Learning How to Rest
7 Types of Rest Are Needed to Navigate the Demands of Modern Life and Avoid Burnout, Regardless of Your Busy Life
Ever find yourself asking, "Why can't I rest?" or wondering, "Why can't I rest even when I'm exhausted?"
If you're questioning what rest looks like for you, then you've landed in the perfect spot. Sometimes life pushes on at such a pace that resting seems like a luxury we can't afford. This world celebrates and rewards constant hustle and we are often forced to live in ways that are not sustainable.
The truth is, we are not taught to rest.
This relentless push towards productivity without pause is not only unrealistic but can be harmful to our physical and emotional bodies. It's not your fault you find rest challenging, society has programmed us to prioritise work and productivity over our own health.
I've been in that exact place, caught in the cycle of non-stop work and feeling guilty for needing a break. It took me a while to realise that to sustain my health, happiness, and productivity, I had to learn a whole new way of being—one that includes rest as a non-negotiable part of life.
In this blog, I will share with you the different types of rest crucial for bolstering your daily well-being and steering clear of burnout, even amidst the whirlwind of a busy life and schedule.
So, before we dive in, let me pose a quick question: What does rest look like to you?
Seven Different Types of Rest You Need Regularly to Regulate your Body
Certain forms of rest may resonate with you more than others, possibly because they're the ones you experience less often and therefore need the most. Others will help you appreciate the time you are already dedicating to rest but didn’t realise were so supportive of your well-being.
These are in no particular order, all of them are as important as each other and many link together nicely, everything is connected after all! So, without further ado, let's dive into the essentials, starting with what may seem the most apparent...
Why do I need Physical Rest?
You’re run-down, tired, or tense and achy. Maybe you’ve been exercising more recently, or your work involves a lot of physical activity. You might spend the weekend running around after your kids, or simply running around doing all of the things for everyone at work, home, and in-between!
Feeling drained, weary, or experiencing muscle tightness and discomfort are clear indicators.
How to physically rest
This might seem straightforward and a bit obvious in terms of knowing what your body, but there are numerous approaches to physical rest that you might initially consider:
The quick snooze; opt for a brief nap. Ensuring it's not too long and choosing an optimal time of day to avoid disrupting your nighttime sleep. Alternatives like guided relaxation or Yoga Nidra can also offer mental and spiritual rejuvenation.
The early night; you know the drill. My top tip is to have a wind-down routine including no screen time and a book or audio track in bed rather than telly at least 30 minutes before sleep.
Conscious movement; yoga, especially restorative yoga. Yes, this is a form of exercise that is practiced mindfully so although it’s more active than a nap, yoga helps your body release tension from your body, can help relieve physical pain, and clear your mind.
The epsom salt bath; a good old-fashioned salty soak with a handful of Epsom salts which break down into magnesium and sulfate in water. help relieve pain and muscular tension, and loosen stiff joints as they absorb into your skin. Reflect on what other calmer, slower activities help your body feel less tense, heavy, or tired.
Why do I need Mental Rest?
With so many distractions going on around us and the amount of digital stimulation we consume daily, taking time out regularly is super important to help relieve the pressure and avoid overloading your mind.
If your head feels full, you’re feeling frazzled, or you’re carrying a lot of personal worries around, these are signs you might need some mental rest; aka some rest for your mind.
How to Mentally Rest
Journalling; jot down your thoughts. This is one of my favourite practices and even though you may not like to journal, this is an exercise that helps you process how you're feeling about everything you have going on right now.
Deep breathing; take some slow deep breaths to reset when things feel full-on. It could be for just 10 minutes with a cup of tea in your hand. This is a simple yet powerful way to drop from your head and reconnect to your body. Slow down and deepen your inhale to engage your diaphragm, and release your exhale slowly to remind your body to let go and relax. Think of the exhale as your body’s ‘off’ switch.
Meditation: offering a respite for your busy brain, meditation helps in quieting the constant stream of thought, providing a much-needed break. If you want to begin a morning meditation practice, I have a morning mindset ritual for you here.
Nature time; simply stepping outside and immersing yourself in nature can dramatically shift your mental state. Whether it’s a walk, a run, or just standing in your garden, disconnecting from digital devices and tuning into the natural world.
Do something different; a change in environment and playing with new ideas or activities can stimulate your brain in positive ways. Sometimes, stepping away from a problem and engaging in a different task can spontaneously generate solutions or spark creativity, as new neural pathways are activated.
