The Power of Rest
I've had this draft saved as a placeholder since November 2018 but never felt qualified to write it. While I cerebrally have known how vital rest was; it's not something that comes naturally to me.
On the back of a week in Fiji, I now feel able to attest to the value of rest. The benefits of switching off. To true rate of return on disconnection.
The last week for me has been about eating well, staying hydrated, exercising and not a lot more. I read, swam, walked, slept and enjoyed lovely meals with my husband. I soaked up the warmth and the sunshine. I watched the frogs enjoy the rain. For the first time in 30 years, I took a break without logging into or speaking to anyone from work. While it was foreign, it was divine!
Let's start with a definition because, by rest, I do not mean sleep. Rest is defined by the Oxford dictionary as to "cease work or movement in order to relax or recover strength". Athletes know that scheduling rest days (where they don't train) promotes muscle repair and strength following overload. They know that the only way to achieve peak performance on race/fight/game day is to ensure it has enough time to recover. Rest also reduces the risk of injury and illness.
In the corporate world, where most of us are not elite athletes, our overload can be equated to stress. So, instead of doing a round of sprints, we spend 7 hours a day in meetings. As opposed to athletes, we do this day in, day out for weeks, months or even years in a row. We use the time on weekends to catch up on life admin and do chores all to put us in the best position to start another stress cycle from Monday.
The truth is, rest is essential for optimal performance whether you are running on a track, kicking a ball through a pack of people into a goal, painting a masterpiece or writing computer code.
According to Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith, we need seven types of rest:
Physical rest - time when you are passive (sleeping, reading) or restoring your body (yoga, massage, slow steading walking)
Mental rest - time when your brain can pause (scheduled breaks during the day (I recommend the Pomodoro technique which not only gives you regular rests but also boosts productivity) to a holiday in the tropics (or wherever else you like to relax))
Sensory rest - quiet time away from screens (active deep breathing, meditation, visualisation)
Creative rest - time in the beauty of nature (watching the sunrise, a walk in your local park, hiking the Grand Canyon)
Emotional rest - time to be your true authentic self, where you don't hide or have to put on a brave face for anyone else
Social rest - time in meaningful, positive relationships that revive you
Spiritual rest - engaging in something greater than yourself (volunteering, meditation)
The intention of rest is to leave you energised, mentally refreshed and ready to tackle what's next so you can truly experience the joys of life and live it to the fullest. Rest also results in better decision-making (hence the term "sleep on it").
