Rest is just for lazy people right? Wrong! All people need to rest…and regularly too.
It’s important to have some chill time. Not just at the end of the year at Christmas time or for 2 weeks mid year. I am talking about calling time out everyday, every week so that you give your brain time to decompress. We are flooded with information. Through work communication, social media notifications, personal emails, news, radio, commuting and group discussions/chat groups. Which is all the more reason to regularly give your brain a break.
My Personal Trainer increased my workload by 10% each week which meant by week 12 of my training program, I felt like an athlete! I was definitely not an Olympian by any stretch, but I was stronger. Part of the training program included rest days. He explained to me when you increase your training program by 10% each week you are stressing your muscles and by having rest days, you give your muscles a chance to regenerate and grow stronger. You can apply this thinking to your work day too.
How do you rest daily and nourish your body?
- By taking regular breaks through your work day
- Taking your full lunch away from your desk
- Sleep for at least 7 hours (each person is different and has an optimal sleep time)
- Staying nourished with healthy food options
- Staying hydrated with 8 glasses of water at a minimum
By integrating these small hacks into your day, you are giving your body and brain a chance to rest and re-energise so when you do return to work you are focused, productive and efficient. Rather than motor through the day without having a proper rest, when your focus and the quality of your output may decrease.
Rest in yoga
This idea of having a rest is incorporated into yoga classes with savasana. Savasana is usually placed towards the end of a class and is a restorative pose when yogis come to lay on their back and relax fully with legs and arms extended. Yogis rest in this pose with eyes closed although are not sleeping. Generally! I have fallen asleep in savasana and usually when I have been simply pushing it hard and exhausted. Savasana is a fully conscious pose which increases energy, decreases anxiety and tension (The Chopra Centre, 2018) and also integrates all the effort in the yoga class. (Fun yoga fact for you).
So… the moral of my post is to incorporate rest into your day! Be like the koala in my picture and take time to catch your breath because rest is as important as your effort and activity.
Thanks @Jordan Whitt for gorgeous koala pic from Unsplash!