The Power of Rest: Unlocking Your Full Potential

Rest doesn't mean you're lazy

You might think that taking time to rest just helps you feel less tired (well, it does), but there are so many more benefits to taking time out of your busy day or routine to slow down, to do less, to do nothing and rest your body (and mind) - ranging from physical health like muscle repair and improved immune system function; mental health like reducing stress and improving mood regulation; and brain health - improved cognitive function.

I’m someone who always feels like they have to be doing something. Keeping busy - always having something on the go. Though one of my favourite pastimes is reading, so when I’m doing that I guess that’s a form of rest. But otherwise I’m busy working - either at my day job, or writing stuff for here. Or I’m exercising - doing yoga, out walking on my lunch break during the work week, or out walking our dog, or going for a run, or most recently doing strength training as part of my exercise routine - sometimes I’m doing yoga, strength training and going for a run all in the same day!

But in the last couple weeks I’ve been prioritizing rest, by going to sleep early (8pm-ish - and sleeping longer than normal - til around 7am). So during the weekends i’ve been getting around 8 or 9 hours of sleep the last few weeks. And during the work week around 7 instead of 6. I have to say, I’m really enjoying it.

According to my Fitbit, last night I got 9 hours of sleep (well, 9 hours and 4 minutes) - having gone to sleep at 8:30pm and waking up at 7:19am.

Also according to my Fitbit, my average awake time during the night is around an hour and a half, and I rarely get a lot of deep sleep (though last night I got 1 hour and 2 minutes!).

TL;DR: rest is important.

And the older I get (I’m 45) the more I’m appreciating that it’s okay to slow down, to not have so many things on my to-do list, to just…not really do much of anything. We don’t always have to be ‘go go go’ even though our modern, hectic, busy society makes us feel that we aren’t complete, aren’t enough unless we’re running on all cylinders 24/7 and having 5 side hustles.

So I want to get into the physical and mental benefits of rest.

Rest in the form of sleep allows our muscles to repair and get stronger, which, for someone like me who runs, is important for strength and endurance.

It can help reduce inflammation in the body, and as you may know, inflammation can contribute to disease (or dis-ease).

Rest also helps improve our immune system function allowing our body to focus on fighting off illness. Because we all know, when we’re sick, how important it is to just rest and relax and take it easy to allow us to recover more quickly!

And lack of sleep or rest can cause our hormones to go wacky, which can cause weight gain. Our hormones help regulate our appetite, so when we don’t get sufficient rest, that could lead to weight gain.

Rest also helps improve our cardiovascular system, by lowering blood pressure and heart rate. Yay for heart health!

And last but not least it can help our digestion. When we’re resting and relaxing, our bodies are in the parasympathetic nervous system state - aka ‘rest and digest’. So being in this relaxed state allows our bodies to focus on digestion and better nutrient absorption which leads to better overall health.

So those 6 benefits alone are reason enough to try to bring more rest into your life! But now let’s get into the mental health benefits.

First and foremost is rest can reduce stress and anxiety - it helps lower cortisol and adrenaline levels - things which regulate the stress response, which helps decrease anxiety and increase calm.

You know how you feel when you don’t get enough sleep? When you’re tired? You’re cranky and grumpy and irritable, most likely. So getting enough sleep can help with better regulation of our mood, which improves our overall emotional well-being.

Getting decent rest can also increase creativity, because it allows our brain to process information better and make new neural connection.

Other brain benefits are it lets the brain consolidate memories, improves focus (as we’ll all know when we’re not falling asleep at our desks or in a meeting at work), and it also increases our ability to problem solve, because our brain and mind are more alert.

Being well rested also allows us to make better decisions and avoid actions that might not be the best for us, because we act more impulsively when we’re not as well rested as we could be.

And last but not least in this area, it helps improve our relationships with others because we can better handle stressful situations and communicate better with others - so we’re less likely to get into conflict with other people when we’ve had sufficient rest and are relaxed than when we’re tired, tense and stressed. We don’t feel like biting someone else’s head off if we’re calm and cool and collected due to taking time to find rest in our days (and nights).

So that’s another 7 benefits right there in the mental and emotional wellness sphere. That’s 13 great health benefits of rest. It’s one of the most important things we can do for our health and wellbeing - but so many of us don’t prioritize it.

One of my husband’s most oft-used phrases is: I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

That’s not the best way to be or think. And seeing all the benefits that rest gives you and that it can allow you to reach your full potential, I think we can all do with getting more rest in our daily life - whatever form that takes for you - whether it’s power naps in the afternoon, or going to bed a bit earlier, or taking a break from your busy work day for a brief gentle stroll around the block, or picking up a book to read for a few hours, or maybe a calming yoga session - whatever you equate as restful, perhaps try to increase your rest quotient and make time and space in your day (and in your calendar) for rest. You, and your body, will thank you!

In what ways have you found rest to be helpful and beneficial for you? I’d love to hear in the comments what you do that’s restful and how it helps you be a better version of you.

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