FEATURES
How to REALLY Rest and Relax WORDS: Beverley Le Cuirot Founder and Editor, WellBeing World
In this non-stop world of ours, do we really know how to rest and relax? If you are anything like me, you’ll find it really difficult to turn off your busy brain and really chill out. When I’m not ‘at work’, I’m ‘doing things’, tidying up, cleaning, ironing, picking up socks, feeding the cat, grocery shopping, fixing, mending, and so on … picture the scene, I know you can, we all can … this becomes our ‘time off ’, if we’re not careful. Holidays are times to rest and recuperate, surely? Do you pack lots in, seeing new places, doing new things, trying out new adventures? It all sounds wonderful, but do you REALLY rest? Are you ever truly still? Do you feel guilty if you’re not constantly on the go?
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Kris Carr, the best-selling transformational author and filmmaker, calls it ‘Putter Rest’ which she says ‘tricks us into thinking we’re chillin’, but what we’re really doing is filling our time with chores and errands, and never pausing long enough to restore our energy supply’. She has a point. There will always be things to do and sort, but if we allow our ‘to do list’ to take over our lives, we will burnout … eventually. This is why we highlighted the importance of self-care in our last edition. We should not feel guilty
about looking after ourselves. Selfcare is not selfish, it’s the most selfless thing we can do; it heals our bodies, strengthens our immune systems, and gives us the vital energy and resources to look after ourselves and others. So how do we REALLY rest? And when?
We all deserve a break and that is why our theme for this edition is Relaxation … REAL Relaxation. Here’s how: Plan a real holiday – it doesn’t matter if it’s on a sun-drenched beach in Hawaii, on the top of the highest mountain, or in your own back garden, taking at least four or five consecutive days off will dramatically lower your stress levels, allowing your creativity and bliss to resurface.
