Rest and renewal

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi

Just taking some time out for a power nap, watching your favourite series or doing a quick exercise and stretching your muscles has become vital.

PAUSING and taking some time out has become more important now as the pandemic changed work and home routines. Just taking some time out for a power nap, watching your favourite series or doing a quick exercise and stretching your muscles has become vital.

And, according to a now-viral TED Talk by physician Saundra Dalton-Smith that sluggish feeling could be because you’re not getting the kind of rest your body needs.

Even if you’re getting enough sleep, you’re probably feeling drained and tired if you’ve spent ten of your hours while awake staring at a screen, sitting in meetings or just tackling your to-do list. “Rest is the most underused, chemical-free, safe and effective alternative therapy available to us,” says Dalton-Smith who is also the author of Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy.

She adds: “Most people, when they think about rest, they have a very one-sided approach – they lounge around, don’t do anything, and think that’s what rest is,” Dalton-Smith tells Shine: “We try it, and then when we’re still restdeprived we think it doesn’t work.”

You’re likely in need of better rest if you feel the way I have leaving the nail salon. “People say, ‘I’m tired all the time, I’m drained,’” Dalton-Smith explains of her patients. “If they’re waking up and still exhausted, the issue probably isn’t sleep. It’s likely a rest deficit.”

TAKE time to stretch. | KOOLSHOOTERS Pexels

So if sleep alone just isn’t cutting it, it’s time to incorporate these seven types of rest into your routine.

Here are the types of rest you need to know about and make sure you get during your festive break.

Mental Break

Use your phone or computer to schedule a ten-minute break every two hours. During that break, take a quick walk, grab a snack, take deep breaths and use it as your time to rest and reset, so you’ll be ready for another two hours of productive work. And if you’re having an extra stressful day, it may be beneficial to pull the plug on technology entirely. You can also rest your mind by being unavailable for some time and disconnecting from the internet, social media and emails. Even a 15-minute break can make a huge difference.

Social Rest

Whether you’re an introvert or just feeling weighed down by the expectations of people in your life, it’s time for a rejuvenating social rest. On one side of a sheet of paper, make a list of people in your life that you find enthusiastically supportive, kind and easy to be around. On the other side, make a list of people you find draining, demanding and exhausting to hang out with. It’s time to spend more time with the first group and as little time with the latter group as possible.

Physical Rest

It’s probably easiest to tell if you’re short on physical rest — your body will let you know if you’re in pain or not getting enough sleep. Physical rest can be either passive or active. Passive physical rest means time spent asleep, including napping. Active physical rest, on the other hand, is any activity that improves your physical well-being, like massage, exercise, stretching, or yoga. Utilising both kinds of rest will make the biggest difference in your physical energy levels.