This week I had the opportunity to hear a talk given by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith in which she describes the Seven Types of Rest and discusses the importance of identifying which you are lacking in as this will help you design and implement an action plan.
Dr. Dalton-Smith makes clear that sleep and rest are not the same thing. Rest means more than just sleep and is often the bridge between activity and sleep. Have you ever tried to go straight from working or chores to sleep? Was it a struggle to quiet your mind and fall asleep? That has certainly been my experience. Dr. Dalton-Smith explains that without this bridge of rest, our mind can race and keep us awake even when we are completely exhausted.
So, what are these seven types of rest? Dr. Dalton-Smith described them as follows:
Physical: The physical type of rest is actually made up of two components: passive and active.
· Passive physical rest includes things that don’t require our engagement, like sleeping and naps.
· Active physical rest includes things that help with your physical body, its circulation, limbic system, etc.; so, things such as stretching and walking.
Mental: This type of rest involves clearing mental space, gaining clarity, things that help us to concentrate and focus.
Spiritual: This type of rest helps us to feel as though out life has purpose, it helps us to reconnect with something bigger than ourselves, it is the human-element of life, the humanity and compassion.
Social: This involves evaluating relationships and determining how each relationship pulls from, or pores into, us – is there a good balance?
Emotional: Here the focus is on feelings and whether we are being authentic, how we relate to the world, it is about being open about what is going on for us and about being real.
Sensory: This type of rest focuses on our surrounding and what sensory inputs we allow into us – this includes recreation, workplace, phone and computer notifications, apps, and the sounds in our environment.
Creative: This type of rest involves evaluating how are you using creativity in your daily life, are you allowing yourself to be inspired? Here, creativity is not only about art and music, but also when we think outside the box, diagnose a problem, come up with a solution – a lot of creative energy gets used in these tasks, so how are we refilling it? Dr. Dalton-Smith shared that many people feeling refilled in this area from art, music, dance theater, nature, and frequently from bodies of water.
So now it is important to ask – what kind of tired are you? In which places are you depleted? Again, without identifying this correctly, we could engage in rest that is actually stressing us more. For example, if you have young children and you are exhausted from being with the all day, perhaps binge-watching television is not the rest you need; in fact, you run the risk of sensory overload if you choose this type of rest at this time. I often tell my clients that watch TV is not rest, it is “checking out.” Dr. Dalton-Smith’s talk defined this as escapism.
To find out more about where you are lacking in rest, take the Rest Assessment at www.restquiz.com.
Once you have identified the type of rest you really need, don’t try to fool yourself into thinking that you will get this rest on the weekend, or during your next vacation, or when the kids go to summer camp. Instead, identify the restorative practices that best address your needs, and prioritize integrating them into your everyday life so you are consistently restoring the places that get depleted. This is what true rest looks like!
Leave a comment to let me know which type of rest you need, and the practices you will engage in to get it.
Nakummek! Thank you for reading!
References
Dalton-Smith, S. (2024, May 20). The 7 types of rest. [Video conference episode]. RESET Super Conference. Conscious Life. https://www.consciouslife.com/conferences/reset/sessions/the-7-types-of-rest
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