Greetings 4am Fitness Crew.

Modernity and its innovations have always promised us a less stressful life. Shorter workdays, shorter commutes, faster commutes, refrigeration, air-conditioning, computerization, Amazon, and AI. But the promise was never part of the ethos – competition, consumerism, the “work ethic.” Western Civilization simply has not yet figured out a (consensus) way to integrate “Rest” into its philosophy or function. Accordingly, its promises (of the “less stressful”) are mendacious marketing fig leaves - recycled with cruel accuracy to placate a populace desperate for a “better” tomorrow. Understanding motive goes a long way to understanding reality.

While modernity has indeed kept its fig leaf promise for shorter workdays, shorter commutes, faster commutes, refrigeration, air-conditioning, computerization, Amazon, and AI, and as a bonus – we are living longer, much longer (in the 1800s life expectancy in America was 35 years) - 2020s modernity has also delivered a very stressful life. Our wellness equilibrium is out of whack. Disquietingly out of balance.

We are not going to spend time rehashing the obvious – yes we are tired, yes we are burned out, and no, we do not want to return to the in-person Pre-COVID-19 work culture. While you might be tempted to believe this stress and the need for more quality rest is solely an employee grievance, it is not. The research, as well as our observations as wellness coaches clearly identify our Post-COVID-19 hyper-stress environment as pervasive – employers, employees, entrepreneurs, business owners, students, retirees.

While sleep is critical, rest, holistic, intentional, and mindful rest must be a personal and societal wellness imperative. Rest must be practiced and promoted with a sense of urgency if we are to protect, elevate and restore balance to our interlocking wellness spaces. Our Strength. Our Purpose. Our Happiness.

What Is Intentional Rest?

The practice of Intentional Rest is deliberately setting aside time and space for holistic stillness; relax, rest, and restore. Intentional Rest should not be confused in its definition or practice with passive rest, such as sleeping or watching TV, which may not provide the same benefits for our well-being. The practice of Intentional rest is as diverse as our personalities and preferences and can take many forms. My go-to rest space is, my 4am Sanctuary of Serenity (Stillness, Meditation, Affirmations. and Prayer), running, walking, and celebrating the sunrise, other 4am Fitness Crew members embrace meditation, reading, journaling, walking in nature, or engaging in a hobby.

The purpose of Intentional Rest is to help us rebalance our wellness by reducing our stress, improving our mood, enhancing our creativity, and boosting our productivity. While my 4am Sanctuary of Stillness is my set aside “Intentional Resting” space – our 4am Fitness Crew space is both literal and figurative – as restless thoughts and situations will intrude during the day, necessitating a micro (or macro) rest retreat to regain our clarity and insight, reset our values, refocus our goals and priorities, and restore deserving purpose.

You Are Deserving Of  Intentional Rest and Relaxation

It seems that societal attitudes about “wealth” are changing. This evolving attitude about what constitutes wealth is reflected in a Charles Schwab survey on the definition of wealth. An overwhelming majority of Millennials – 57%, and 40% of Gen Z, Gen X, and Baby Boomers defined wealth in terms of well-being as opposed to an actuarial dollar figure. This, the evolving well-being definition of wealth is more subjective – taken out of the (controlling) hands of the corporate space. This Post-COVID-19 attitudinal shift has initiated a cultural metamorphosis in the workplace, with workers and even some workplaces and corporations prioritizing wellbeing.

It’s a journey, and we are (all) not there yet, and some of us – even in wellbeing-rich environments are still suffering from Occupational PTSD. We have a very conflicted relationship with Intentional Rest. We simply don’t feel deserving. Why?

• We are perfectionist

• We are controlling

• We are obsessively driven

• We are defined by our “hard work”

• We don’t have a life outside of work, or the classroom, or …

• We are afraid of stillness. Quiet time with ourselves

The above mindset is of someone who is not in control of their life. A perspective that might have acquiesced to the cultural stereotype of what success looks like. Someone who has ceded their worth, value, identity – indeed their holistic well-being to the job, the relationship, the kids, the project, the “noblest of projects.” STOP! Your self-defeating behavior can endanger your physical, mental, and even occupational space. “Prioritize You” – your stillness, your rest, your wellness, your deserving.

How To Action Intentional Rest and Relaxation

The act of deliberate stillness as a prescription to restorative wellness may seem paradoxical in this mercurial and exhaustive space that the artist Fifty Cent describes with near lyrical accuracy as, “Get rich or die trying.”

In her groundbreaking work, “Sacred Rest,” Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., writes that “rest is the most under-used, chemical-free, safe and effective, alternative therapy available to us” - (and with the good doctor’s permission may I add …) and it’s free. The Best Things in Life are indeed free.

