The kind of rest we need to be productive.

“It's good to reflect on life and take a step back and sit and relax and do something else.”

Floor Jansen

You will agree with me that we all need rest and that is a fact about every living thing on earth. Physically and emotionally, we can't remain active and productive all the time. But while we might understand how important sleep is to the body, there are other kinds of rest that we often or most times ignored or neglect. I have studied different types of rest that surely would help us get better and improve our best.

Physical rest: This is usually pretty straightforward to understand. This involves taking a break for your body, and this has to do with sleeping more or taking naps during the day. Physical rest stipulates a space to rest and heal from our physical effort, and also to let the brain prepare itself for more activity. The brain needs to relax to reenergize and be ready for the next task.

We cannot be productive unless we are mostly sleeping well and able to take constant rest from activity and this requires physical rest. However, in addition to sleep, physical rest can also take the form of relaxing physical activities like yoga or walking, as well as planning for naps and breaks in the middle of a workday.

Do well to note the kind of activities suitable for you to engage in and be able to fit in different types of movement in your day.

Mental rest: This involves giving your mind a break from those negative thoughts and worries that keeps appearing and reappearing in your head. We all go through troubles that distort activities for the day and distract us in different ways. Having mental rest will help you to be free from daily troubles and ready to tackle them.

How do you give your mind rest?

The first way is to clear those negative thoughts through practices like mindfulness and meditation. There is a need to let yourself focus on something specific instead of allowing your attention to go back to situations or ideas that piss or frustrate us.

Another way is to find something that feels calm to you, letting the thought flow. Things like gardening or playing games help your mind focus on something else and this helps give you the much needed rest when you take a break by engaging in something pleasant.

Sensory rest: Every human being are constantly overstimulated; i.e, we arouse to functional activities. There is a lot of information we get through our phones and other gadgets. Every day we regularly expose ourselves to background noise, ads, bright lights, loud music and many more. This then means that our senses should take a break.

Sensory rest involves finding quiet places like staying indoors or outside in nature just to be free from everything listed here. We should try putting away our phones and turning everything off as they demand our attention. Those noises, loud music, etc shouldn't hamper our senses, and so we should allow ourselves to be disconnected from the world and put those things away for a while till we regain our sensory rest. Spend some time in nature and silence.

Emotional rest: We mostly get discouraged by people's criticism and judgement which affects our emotions. We need to find time and space to let our emotions go without having to suppress them or trying to express the opposite of what we may feel at that moment. If you want to cry and let it out, do it, feel angry or simply take a break from the rollercoaster life by finding activities to calm your nerves down.

There are ways to find emotional rest and they are journalling or writing down your experiences, how you feel, and how the day was to you. Another way is to find things you are good at like colouring, cooking, singing, doodling etc.

Social rest: The truth is, people can be exhausting. At times we need to take some break from socializing with people. There is a need to find solitude than loneliness because there is a difference between both of them. Solitude allows us to spend time with ourselves and enjoy doing what we love which helps keep us company. Loneliness will only lead to negative thoughts which turn into depression.

We can also have social rest by looking out for someone who understands and will always comfort us. Spend time with those who truly care and matter more than toxic ones.

Spiritual rest: This is very important as we truly need this to find our purpose and values in life. This involves spending time pursuing our faith, religion, or other spiritual practices like reading the word of God, praying, meditating, volunteering etc. Spiritual rest isn't for believers alone, as anyone needs to ponder on their purpose and where they belong in the world.

Thanks for your time.

I am using this moment to appreciate @fantagira for remembering to renew her sponsorship to me. God bless you always. Thanks so much ♥️❤️

Image by Aleksandar from Unsplash

[September 22, 2022] (No 264 articles for the year)