The hustle and bustle of life. The dream of success in a career–moving up the ladder. The demands of family; young children to raise and a partner to cheer on their journey and give them soulful and sensual attention. A retirement pot and bank account to feed–giving you security and preparing you for uncertainty such as a broken pipe in a home you just bought.
I can truly say, as I sit here writing this, that I’m thinking of ten other things I need to get done today; this weekend; this month….this year! It seems as though we rode the coattails of the Industrial Revolution into the world of constant competition and demands. How can I make the most money? Who can have the most follows on social media? How can I rise to the top of my career? Who can purchase…well a house in general–with our inflated market these days?!
NERD ALERT: Here’s a fun history fact. We are still considered in the Industrial Revolution Era. There are four Industrial Revolutions since 1765 when the discovery of coal and development of steam engines catapulted us from agriculture to engineering and mechanics. It took another on hundred years before the second Industrial Revolution hit when harnessing of gas, electricity, and oil. Another one hundred years laters, Boom! Nuclear energy! Bringing us to the fourth Industrial Revolution, Internet and Renewable Energy. Check out the article: Four Industrial Revolutions
With every opportunity, decision, and demand knocking on our door–and no truly holistic program in places of work, church, community, and home. There’s no wonder we are a society plagued with unrest and illness! According to the National Council on Aging, here in America, more than a 1/3 of the adult population claim getting less than 7 hours of sleep with 13.5% of adults complained of feeling exhausted! Sleep is so very much correlated with quality of life. Quality of sleep can help kick the foggy brain syndrome, and fight of a host of diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes, stroke, or dementia.
Then, let’s add the career of military, enforcement, rescue, medical, and first responders [We will call the group “Responders”]. Not only are we dealing with the normal and common hustle of humanity, we are trained to take on the high intensity, emotionally packed situations that most people are unable to react quickly or appropriately under the surmounting stress. We do it because we’ve been trained, a demeanor and skill embedded in our character that makes us good at it, and the sheer passion to be a pillar of support and comfort in another’s chaos working beside the misunderstood misfits we call colleagues! It truly is selfless service to our communities!
Is sleep the only type of rest, though? It’s what most of us think of when we think of ‘resting.’ The Calm app identifies seven types of rest–shown in the diagram adjacent to this paragraph. If you like reading up on topic, I find it closely ties into an article I wrote prior to this on Boundaries.
Physical Rest: I’m sure most of us have woken up after a night’s sleep feeling…bleh. Either you woke up with every frequent toss and turn, had a hard time falling asleep or felt like you slept hard enough but not long enough. So what is restful sleep? According to Restful Sleep MD, there are three components that include 1. Quantity, 2. Quality, and 3. Continuity.
Sleep environment is a huge role player in your quality of sleep. We all have heard it–light [and especially recently, blue light] is a huge disruptor in your environment before you zonk! Here’s the thing, only YOU have ownership of changing your quality of life and your quality of sleep. There are tons of studies on the effects of our circadian rhythm, sleep, and electronic blue light. I’ll stop here on sleep, because for those of you who are wanting change in your life, you’re willing to try new things like turning off your electronic devices prior to falling asleep. Sleep hygiene is a real thing. You have to create your own routine, environment, etc. The only thing I can speak to with experience that will affect your sleep are medical reasons. I just recently had surgery on my knee. I’m 6 weeks post-op and I still wake up as I toss and turn because of the sensations in my knee. I can imagine certain medication can also disrupt sleep. If it’s a necessary medication, speak to your doc about it!
Emotional Rest: For the Responder world, we are trained to deal with emotionally packed incidents whether it is a school shooting, a wildfire rampaging through a community, or search and rescue post avalanche with the time-decision gap quickly closing in. Training certainly doesn’t devoid us of the cumulative emotional fatigue. To add, we have the more normal and common emotional unrest from being a human–death, divorce, financial burden, raising children. Whether you’re a Responder or not, you have felt the anchor of emotions drag you into overwhelming isolation with heavy, heavy thoughts. Being able to express emotions [kindly] is a radical necessity for the individual and the collective. Being able to process emotions is radical self-love. More now than ever has the taboo of seeking therapy been lifted in our society. Be humble and radically love yourself through those emotionally draining occurrences. Seek the help you may need and deserve.
Spiritual Rest: Understanding the existential reasons you are here in this lifetime beyond the day-to-day mundane is an important grounding tool to provide holistic rest. What is your purpose? Why are you here? What is your passion? What and where do you want to make a difference? Defining life beyond what you do every day gives direction and motivation. It doesn’t have to do with religion or beliefs. It has everything to do with what you want to be proud of learning, exploring, and experiencing when you take in your last breath. Find this peaceful remedy through creativity–expressions of you from you. Utilize meditation, or journaling.
Social Rest: I’m considered an ambivert–I find a balance of extroversion and introversion. I can be invigorated by social interaction or by personal solitude depending on the situation. My favorite human, however, the force of introversion is strong within him! Needed social rest is very observable in him. After a weekend away, visiting with family or friends, he needs a day or two to recoup–even from me! He hides away contently…recharging his social battery. How are you affected by social situations? What recharges you after an intense and overwhelming social setting? A note on this as well–surround yourself by the morals, and character you value in others. Fleas stick with fleas–if that’s all you want in life.
Creative Rest: Immersing yourself in a creative world will empower you to harness your own creativity. Whether it’s music, woodworking, poetry or photography–the joyful creations will ease stress and open up new ideas and opportunities to pursue. The Rugged West Homestead started from a heartbreak and a hotshot crew. It led me to Colorado and to friends who inspired roadshow crafting with exit408 products. My seventeen years as a wild land firefighter, experiences in and with leadership, and the invaluable mentorship received and given has reminded my of my purpose, service to communities. This has led me down the recent path of acquiring a coaching certification and in the future, a Masters in Counseling. Holos 360/5 could not have been possible without my brothers and sisters in the wild land fire world!
Sensory Rest: This ties heavily into our everyday attention grabbing activities. Along with sleep hygiene, give yourself a break from electronics! I fortunately live in a very small community nestled at 8000 feet in the mountains. While the seasons can be harsh, I am not distracted by constant traffic or trains. Get out in nature–a city park or a mountain adventure. Give you sensory overload a rest. Take a moment to intentionally focus on each of your senses at the present moment. What are you hearing? Is it loud soft? High or low pitched? Is it like music or like scratching chalkboard? What do you smell? Sweet? Stinky? Strong? Touch your skin, what does your hand feel like? What does your skin feel like? Is it bright where you are? Sun shining? Clouds in the sky? What does your tongue feel like on the roof of your mouth? What do your teeth feel like when you run your tongue across them? Taking a present pause to engage your senses can assist body feedback for your needs.
Mental Rest: Decisions. Deadlines. Demands. Time is the only ticking constant in our world. Our memories are precious. Taking a break to dive into hobbies and free your mind from checklists and to dos will benefit you creativity, your problem solving, and not give you the fatigue hangover! Be mindful. Be intentional. Be present in your everyday life. Hey! We all have things we just have to do. At work. At home. Our personal goals. Walking the dog. Attending children events. Just schedule in personal time to do what re-energizes you! Use meditation. Dream and dream big and often. Let your mind be free to wander in and out of thoughts. A TEDx talk I stumbled upon a few years ago helped me rewire my brain to see stress differently [most of the time–I’m still human!].
Nope. Not an article stuffed full of affiliate links. Stuffed full of information I can only hope helps you live your best life! ‘Till next time, friends! X