I went on vacation last week. I thought a lot about writing a post beforehand so that it would publish on Wednesday. I felt a little guilty that I didn’t, but only a little.
I knew I’d get back to it. I also knew I’d have time to reflect, write, and publish something today.
So, a good vacation got me thinking about rest. Namely, what is the purpose and/or value of rest?
For some, rest is something to look forward to, a vacation from the stress and work of everyday life. It’s a time to rejuvenate our bodies, minds, and spirits away from the demands of our work. By that logic, we work to have the resources to rest.
I’ll admit, I feel better after a day of getting things done. When I can string together some accomplishments, I feel as though I’ve earned the right to rest. It’s an odd allegiance to hustle culture, and one I’m not altogether comfortable admitting.
Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., the author of Sacred Rest, writes that “rest is the most underused, chemical-free, safe and effective, alternative therapy available to us.”
Take a moment, take a breath, and read that again.
If we consider rest to be therapeutic, and we understand that therapy really only works with consistent participation and practice, then that which heals what often ails us may just be regular intentional rest.
But, what does intentional rest look like? First and foremost, it’s qualitatively different from the kind of rest that merely distracts us. Walks, binging a television show, exercise can all be forms of distractive temporary rest. They provide benefits, but often the benefits don’t last.
Intentional rest, or what Dr. Alexandra Crossman calls deep rest, is a way of entering a state of psychological and physiological safety. It’s a time set aside to calm our sympathetic nervous system and give it a break from its constant vigilance.
Intentional rest calls us into moments of safety throughout a busy and sometimes risky day. Often these are moments of meditation, prayer, ritual, or some other intentional act. It’s a place where we choose to be, rather than enter by necessity.
Intentional rest has nothing to do with performativity and everything to do with practice. It’s yoga, but not hot yoga or yoga for exercise. It’s listening to music, but not to sing along, pump us up, or in preparation for activity. It’s prayer, but without corporate performance. Intentional rest is time set aside to practice safety.
Intentional rest might incorporate 5 minutes of yoga where you practice a set of moves that flow from one to another. The idea being that the body feels safe to practice the intentional movements without great thought or mental effort. It’s done in a safe place where you don’t feel the pressure to perform or create.
In short, there’s no comparison. I’m not worried about my level of flexibility or whether I’m burning enough calories. The movements are ancillary to the mindset. I’m merely creating the flow to enter an intentional state of rest. It’s not about doing them “right” but instead doing them “well” or “good enough” that you can put your mind at ease.
For those who want to read more, here are two articles about rest that may help:
The Science of Deep Rest: A Gateway to Sustained Wellness | Psychology Today
The 7 Kinds of Rest You Actually Need | Psychology Today
What I really want to challenge you to imagine (not just think about) is where you might begin to build that 5 to 10 minutes of practice into your day.
This is a time just for you to connect with your body and build the resilience needed to move again.
Vacations are nice. They are wonderful reminders of a world beyond our 9 to 5. However, they cannot provide the rest needed to engage a sometimes hostile and unpredictable world. For that, we need to be intentional about the kind of people we want to become and the tools needed to get there.