterrupted weekend alone. In order to build a healthy relationship with rest, we need to be able to find it in smaller ways throughout our days. Rest is a simple concept that is extremely hard to incorporate into our daily lives. Sometimes we may think we have rested, only to be left feeling, well….unrested. So let me help
Rest is not
– Catching up on rest on the weekends. Studies have shown that resting more on the weekends to make up for the lost rest during the week actually doesn’t help.
– Completing tasks that require a lot of mental load. (i.e., responding to messages or email, running errands, doing chores). Our minds are constantly processing information from the day and that keeps us from fully resting when we are off the clock.
– Anything that makes your body feel stressed. Check in with your body while resting. What does your body feel like? Tense? Assess the things you are doing now to rest. Is it actually restful? It took a few weeks for me to realize that I did not feel at ease or relaxed while aimlessly scrolling through TikTok….and then it took another week to actually find something else to do.
– Going on a vacation. The effects do not last long once back to regular life.
Rest is:
– Listening to calming music. Again, my favorite type of music doesn’t make me feel calm. So make sure to check in with your body.
– Playing nature sounds while winding down for the day
– Drinking warm tea
– Go for a walk around the block to process the deep thought, or to be aware of the world around you. Look at the clouds, smell the grass, hear the wind chimes, pet a friendly animal.
– Changing into comfortable clothes
– Reading something on a physical page, not a digital one
Brain dump in a physical journal
– Pause, sit/lay down, close your eyes, and breathe for 2-20 min, however long you have. If you tend to fall asleep (like me) make sure to set an alarm!
One of the best ways to tell that you are rested, is when you realize you’re not in a hurry. When you’re not in a hurry, you’re in the present moment. Fill your environment with things that help bring you to the moment. Things that make you feel like you can take a deep breath, just for a moment. Where there is gratitude, rest may be found. “Pause amid the gritty reality of life, and rest in the in-between.” (MHN).
If you feel exhausted from being “on” all the time and it feels like it’s hard to stop, recognize that this may be an area to practice a bit more.
Quotes from Morgan Harper Nichols: Peace is a Practice