Let us explore and action some of these restorative off-ramps identified by Dr. Smith and suggested by wellness professionals - when our bodies, emotions, and relationships demand an escape from the vertigo of the “Get rich or die trying” mindset.

Physical Rest

Our body’s natural response to the stresses of life is the “Fight or Flight” mode (triggered by our sympathetic nervous system) – a sometimes necessary, but not sustainable way of life. And despite our mindful efforts at positivity bias and positive reframing, “Fight or Flight” encroaches - and often. Therefore we must mindfully recognize this reality and confront it antithetically through our “Rest and Digest” response – triggered by the parasympathetic nervous system.

The Rest and Digest response is an intentional cognitive response that moves our bodies into a relaxed state. With the parasympathetic nervous system activated, the body conserves energy, lowers the heart rate and blood pressure, stimulates digestion and absorption of nutrients, and promotes healing and growth. Holistic restoration has been initiated. 

Action It

• Practice Breathing Exercises. Inhale for 5 seconds, exhale for 5 seconds. Repeat.

• Yoga, stretching, walking, massages.

• Don’t sit for a continuous hour. Get up, stretch, breathe, and if possible go outdoors.

• Take a luxuriant bath at the end of the day to relieve physical aches and pains and emotional stress.

• Other restorative self-care rituals.

Mental Rest 

One of the “benefits” of our technologically rich environment is the ability to multitask. This goes beyond tiring us out mentally and physically, but also increases our stress, lowers our productivity, and can impair our memory and cognition. Do we really have a choice?

Consequently, we must cognitively detach to intentional mental rest and allow our brains to move into Default Mode Network (DMN). Our brains operating in Default Mode Network (DMN) have been linked to various cognitive functions, such as creativity, empathy, self-awareness, and moral reasoning. The DMN also helps us integrate information from different sources and make sense of our experiences. By initiating intentional rest, our brains subconsciously move into the DMN – that neurological healing ground that enhances our mental health and well-being by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.

Adequate mental rest allows the brain to linger productively in the DMN - providing the cerebral tools to adequately confront challenging situations by providing alternative perspectives and solutions.

Action it

• Exercise always does it for me. Endorphins are a quick fix. The gym, an intense run, or a bike ride. Dance exercise. Burn that stress out! It might be an oxymoron, but physical exertion can bring rest – mental rest. 

• Head out into nature for a walk where humans are minimal and technological distractions are zero.

• Read a relaxing book – the paper type. You might have been in front of a computer screen the whole day, so … paper might be the more relaxing option.  

Emotional Rest

This rest space involves us expressing our feelings and emotions in a healthy manner, - without suppressing or avoiding them. By defining, confronting, and articulating our feelings, the emotional resting space can be a launching pad that helps us cope with anxiety, depression, and trauma. A space where we reclaim and restore our wellness balance.

Action it

• Express your feelings through journaling

• Talk with an empathetic-listening friend

• Seek therapy

• Get a wellness coach

• Practice Self-Compassion

Social Rest

Social rest can refer to stepping away from a very active social space that has exhausted you. This exhaustion has drained you both physically and emotionally. Take a social timeout. Rest. You will return to the social circuit rejuvenated, invigorated, and ready to embrace and be embraced.

Conversely, social rest also involves spending time with friends who support you, inspire you, and make you laugh. It has been a long day, a long week - get out there and enjoy the company of people you connect with, who value and uplift you. A space where you find rest. 

Action it

Don’t wait until you are socially burned out to have “me-time.”

Sitting with your own company – in stillness - is empowering, revealing, and healing.

Create boundaries. Learn to say NO – without any excuses – especially the lying ones. You don’t need an excuse to attend to and rebalance your wellness.

Don’t (necessarily) stay away from your social space because of a bad day. Caring, empathetic, and jovial friends might just be what you need.

Ensure your social space is uplifting, encouraging, and fun. If your social space does not elevate and embrace you – if it no longer serves you, it’s time to exit.

Sensory Rest  

This type of rest practices switching off or reducing the stimulation to our senses, such as sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.

We often don’t appreciate how sensory overloaded/overstimulated we are – and the wellness imbalance it has created. We mistakenly focus solely on the visual overstimulation – the tech screen. A day at work, an hour at the gym, or even a casual trip to the mall can bombard our sense of smell, hearing, and vision, leading to fatigue and irritation. Sensory overload. Imbalance.

Whether we are neurodiverse or neurotypical, our sensory volume must be mindfully attended to. Rest and stillness must be intentionally set aside. 

Action it

• Enjoy an early morning run, bike ride, or walk in nature. The only sound you will hear is the welcoming ballads of the birds.

• Schedule regular screen breaks. All screens.

