Do you ever feel exhausted the moment you wake up, even after sleeping for 7-9 hours? Unfortunately, just getting the right amount of sleep is oftentimes not enough to recover mentally from your days. Our minds and bodies need rest in multiple areas to help combat fatigue, exhaustion, and daily stress.
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, internal medicine physician, researcher, and author of Sacred Rest, has identified seven different types of rest necessary to refresh both our mind and body. Intentionality and balance within your self-care routine as it relates to the seven types of rest is essential to overcome burnout.
Continue reading for tips on how to refresh each area and maximize rest.
- Physical Rest – Can be split into two different categories, passive and active. Passive physical rest includes sleeping or napping while active physical rest is completing restorative activities such as yoga, stretching, acupuncture, massage, and breathing exercises. To optimize physical rest, a combination of both active and passive is necessary.
- Mental Rest – For those who are constantly “on,” mental rest is critically important to avoid burnout. Throughout the workday schedule short 5-10 minute breaks to mentally give yourself a refresh before tackling the next to do. For those who have difficulty turning off your working brain after clocking out, keep a notepad close to write down thoughts or items that you are anxious about to give your brain a rest while not forgetting an important to do. This can also be helpful on a nightstand when trying to fall asleep.
- Sensory Rest – Sensory overload can be extremely taxing on our physical and mental health. Triggers from laptops, screens, bright lights, and background noise can all make our senses feel overwhelmed. If you often find yourself on sensory overload, throughout the day make simple changes like closing your eyes for a minute before moving onto the next task, schedule in screen free time at the end of the day, take tech free walks or turn off the radio when driving.
- Creative Rest – Nowadays, it can often feel like the minute we put out one fire another has already started. Creative problem solving is taxing and drains our creative bucket. To reignite creativity and inspiration take time to appreciate your surroundings by listening to the trees in the back yard, enjoy the arts, or turn your workspace into a place of art by adding images of favorite places to travel, beautiful photography or art pieces. This will help to reawaken the awe and wonder inside of you.
- Emotional rest – Those who identify as “people pleasers” can have an especially difficult time getting rest in this area. We all need to find the time and space to express feelings, reflect and think about your authentic self, and answer the question, “how are you feeling?” in an honest way. Let’s normalize not just defaulting to saying, “I’m fine” when you are not.
- Social Rest – Emotional and Social Rest go hand in hand. If you are struggling in this area, take time to inventory your relationships and differentiate between those that revive you and those that drain you. To really nurture your social rest, focus on those relationships that provide positivity and support in your life while creating separation from those that are mentally draining.
- Spiritual Rest – In times that we are feeling overwhelmed, connecting beyond the physical and mental can provide us with clarity. Take time to identify your self-worth, define your values, find a sense of belonging and reflect on your identity outside of your career. Nurturing your spiritual rest can include engaging with something greater than yourself like meditation, community involvement, gardening, or religion.
Evaluate your areas of need, where there is room to schedule rest focused self-care in your weekly calendar and create a plan to focus on rest as we enter into the final month of the academic year.
To learn more about your personal strengths, identity, and how to optimize your self-care to maximize rest, schedule a Wellness Coaching appointment with the Student Wellness Center. Peer coaches are here to support you in living your best life.
-Wellness Coaching, Student Wellness Center