Why do I need social rest?
We are social creatures and although we value connection with one another and seek community, there will be people, experiences, and activities that drain us. Begin to notice what situations make your energy drop. Notice what you were doing right before periods of utter exhaustion.
Life is busy and our social interactions require a lot of attention and energy from us. Working environments, meetings, social gatherings, family time, and dating can deplete your inner resources quickly. It's good to notice who and what situations drain you the most so you can limit them weekly, create healthy boundaries around them, and step away for some downtime now and then.
Social rest doesn’t need to be isolating yourself for an entire weekend, (although this can be highly beneficial when you need it!) it is about being mindful of your energy and your changing capacity for social interactions.
Learning How to Socially Rest
Quality alone time; secluded self-care is a precious thing. Social rest isn't about isolation; rather, it's about intentional solitude it's about choosing yourself.
Self-care rituals; engage in activities that nourish your soul. Run a bath, light some candles, and put on a playlist or some calming music. Do some yoga at home, pop on your favorite movie, or cook yourself a delicious meal. The simplest things can have the biggest impact on your well-being because they are so effortless to do. If you know you have a busy week ahead plan some time for self-care in whatever form you choose to recharge.
Nature and friendships; go for a stroll with a close friend, or walk in nature on your own simply noticing sounds, colours, and how you feel. Stepping away from the noise and getting into the fresh air helps to ground you and reconnect you to yourself and nature.
Learn to say NO: say no to things that deplete you when you’re already feeling worn out. It’s OK to say no; “Tonight isn’t good for me”, or “I would love to but it will need to be another time." It can be hard and FOMO is real but your body will thank you. Trust yourself, no one knows you better than yourself. I would rather go for dinner with friends when I am feeling 100% and can fully enjoy every moment of their presence than deplete myself further and risk not being my best self.
This is the permission slip to spend some time alone, to know it’s OK to be by yourself for a little while, or with a small group of loved ones.
Why Do I Need Creative Rest?
Creative rest is a way of doing LESS so you can BE more.
You need to feel inspired, uplifted and energised to feel motivated but sometimes it’s like your spark has gone out, or there’s been so much to do you’ve run out of fuel. We are programmed to be ‘ON’ all the time and we overthink and analyse everything we do.
It’s important to change things up regularly, doing something different, challenging our brains and dropping from logical thinking into creative and intuitive thinking. This is an invitation to give the most overworked parts of your brain a time-out and allow space for new thoughts, ideas, and realisations to come in. Creative rest is about recharging your brain with something new, finding inspiration, or a fresh perspective, whatever that means for you.
Learning How to Creatively Rest
Reading; dive into books that inspire you, whether they're written by someone you admire or are works of fiction that transport you to another world.
Learn something new; what interests you? What would you love to try but are a bit nervous about? From candle-making to breathwork, setting goals, or even learning a new language, stepping out of your comfort zone can be incredibly rewarding.
Explore art and culture; visiting galleries, attending live shows, or listening to talks can expose you to new perspectives and stimulate your creativity. Allow yourself to be inspired by the diversity of human expression and thought.
Creative play: use your hands, get messy with art or baking, try out something you saw on Pinterest or YouTube, and be playful, explorative, and curious. Go wild or keep it simple!
Creative rest is about allowing yourself the space to explore, experiment, and embrace new experiences. By doing so, you recharge not just your creative batteries but open yourself up to a world of inspiration and fresh perspectives.
Why do I need Emotional Rest?
This is about switching off and tuning in. Just as you can experience physical burnout you can experience emotional burnout for the same reasons. If you have spent too long carrying too many worries, stress hormones will be playing havoc with your body and this is when your body puts the breaks on and says no more.
Learning How to Emotionally Rest
Journal; grab a journal and write things down; the good, the bad, your dreams, fears, and worries. No one needs to read what you’ve written, this serves as a private space to confront and navigate your emotions, helping you to identify your next steps toward emotional balance.
Conversational release; chat things out with a close friend. Emotional rest is about finding ways to express your emotions freely, giving them space whether privately or with a trusted friend, and honoring your emotional needs. We spend our lives pushing things down and bottling our feelings up so think of emotional rest as a way of allowing your feelings to be released so you don’t burst!
Have a good cry; sometimes we need a physical release of tears to help our body let go of the tension in our body. You might have a favourite sad song that can stir up emotion or a memory, and it can feel good to let yourself feel sad for a little while and honour your feelings.
