The Importance of Rest.
Rest. The dreaded word for anyone who, like me, finds it hard to stop and slow down. Recently I’ve been fighting off a virus that just wouldn’t go. I kept on trying to power through with all my plans, and especially with my gym routine, but every time I started to feel better I would wake up the next day and it felt like I’d gone back to being even worse than before – very frustrating. It took almost two weeks of this for me to finally decide to take the next three days to fully rest and not even attempt the gym, regardless of whether I was feeling better. And guess what – it massively helped!
My body was able to have time to properly recover, taking the pressure off for a few days meant that I could start the following week feeling so much better and ready to give my workouts (and social life) 100%. If I’d just taken the time to properly rest when I first felt unwell I probably would have gotten better so much quicker in the first place and wasted less time. A lesson definitely learnt.
The thing is, taking time to rest doesn’t mean you can’t do anything, I still went out for a walk each day to get some fresh air (and a little bit of vitamin D.) I still saw friends, I just rearranged a few plans to make it more manageable and not stay out late, and I was still able to be productive from a work perspective but I just gave myself a more realistic list to get through each day.
When it comes to rest a daily example I have is my cat, Tigz. She will sleep whenever she needs to, and never feels bad about taking her daily naps. Cats sleep on average up to 18 hours a day, it’s all about how their body works and how it both uses and preserves energy (it’s actually quite interesting if you ask ChatGPT about it!) If they don’t get the rest they need then they can’t operate the way they are supposed to, and that goes the same for us.
Rest is so important for all areas of our lives.
Physically, rest helps us to recover after physical activity, allowing our muscles to repair and grow, increasing strength and giving time for recovery to prevent injury and restore energy. This could look like having a bath with epsom salts, having an active recovery day and going for a walk, or maybe sitting in front of the tv with a massage gun.
Mentally, rest helps us give our mind and brain chance to slow down and take a break from making decisions and thinking too much. It gives us opportunity to have a clearer mind and make more rational choices. This could look like getting lost in a book, enjoying some easy-to-watch TV (my go-to is The Kardashians) or even just staying off your phone for a day.
Spiritually, rest is actually a God-given command and a narrative that we see throughout the bible – a key example is right in the beginning: “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” - Genesis 2:2 Jesus also took time away to rest and restore during his ministry: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35 So, if God in both the spirit and the flesh needed to take time for rest we know that it is definitely something we should factor into our own lives. This could look like listening to a biblical meditation, reading the psalms or even just going to God in prayer to give Him anything that is stressing you out.
In essence, rest is important for looking after ourselves holistically and maintaining balance. There will be times when we need it more than others, but the key is to live a life that always makes space for it (without feeling guilty!)