Rest - Week 1
“If you’re not purposefully resting you are not building resilience in your life.”
Why it matters: According to Dr. Smith in her book, Sacred Rest, "I look at rest as the roadmap that takes you into high-quality sleep. Once you’re able to get all of these areas—your mind, your spirit, your emotions, your reflexes, your senses—all of these things calm down, then it is much easier to drift into the deeper levels of sleep.” She continues to say if you are not purposefully resting you are not building resilience in your life.
Even short periods of breaks throughout your day, we call it sprinkling mindfulness, can help energize you to return to your work or other responsibilities. Deliberate REST breaks activate your parasympathetic nervous system, getting the body out of stress mode. This may be challenging if your daily operation system is to just keep pushing. When we pause the benefits are real, such as opening the creative process, improving concentration, and lifting mood. Think of short restorative times, like putting in a new battery.
Each day this week, note when you feel fatigued. Simply observe without judgment. At the end of the week, look for patterns and identify one step you can take to improve your energy.