The 7 Types of Rest
Rest isn’t just about sleep quality and sleep time. When we feel exhausted and depleted, we need to look at what type of fatigue we are experiencing in order to be able to implement healthy strategies.
- Physical Rest: Physical rest includes active and passive rest. Passive rest includes napping and sleeping. Active rest includes yoga, stretching, checking the ergonomics of the workstation.
- Mental Rest: Includes assisting our mind to relax, through mindfulness, taking a pause.
- Social Rest: Taking a rest from those who may pull our energy (even if they are a loved one). Allowing people or ourselves to pour energy back to ourselves.
- Spiritual Rest: Finding meaning in our everyday life. We can find spiritual rest when we feel a sense of belonging and feel as though we are contributing.
- Sensory Rest: The number one way most of us respond to sensory overload is irritation, agitation, rage, or anger. Taking a sensory break or being aware of our sensory needs can help with sensory rest.
- Emotional Rest: Being able to share and process our emotions authentically can help with emotional rest. Often bottling up emotions can lead to emotional burnout which can be especially common in health and care work. We need to let our emotions be expressed and healed.
- Creative Rest: We might need some creative rest when we are struggling to come up with new ideas or be innovative. Problem solving might be difficult as well. We had all to be creative for the past few years with the pandemic. Perhaps it is time for a little rest from this.
Remember- we can’t fix everything all at once. Look at which one is important right now and start to implement small daily habits to restore this area. If it is emotional rest, this may be giving yourself non-judgemental time and space to process your emotions. For social rest- it may be having a set time each week for alone time. For sensory rest it may be switching off from technology for a certain time each day. Remember small everyday steps are much more powerful long term than attempting a drastic shift.
References: Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD, board-certified internal medicine physician and work-life integration researcher. Author of: Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity