Looking at rest differently

In 2023, the concept of the “soft life” and “rest” became constant themes in many articles and digital content. On the whole, I agreed with the concept of rest and taking life a bit slower. But I would be lying if I didn’t also say that the conversation around rest felt incomplete for me. I mean, my blog is called Movement is Life after all. I harbored my own notions about the ability for movement to be incredibly restorative.

So, I was thrilled when I listened to this podcast during my long 9-hour drive to Nashville, TN for my son’s football tournament last weekend. I was intrigued to hear that social psychologists and neuroscientists are researching what rest actually means and the most effective ways to rest. Their ideas on rest felt more complete and expansive.

Here’s my personal definition of rest. It means to relax, take yourself out of a situation that is charged, catch your breath, regroup, restore your energy, refresh, mend/lick your wounds and/or make space. If this is rest at its core, then of course there are multitudes of ways to rest. However, we’ve traditionally thought of rest in a singular way - passive. Which often looks like scrolling, watching, sitting, lounging or worse bed rotting.

Interestingly, social scientists have discovered that the most impactful forms of rest are actually physically active ones instead of passive forms. When we are stressed, we most likely want to veg on the couch but we should engage in active endeavors such as exercise, writing, painting, sewing, puzzles, (insert whatever creative pursuit or hobbies here) because they are the most significant sources of energy restoration, rejuvenation and sense of calm.

Active forms of rest actually allow our brains to rest and “clean out” the overwhelm that comes with stress/burnout/anxiousness more so than just lying around. The “clean out” brings true rest to a body that has been in fight, flight, freeze stress response or overwhelm states.

I am not surprised; I’ve repeatedly experienced the restorative effects of going for a run after a very stressful meeting or choosing to paint or draw. After the run or painting, I’ve been able to quickly recenter and feel restored. On the days I’ve chosen the couch and Netflix, I found mild rest in those instances but never truly physically and emotionally recharged.

I appreciate that the conversation is shifting towards recognizing that rest is also an active pursuit rather than just a passive one. While lounging around doing nothing is certainly a tool for rest, I welcome the idea of adding to the toolkit the recognition that exercise/movement, hobbies, and creative pursuits are gateways to rest.

P.S. I have a suspicion that as a society we are finding it more difficult to access true states of rest because folks don’t have an array of hobbies that serve as an avenue to replenish. And of course capitalism plays a role in all this.