Are you resting, or just sleeping?

Do you wake up tired even after you’ve slept 7 or 8 hours?

Do you not have the energy to dress up for work even after taking a hot shower?

Are you on your third cup of coffee when it’s not even noon yet?

Don’t worry, you aren’t alone in this struggle.

Even when you’re sleeping well, eating healthy foods and not commuting to work on a daily basis, your body can still feel like it’s beaten up.

In fact, I’ll let you in on a little secret — everyone’s tired. Even the people who say they meditate three times a week are also tired or fatigued or burnt-out, call it what you will.

But why’s that? How can someone feel absolutely drained of energy after having a good night’s sleep?

The answer is that most people are taking proper sleep but not taking proper rest. Most of us confuse these two terms.

You don’t have to be asleep to take a rest. Similarly, sleeping well at night doesn’t mean you won’t feel tired the next day.

And when we talk about rest, there isn’t just one type. There are 7 of them. As Saundra Dalton-Smith explains in her Ted Talk video, each type of rest is linked with different areas of a person’s life. And the deficit in any one of them can impact your well-being in one way or the other.

Active/Passive physical rest

Passive physical rest refers to when your body is actually sleeping or you’re napping. In the words of Saundra, “taking a nap during the day can have restorative effects on our alertness and performance”.

For active physical rest, you don’t have to be asleep. It includes restorative activities such as doing yoga or stretching that induce healthy blood flow in your body and improve flexibility. It also includes massage therapy that relaxes muscle tension in your body.

Mental rest

If you can’t focus on your work or tend to forget the most common things, you’re not taking proper mental rest.

When you go to bed at night, the conversations from the day start to fill your mind which can make you feel exhausted the whole day.

But don’t worry, this problem can be fixed. I won’t suggest you go on a long vacation (although that’s most effective to unwire your brain) or quit your job.

Use your technology to help here. Take 10 minutes out every 2 hours for yourself no matter how packed your schedule is. Utilise these breaks to practice deep breathing, take a quick walk, listen to calming music or eat a healthy snack.

Sensory rest

Your senses work throughout the day. Even when you don’t have a jam-packed schedule, the bright office lights, conversations of people around you, the digital screen in front of you and the background noise are stimulating your sensory organs making them feel overwhelmed.

Your senses deserve some rest too. Unplug from your digital devices, turn off the lights and close your eyes for a few minutes to recharge your battery.

Avoid using electronic devices at the end of the day as it prevents you from having a sound sleep (which is one of the if not the only contributors to rest).

And if the need of late-night screen time arises, make sure you use blue light blocking glasses so the blue light from the screen doesn’t disturb your body’s circadian rhythm.

Creative rest

Brainstorming new ideas or driving new marketing plans can sometimes block your internal creativity. If you feel like you’re running out of your creative juices, it’s time to take a creative rest.

Do whatever you enjoy doing. Listen to your jam or dance like nobody’s watching. If you love to cook, get into the kitchen. Do what inspires you and you’ll see how innovative ideas start coming to your head.

Emotional rest

Emotional rest asks you to express your feelings freely and cut back on ‘pleasing other people’. Don’t do things just because someone else expects you to. Or don’t hold yourself back due to the fear of people’s opinions. If it makes you happy at that moment, do it.

You should be able to express how you truly feel no matter how great or worse that is.

Social rest

We all have two types of people in our lives — those who make us happy and those who we are better off without.

Surround yourself with people who make you feel appreciated and support you as a person. Pick out those who drain you of energy or disturb your mental peace. Even if you don’t interact with the first group every day, even a little time with those people will satisfy your social needs.

Spiritual rest

Some of us are so passionate and driven that we only have eyes on the goal. While it helps us reach our goal at a faster pace, it sometimes unplugs us from the world around us.

Human interaction is not enough when it comes to finding a deep sense of belonging or gaining self-acceptance.

To achieve this level of connection with yourself, you need meditation or prayer. Go to a church or any spiritual centre to revive your soul and feel more connected with the world.

If you complain that ‘I’m tired all the time’, then it’s time you focus on these 7 types of rest. You may not need them all at once but it’s most likely that you need more than one type of rest.

While passive rest should be a minimum of 7 or 8 hours a day, other 6 types of rest are based on your job and lifestyle.