How often do you take time to truly rest and relax? In today's society it can seem like there is zero time for rest but carving out time for yourself each day can have some huge impacts on your mental as well as physical health. Rest is a great way to help heal your mind and body recover from life's daily tasks. Additionally, rest can be very underrated but so crucial for optimal health. In this blog I will provide you with helpful tools and explain the benefits of rest and how important it is to take rest days and not feel guilty about it!
Benefits of Rest
Improves Immune System: Resting helps improve your immune system in many ways. One of them being recovery. Rest and sleep help your body recover from a stressful day. When you rest and get the recommended hours of sleep your body builds up immunities to fight off sickness. Resting and sleeping regularly help strengthen your immune system over time. Building up strong defense mechanisms in your body to help keep you healthy!
Reduce Stress and Anxiety: Rest is so effective when it comes to reducing stress and anxiety. Rest gives your brain a change to regroup and lower stress/anxiety levels. Rest reduces this because it significantly decreases cortisol levels and restores balance to the body in order to function daily. When you lack rest or constantly sleep poorly, stress and anxiety levels are more likely to increase. Additionally, rest and good quality of sleep restores the brain and helps regulate emotions while lowering emotional and physiological reactivity.
TOOLS
Headspace- Netflix Series: The series on Netflix called “Headspace” is an excellent way to rest. Headspace is a meditation, mindfulness and breathwork series. This series is a great way to sit back and relax while following a guided meditation. The series also includes mindfulness practices, which is a great way to bring yourself back into the present moment, reconnecting with yourself as well as resting your nervous system. Throughout the day one's nervous system can become irritated leaving you feeling anxious and reactive. Head Space is a beneficial way to rest and recenter the nervous system again.
Journaling: Journaling is another helpful tool to use for relaxing. Journaling is a great way to write all thoughts, feelings and emotions from the day on a piece of paper. Allowing circling thoughts to get out of your head and onto paper. Journaling is a helpful check-in with yourself as well as gauging where you are emotionally, which can reveal areas of yourself you may need to give more attention to. These discoveries about yourself while journaling are a great place to start focusing on and working through.
Overall, these are only a few examples of tools and benefits of rest. Nevertheless, rest is crucial for living a healthy lifestyle and here at the Patterson Psych Group we are here to help! Please feel free to reach out to us if you are needing extra help or support with developing a healthy lifestyle.
Madison Reynolds, LCMHCA
Patterson Psych Group, PLLC