I am preparing for a family vacation next week and I look forward to time out in nature. This morning, Brigid shared this below reflection with me from her Substack daily perusal. I think it’s an excellent reminder of the importance of seeking balance and rest in our lives. Blessings on your week ahead!
The Different Types of Rest – Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA
Physical rest is sleep. Actual sleep. Not lying in bed with your eyes closed while your brain runs a documentary about every mistake you’ve made since 2011. Sleep where your body lets go and your muscles stop holding whatever they’ve been holding all day. Most people think this is the only kind of rest that exists. It’s not. It’s just the only one anyone talks about.
Mental rest is silence. Not the silence of a quiet room with a loud brain. Real silence. Where your thoughts slow down and you’re not solving anything or planning anything or replaying anything. It’s the rarest kind of rest because your brain doesn’t come with an off switch and nobody taught you how to build one.
Emotional rest is not performing. Not being fine when you’re not. Not smiling through something that hurts. Not holding it together because everyone expects you to. Emotional rest is putting the mask down even if just for an hour and letting your face match how you actually feel.
Social rest is being alone without being lonely. Not isolation. Not hiding. Just time where nobody needs anything from you and you don’t need anything from anyone and the silence between you and the world is comfortable instead of empty. Some people haven’t had this in years and they’ve forgotten what it feels like to miss nobody.
Sensory rest is turning everything off. The screen, the noise, the notifications, the music, the lights, the input. Your nervous system has been processing stimulation since you opened your eyes this morning and it hasn’t had a break. Sensory rest is giving your body a moment where nothing is coming in. Nothing to react to. Nothing to process. Just still.
Creative rest is letting yourself experience beauty without producing anything. Looking at something without photographing it. Hearing something without sharing it. Being inspired without turning it into a project. Your brain needs to receive sometimes without the pressure of creating something from it.
Spiritual rest is feeling connected to something bigger than your to-do list. Not necessarily religion. Just the sense that you belong somewhere and that your life has a point beyond what you checked off today. Some people get this from nature, some from community, some from sitting still long enough to remember what matters.
Most people are exhausted and they think the answer is more sleep. Sometimes it is. But sometimes you’re sleeping 8 hours and still waking up tired because the 6 other types of rest haven’t been touched in months.
You don’t need more sleep. You need the right kind of rest. And nobody is going to prescribe it for you because it doesn’t come in a bottle, and the only person who knows which one you’re missing is you.
Keeping the Faith 