The Power of Rest: How to Do it & Why it Matters

In our fast-paced, hustle-culture, digitally-driven world, it is easy to feel guilty for resting. We see what everyone else seems to be doing via social media and quickly convince ourselves that we need to be constantly doing more. We wear our busyness as a badge of honour, finding pride in how much we are juggling and how busy we’re keeping.

But sometimes, allowing yourself to rest is the most productive thing you can do.

Research shows that proper rest allows your body to heal, reduces stress, boosts creativity, improves productivity, and enhances decision-making. It is widely understood that stress takes a toll on our health, yet we feel guilty for resting.

So what is rest, really?

Rest is shifting from what’s external to what’s internal. It’s making time and space for our inner selves, our minds, and our creativity.

Let's explore the power of rest, how to do it and why it is actually productive!

Tips to Experience the Power of Rest:

1. Practice Acceptance You can’t control or do everything all at once. It's simply impossible! Work on accepting yourself regardless of how much you get done on your “to-do” list.
   

2. Be Intentional Tell yourself, “I am going to rest now.” Start by focusing on your breath and do some deep breathing to quiet your racing mind. When racing thoughts start to come up, gently tell yourself that you will revisit when you are not resting.
   

3. Take in Your Surroundings Allow yourself to be present in the moment. Notice the sun on your skin, the colours, sounds and smells around you, the sensations in your body, etc. This sounds simple, but we often are too busy to truly take note of these things.
   

4. Focus on Yourself How do you like to rest? Explore what feels good to YOU. What grounds you and helps you feel most alive and connected to yourself? For example: watching a sunrise or sunset, drawing, painting, stretching, journaling, playing music, etc. Often, expressing creativity (for pure enjoyment, passion > perfection) and rest go hand-in-hand.
   

5. Shift the Narrative Work on detaching your worth, value, and identity from tangible success. Affirm to yourself that you are worthy and valuable outside of your productivity. You are worthy of rest and relaxation for simply being alive!
   

6. Take Yourself on a Rest-Date Plan something that relaxes you & allows you to quiet your mind. For example, sit or lay at a park or the beach, take yourself to a self-care appointment like a massage, mani/pedi, acupuncture, Reiki, facial, sound bath, etc.

Reasons We Don’t Rest:

1. Perfectionist Behaviours While setting goals for ourselves can be healthy, it is easy to slip into perfectionist thoughts and behaviours, which perpetuate shame and guilt by setting unrealistic standards. This can lead to an intense fear of falling behind or failing if you take time to rest. Try to remind yourself that perfection is unattainable and you are the only one holding yourself to these impossible standards. The world will carry on if you take time to rest!
   

2. Fear of Boredom You may be uncomfortable with rest because it gives space for buried feelings to come to the surface. Keeping busy is often a way of avoiding our feelings. Give yourself grace for whatever feelings come up while you rest, you are human.
   

3. Not Understanding What Healthy Rest Looks Like Laying down but scrolling on your phone isn’t resting. You are taking in TONS of foreign energy and sensory input as you scroll, and your brain is quickly trying to process it all. This makes it impossible to be at rest.
   

4. Confusing Rest with Sleep Rest and sleep are not the same. To truly rest, the whole body and mind must be engaged in a restful state. Even sleep is not restful when our minds are constantly busy in our waking hours, as this mental busyness carries over to our sleeping hours.
   

Benefits of Rest:

Medical research estimates that as much as 90% of illnesses and diseases is stress-related.

Rest is the only way to engage our parasympathetic nervous system, which is what allows for relaxation in our mind, body and spirit.

Rest is not only helpful to ourselves but to others. It benefits everything we interact with for the rest of the day. Remember, taking care of ourselves first is the only way we can truly take care of others. Allowing yourself to rest is respectful to others that you interact with or have relationships with!

So next time you feel guilty about taking a break, remember that rest is a powerful tool for healing, creativity, and overall well-being. Embrace it as a vital part of your journey towards a balanced and fulfilling life.