Expressive movement; Scream, stamp, dance! Self-expression doesn’t need to be neat and tidy, it gets to be messy and fully YOU! When you’re angry or frustrated it can feel good to let yourself stamp your feet and scream (into a pillow if worried about your neighbours) and honour how you are feeling.
Why do I need Sensory Rest?
Social media, apps, emails on your phone, work emails on your phone, WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, busy traffic on the roads, loud music, the sound of people talking on the bus, noisy gyms, people in the office, and the list goes on.
Sensory rest is needed because your senses are being overloaded, you can think of it as downtime for your senses. This tends to go hand in hand with social or mental rest. These are all great ways to relieve your body of any sensory stress and tension created throughout the day and avoid burnout.
Learning how to Sensory Rest
Create a peaceful environment: choose a soothing playlist to eat dinner with, and sit at a table rather than in front of the telly.
Soft lighting: to ease the strain on your eyes after a day of intense focus, lower the lights or use candles. Incorporating essential oils can also enhance this restful atmosphere through the soothing power of scent.
Digital detox: put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ (only for a little while if you can’t do this for long). Making yourself less available will also mean you feel less activated so you can wind down. Reduce your screen time and app usage especially at night if you tend to spend most of the day at a screen.
Traditional swaps: ditch your phone or telly and read a book before bed. 30-60 minutes before you fall asleep is a good amount of time to spend minimising the stimulation to your brain.
Why do I need Spiritual Rest?
We spend a lot of our time giving to others and putting our energy into external experiences. We tend to prioritise everything else before our own needs and lose ourselves a little along the way. Spiritual rest is about self-awareness, self-connection, and spiritual connection through ancient practices.
Making time to connect to yourself and the present moment is so important for regulating your nervous system and supporting your daily health and wellbeing however, we can be guilty of avoiding it completely! Grounding yourself, dedicating time to a spiritual restorative practice that benefits your whole body and encourages mind-body connection.
Learning How to Spiritually Rest
Meditation and mindfulness; close the door to any distractions and reconnect with your inner world through mindfulness, I promise those few moments will raise your energy levels! Explore my meditations here.
Reflective journaling: writing about your hopes, dreams, and visions for the future can shift you from a stagnant mindset to one that's more intuitive and imaginative, facilitating a stronger connection with your inner self.
Visioning or yoga nidra; using your mind's power and creativity through these practices can help establish new thought patterns, set meaningful intentions, and create a profound connection with your deeper self.
Spiritual practices; Chanting, yoga, drumming, qi gong, praying, attending a sound bath or day retreat, and even walking in a beautiful place in nature are all powerful ways to explore and deepen your spiritual connection.
Breathwork; Sometimes 5-10 minutes of conscious and mindful breathing is enough to feel like you’ve hit the reset button. You can find breathing techniques and other spiritual practices within my journal here.
Rest gets to be simple, short, and sweet when you need it to be.
Rest is not an act of rebellion; it's a fundamental human right and necessity! It is SO important to recognise that being perpetually active is unrealistic.
Rest means respecting the fact you can’t be ON all the time, and your resilience to stress and busyness doesn’t need to be worn like a badge of honour.
If you're yearning to embrace your body's needs and develop a culture of rest, remember, you're not on this journey alone. Life is so full-on it’s easy to lose touch with switching off. The secret to feeling good is truly feeling good, in body and mind. This is where somatic practices like breath-work, mindfulness, and movement can help you feel grounded and connected, and invite a sense of space into your body.
It’s time to take the guilt out of rest and make space to slow down.
You’re invited to experience a wholesome afternoon of nourishing rest for body mind and soul. Our next Big Love retreat, “Rooted Into Rest”, comes at a time when life will undoubtedly feel rushed and chaotic as we approach the busyness of December. During this retreat, we will explore somatic and spiritual practices of breath, movement, visualisation, and Yoga Nidra to soothe your worn-out nervous system and soften the frayed edges of yourself.
Let this be your permission slip to retreat, hibernate, and just BE.
You can’t pour from an empty vessel
And please remember my friend, you cannot pour from an empty vessel; prioritising YOU ensures you remain fulfilled and, in turn, positively impacts those around you, you can't serve from an empty cup so find ways to fill yourself up.
When you keep yourself topped up you feel like your whole self more often and the people around you will reap the benefit too, it’s the ripple effect!
Big love,
Becki x