• Have a cut-off screen time before bed. Don’t move from the television or social media into bed. Imbalance.

• Create a pleasant olfactory space. Pleasant scents uplift our moods.

• Rest your hearing by enjoying music and sounds that relax.

• A period of pure silence can usher in profound calm, clarity, and creativity.

• Schedule daily, weekly, and hourly social media and news breaks.

• Dim the indoor lights.

• Use earphones when safety is not compromised. 

Creative Rest

We are constantly creating, solving, and brainstorming. It is a restless and relentless cycle that is difficult to disembark from. We are scared to disembark. The real fear should be in refusing to rest. Burnout, creative block, and rut are not very attractive options. Protect your creative space. Rest. Heal. Reawaken and restore your creativity.

Action it

• Head out into nature - smell the roses, hear the sounds, and marvel at nature’s kaleidoscope.

• Read a relaxing book – outside of your creative or professional interest.

• Visit an art exhibition or attend a concert.

• Plant a garden or any hobby that will rest and relax you.

Spiritual Rest 

The beauty of our spiritual space is - it is a subjective space. We do not have to prove it with a formula, or even justify it with thesis rationality. It is our space. And when we or our “soul” is assailed with the real or imagined, it is that sanctuary where we often retreat to find hope and sustenance, meaning and reassurance, acceptance and rest.

Our spiritual spaces should be elevating, empowering, ennobling, empathetic, self-compassionate, non-judgmental, and restorative. Our spiritual experiences, practices, and expressions are as numerous as the sands of the sea. So, go ahead and feed your weary soul, you purpose-driven and deserving warrior.

Action it

• Start a Gratitude Journal.

• Sound your Gratitude. 

• Commence your day in stillness. “Stillness” can be manifested in meditation, prayer, gratitude, reflections, affirmations, mantras, songs, and poems.

• Ask questions, it will not rob you of rest but rather strip away useless or dated barriers to a higher rest experience.

• Read spiritual, theological, and philosophical texts that uplift, sustain, and encourage rest.

• Seek out emotionally organic and diverse spaces to accentuate and celebrate your spiritual rest such as nature, music, and art.

• Seek out common spaces that appreciate, share, and elevate that space of spiritual rest.

Benefits of Intentional Rest and Relaxation

Rest ALWAYS brings RESTORATION! Rest does not leave us deficient and insufficient but serves us consistently with a reliable overflow of wellness wealth. Wellness wealth in our bodies, our minds, our relationships, and our communities. The practice of Rest is a win-win!

1. It helps us heal and recover from physical and mental stress, injuries, and illnesses.

2. It boosts our immune system and prevents chronic diseases.

3. It improves our mood, energy, and motivation.

4. It enhances our cognitive functions, such as memory, focus, and creativity.

5. It strengthens our emotional resilience and coping skills.

6. It fosters our social relationships and sense of belonging.

7. It reduces the risk of sensory overload and burnout.

8. It nourishes our spiritual connection and sense of purpose.

Concluding Thoughts

Our call to rest is a deserving call. A necessary call. Our individual, societal, and environmental prosperity desperately depends on rest. Please, let us not do to our holistic wellness space what we have done to our soil.

Some of the consequences of not resting the soil are the erosion of topsoil that contains organic matter and nutrients essential for growth. Also, soil erosion can reduce soil fertility, water quality, biodiversity, and crop yields, while unleashing ecological mayhem through increased flooding, landslides, and desertification.

The symbolic application is glaring, if we don’t put a stop to the obdurate greed that has brought us to the brink environmentally – indeed our very civilization – we in our personal and community wellness spaces will suffer the same fate as our soil; unable to fulfill our highest and most noble purpose.

That is what lack of rest does, it robs us of our emotional nutrients – our focus, our clarity, our values, our empathy, our humanity. Rest, purposeful and deserving rest reconnects us through our brain’s Default Mode Network to an elevating self-awareness and moral reasoning that feeds the soul’s cistern by hydrating hope and well-being, while reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.

Even though there will always be those forces that view rest as inimical to the advancement of humankind, there is a growing movement in wellness, business, policy, and the individual sphere that is enthusiastically rewriting that obsolete and oppressive narrative.

Rest is not the anthesis of industry, creativity, and innovation, but rather the soul of every hope, effort, and ambition of those who drive progress but rarely enjoy its abundance.

Unapologetically embrace your rest. You are DESERVING.

Photo Credits wallpapercave.com

Trusted Sources

• Stress Research. ~ The American Institute Of Stress

• Methods in Experimental Work Break Research: A Scoping Review

• Prioritizing You Is A Wellness Essential

• Sacred Rest, Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D. (Book)

• The Best Wellness Things In Life are FREE

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