By Chiagoziem Bede Ikwueze
Have you ever wondered why, even if you sleep for over 8 hours during the night, you can still wake up feeling tired? Or how you are fatigued after spending an entire day doing nothing? Often, when we are in this situation, we believe that sleeping more will help solve the problem.
However, this isn’t entirely true. You need to pay more attention to HOW you rest in order to tackle the tiredness. Does this mean that sleeping is not the only rest you need? Yes! There are other types you need too.
Physical Rest
This is the most common kind that comes to mind when we are tired. When your body becomes overworked, it needs time to recover, meaning that you should take some physical rest.
We mostly pay attention to passive physical rest, which involves napping and sleeping. However, active physical rest, including massage therapy, yoga, and stretching, which improves body flexibility and blood circulation, are important too.
Mental Rest
Ever had an overwhelming feeling in your brain? Or a collection of thoughts spiralling in your mind, whether you’re asleep or awake? In other words, you have trouble calming your brain. You could continuously stare at the same page of a book for over 15 minutes, unable to read or assimilate anything when your brain is tired.
These are signs that you need mental rest. To fix the problems associated with mental stress, take short breaks at intervals while working or use a notepad to write down any worrisome thoughts that make your brain restless.
Sensory Rest
In a TED talk presented by Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith, she stated that the most prevalent causes of sensory stress are screens and noise. Since today’s world has become incredibly busy, our conscious mind often filters numerous sounds, sights, textures, and smells while it focuses on the important things.
Sometimes, the sensory cells in the body become overloaded with information, leading to exhaustion. However, by simply shutting your eyes for a minute while working, you can reduce this stress. To get a true rest, it’s best to deprive yourself of every sensory distraction at the end of the day by staying away from your electronic devices.
Creative Rest
Creative rest is closely related to mental rest, but they are not the same. As a creative person, you do not align with conventional thoughts, meaning you mostly have different perspectives or different ways of solving problems. However, it can be hard to maintain your level of creativity if you don’t take breaks to rest, explore and observe your surroundings.
You can find rest by reading an interesting book or taking a walk to savour the nature around you. Doing this could help you ease stress and replenish your mind. It could also help you come up with mind-blowing ideas to implement at your workplace or business. Just don’t forget to write them down!
Emotional Rest
Many factors can stress you out emotionally, including the death of a loved one, a divorce or breakup, and feeling unappreciated. Dr Dalton-Smith describes emotional rest as having the space and time for the free expression of deep feelings while also reducing people-pleasing activities.
She also stated that people need the courage to be authentic to achieve emotional rest. First. find a willing listener, then you unload your feelings until you are emotionally relieved. You can also book a session with a psychologist or therapist, but ensure that they are someone you can be authentic with.
Social Rest
According to Dr Dalton-Smith’s TED talk, someone in need of emotional rest will most likely need social rest as well. When you are emotionally exhausted, it is possible to be easily irritated and temperamental. This tends to affect your social life.
Social exhaustion also occurs when we fail to distinguish between the relationships that drain us and the ones that strengthen us. The best way to experience social rest is by being around positive and caring people.
Spiritual Rest
You may be in good physical shape and live a balanced and fulfilled life but still, experience a feeling of emptiness. This might make you question your existence and the true meaning of life. Spiritual rest enables you to connect to your inner being and find your true purpose.
It also helps you develop a real sense of acceptance, love, and belonging. To experience spiritual rest, you have to be part of something greater than yourself. Meditation, prayer and community service can serve as useful tools for spiritual health.
Having a balanced approach to rest will help you live a healthier and more fulfilled life. You should always try to figure out the type of stress you are undergoing and take the appropriate rest to deal with it. Sleep only looks after physical stress, so it’s high time you started focusing on the kind of rest you need!
THE LIFESTYLE COLLECTIVE 