The Ultimate Guide to Rest:
How to Balance Your Life
with the 7 Types of Rest
Are You Getting Enough Rest?
As a busy mum, you probably have a lot on your plate. You have to take care of your kids, your home, your work, and your personal life. You may feel like you have to do everything and be everywhere at once. You may also feel guilty if you take some time for yourself and relax.
But did you know that rest is not equal to laziness? Rest is actually essential for your health and well-being. Rest can help you recharge your energy, boost your mood, improve your focus, and enhance your creativity. Rest can also help you prevent burnout, stress, and illness.
What is rest?
Rest is not just sleeping or napping. Rest is anything that slows you down, helps you disconnect from your everyday life, and helps you connect with your body and mind. Rest can be different for different people, depending on their needs and preferences.
Read on to learn about all 7 dimensions of rest.
Physical rest
You feel exhausted mentally and physically. You can end up experiencing actual body pains.
Passive physical rest is sleeping and napping.
Active physical rest: yoga, stretching, meditation, bath with candles and salt or a good massage.
Mental rest
You feel like you are all over the place, can´t focus on the task at hand, your mind is restless. You walk into a room without remembering why you went
Get mental rest by:
Disconnect from screens
Allow yourself to daydream
Use a task manager
Delegate
Do some 4-4 balancing breathing
Journal
Social rest
When you feel drained by the others, you feel like you are only giving, but not receiving. You feel like you need time on your own.
Get social rest by:
Spend some time in solitude
Go for a walk
Sit down with a book
Meet with a friend whit whom you feel energized, to whom you can talk to openly and get support from
Spiritual rest
When you feel disconnected from yourself, you can´t find your place in life, you don´t know where you are heading to, just hanging around aimlessly.
Get spiritual rest by:
Find a way to connect with a purpose that makes you feel like you are making a difference in the word around you, something that makes you feel at peace with yourself and your life.
Listen to positive affirmations
Religious practices if it’s in your life
Emotional rest
When you feel you can´t be truly yourself and authentic because you need to control your reactions, emotions and need to watch what you say.
Get emotional rest by:
Talk to someone without editing yourself. It can be a friend or it can be a therapist.
Journal your feelings and thoughts
Let go
Sensory rest
When you feel easily irritated, easy to upset and you get angry with the smallest thing (that normally would have no effect on you) is the sure sign that you need to take a sensory rest.
Get sensory rest by:
Deem or turn off bright lights
Turn off noises like radio, tv, music
Find a quite corner where you can spend a couple of minutes breathing or just tuning in to yourself
Aromatherapy
Fresh air
Creative rest
When you feel uninspired, you feel like you can´t find solutions even to a seemingly easy problem or you find it hard to make up your mind or make a decision.
Get creative rest by:
Reorganize your wardrobe, your working desk or your furnitures
Bake or cook something.
Buy some plants and do some gardening.
Engage in activities that make you feel inspired, allows you to get creative like dancing, drawing, writing, photography…etc
It’s very bio-individual what fills our cup, so start to really listen to your body, pay attention to the signals, and learn to recognize when your body gives you a positive feedback and when it’s sending you the S.O.S. signals.
Rest is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. By getting enough rest, you can improve your quality of life and enjoy your motherhood more. So don’t hesitate to take some time for yourself and rest.
You deserve it wonderful Mama!
With much love,
