Balance is about finding an overall sense of ease and joy in life. It requires that we counter inactivity with exercise, dessert with vegetables, and self-reflection with quality family and friend time. Balance is about bringing a sustainable experience of contentment and pleasure back into our lives. Another important set of opposites to think about: play and rest. 

Last week we discussed the benefits of making time to play and reconnect with our inner child. It is equally important to identify when we need to rest and to take the essential time to recover, renew, and regenerate.

At a physical level, rest means getting 6-8 hours of undisturbed sleep per night. This may mean sacrificing an hour or two of our favourite television show or shutting the computer down just a little earlier. But what could it do for us? It could help us be more present and available during the following day. It might give us that extra energy boost we need to get to the gym or yoga class. And it will certainly aid us in experiencing a calmer and more pleasant mood. Ensuring adequate physical rest means closing our eyes for a few moments of reprieve amidst a busy morning or pampering ourselves with a hot bath or self foot massage at the end of the day.

Mental rest is equally important. Oftentimes it is our mind that makes us tired – not our bodies. Outdated thought patterns and the mental repetition of frustrations or old hurts wear us down and can lead to exhaustion. Ever notice how you might have a disagreement with someone early in the day but you’ve spent all afternoon repeating it over and over in your mind? By the time you get home you probably don’t want to talk to anyone or do anything. Your mind has wiped you out. Resting the mind can mean using mindfulness practices or just finding a quiet space to clear your head and take some deep breaths.

And what about emotional rest? Humans are emotional beings and very often become prisoners to how they feel about people and circumstances rather than taking emotional responsibility. Emotional responsibility implies that we stop identifying with our emotions. Resting your emotional state means recognizing your feelings and then understanding that they are not you! They are just feelings, just energies, and you can just let them go. Give yourself a chance to deeply feel your emotions and then agree with yourself to surrender them and give yourself a break.

Practices of meditation and prayer give us the gift of spiritual rest. Remembering our connection to a higher power and to our fellow human beings quiets our fears of isolation and abandonment. Giving rest to the spirit part of our inner lives is key to finding that balance and ease we are so eager to find.

Resting our bodies, minds, emotions, and spirits is a necessary part of life. Embrace it and take the time you need to just slow it down.

Billy Rosa is a Registered Nurse, Integrative Nurse Coach