The century we live in is like a roller coaster. Every day, there is a constant flow of new information, a new global event, endless work, fear of not being productive and many other stress factors. In all this hustle and bustle, we are trying to spare time for ourselves, trying different activities and relaxing meditations. There is no definite answer to how effective it is in the stressful lives we live. But we can safely say that we do not know how to rest.
Our bodies and mental health want rest. Every minute that passes intensely affects our health and strength on a large scale, even if we are not aware of it. For this reason, we feel the desire to rest and look forward to that moment during the day when we will throw ourselves into bed. So what happens next?
We constantly turn around from one end of the bed to the other for a few hours of sleep in the middle of the night and start thinking about that big project we left for the next day. It’s not called rest. Sleep and rest are not the same thing, although many of us incorrectly confuse the two.
“Learning to recharge is a skill that will allow you to enjoy a more creative, sustainable life.”
We spend our lives thinking we’re getting 8 hours of night’s sleep and resting – but this approach causes us to skip the kinds of rest we really need. The result is a culture of highly productive and successful yet chronically tired and exhausted individuals. We all suffer from a lack of rest and we realize that sleep is not the solution. We do not understand the true power of rest.
Here in this article we come to the point that I want to talk about: the strategy of rest that every person needs.
The importance of resting
Resting is as important as living a good life and being productive in everything we do. Overwork and lack of rest do not make sense for both individuals and institutions. The reason for this is quite clear: the time without adequate rest is depleting people both psychologically and physiologically and affects productivity.
A deep dive into the lives of history’s most successful scientists, writers, and even generals reveals that they work far less than many people in today’s industrialized Western societies and have established daily routines that balance busy periods with downtime. We need to see work and rest as partners, not opposites. Resting and working both provide us with the basic things we need and need to be in balance.
“Resting is not idleness, and sometimes lying on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float by in the blue sky is no waste of time.”
Modern times present rest as a passive act, a waste of time. Work and rest are two parts that complement each other, just like Yin and Yang. While mentioning the importance and necessity of rest, we also need to talk about how we can rest better.
Everyone has different types of rest they should practice. We can list them as follows:
Physical rest, which can be passive or active
Mental rest
Sensory rest
Creative rest
Emotional rest, that is, having time and space to freely express your feelings and cut back on people who please you
Social rest
Spiritual rest, which is the ability to connect beyond the physical and mental and feel a deep sense of belonging, love, acceptance and purpose.
Now let’s see what to do to rest well:
You should take rest seriously, establish clear boundaries, create a daily schedule layering work and rest and give your brain a break from artificial stimulation.
These also can work on you: Mindless walks to rest your thoughts and be present. Meditation will physically strengthen and stabilize your brain – you will gain more control over your emotions, your brain won’t tire nearly as fast and as much, and more importantly, it will give your brain some much-needed rest from the modern day over-stimulation.
We come to the end of the article. Good luck to everyone with the forgotten skill of modern times: RESTING!
