Reasons Why Rest is Important
Stress is inevitable in a world plagued by chronic busyness. You can not escape it even if you are a multi-billionaire and your wife leaves you. You can not prevent it even if you are Michael Jackson that dies of taking propofol to combat anxiety and stress. Or even if you are a worried nine-year-old constantly harassed by a bully at school.
Let us face the reality that it is unlikely to control what happens around us, but we can control how to give ourselves a break and rest whenever needed. If you think you have no time to slow down, keep reading to know why rest is so valuable and how you can incorporate it into your life. Follow these methods backed up by science to ensure prosperity, happiness, and peace in your life.
What is Rest
Rest is not the same as sleeping. The number of hours you sleep does not determine how well-rested you are. And it does not involve the time when you are not working. You can not consider getting your children ready for school as a break, or commuting to work as rest unless you are doing it consciously.
Rest is significant only when you decide to do it on purpose. And it is just as important as getting enough sleep.
For the time being, the idea of rest may feel like a waste of time or a luxury reserved for the privileged. But in the long run, lack of rest does more harm than little pangs of guilt or a bad memory visiting you from the past does.
Significance of Rest
- Resting gives us time to reflect. Reflection allows us to slow down amidst the chaos and help us detangle life complexities. When we pause, we can see things out of the box. We can reduce the burden of unnecessary things which keep us overwhelmed. We see the true meaning of life and resolve our conflicts.
- Some people assume that resting may waste their time, but It does not. It adds value to our work by enlightening us with more creative and productive ideas.
- Resting provides us stability and self-regulation to make sure a healthy and balanced life. It helps our body to regulate homeostasis, which is a bodily process through which our body maintains stability while adjusting to the in-body conditions that are best for us. If homeostasis is successful, life continues; if it is unsuccessful, it results in a disaster.
How to Rest
We understand that the idea of slowing down may sound scary. That’s why we have compiled a list of proven ways you can incorporate into your life. Soon you’ll be able to practice them without giving much thought to it.
- Solitary Activities
Sometimes, wanting to be alone is something we can all relate to because it gives us time to connect with ourselves. The hustle and bustle of everyday life lead us to lose touch with our inner selves. It is a leading cause of anxiety and restlessness. Mere sitting alone, doing nothing, can reduce the chances of stress to almost 75%. In fact, it is preferred not to doing anything during that time.
However, it only works if you choose to do so on purpose. Conversely, If someone imposes loneliness on you, it does more harm than good. Research shows that if we imprison a healthy person for a few days, it may cause detrimental effects on his cognitive abilities.
If you are confining yourself on purpose because you don’t have any friends, it may obliterate your sense of identity.
2. Spending Time in Nature
Have you ever noticed why we plan vacations far from urbanities? Well, it is because deep down, without even thinking, we all relate peace and relaxation to nature.
Studies show that not many things have such an instant effect on our mood as nature. Even keeping a fake plant in your workroom or desk can improve mood to 25%.
3. Reading
We all know that physical tasks don’t drain us as much as mental suffering. Throughout our day, we encounter tons of worries and problems. And sometimes, even when we are not thinking about it, our brain is constantly processing to maintain safety because this is what the brain does on default -to survive.
Reading is by far proven to be the most profound way of resting. Successful people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet dedicate a noticeable period of their day to reading books.
Even listening to audiobooks comes second.
Because when we are reading, we can’t do it passively. It involves active involvement. We see shapes of letters and build words, then string them together to create meaning. Then we connect different sentences and ideas and relate and compare them to the knowledge we already have.
How Reading Can Make Us Better
The following paradoxical quote explains the importance of reading best:
“The only thing that never changes is -change itself”.
And we humans are meant to change. We can either become better or worse.
Some pathetic reality tv show can make us want to change for the worse.
On the other hand, reading books can change us for good and increase our chances of success and well-being.
Finally, successful life is a balanced life. Taking some time throughout the day can release the burden and give a brand new perspective to stale life of worries and competition. Allocate 15- 20 minutes every day to whatever method suits you best and enjoy a much peaceful existence.
