Success Strategy: Power of Rest

Do you ever go on vacation and find you can't seem to "wind down"?

Does your mind race the moment your head hits the pillow?

Do you find yourself clenching your jaw or fists when your boss, friend or spouse asks you for another small favour?

This success strategy is for you!

If you don't take a vacation or learn to relax your body will force you to!

How to Relax

It seems crazy that I need to teach people to relax, but think back to grade school and ask yourself - after naptime in Kindergarten when were you encouraged and taught how to take a real mental and physical break?

Never? Ding ding ding!

I was also victim of the public education system that teaches you to work hard and strive for academic excellence at the expense of play, imagination and relaxation.

In a world full of stress and demands, rest is one of the most important factors for creating wellness. Restorative activities can include mental, physical, and/or emotional activities that help to promote resilience. Particularly if you are under chronic stress, restful activities can break the cycle of stress and assist you on the path to health.

Get Unstuck

Knowing that the brain is not static, but instead has plasticity, underlines one of the key reasons to practice restful habits: you can learn to be healthier, happier, and more connected. Focusing on the process of restoration, rather than current complaints or states, allows you to take charge of your own health and wellness.

You can become more resilient and healthier.

The Right Activities

Many people turn to television, alcohol, or other semi-harmful activities to counteract stress. Replacing even a few minutes a day of those activities with ones that scientifically promote healing and restoration can trigger lasting improvements.

Restoration activities like meditation, guided imagery, breathing techniques, gratitude, and mindfulness are time-honored, science-backed ways to make a difference internally. They have calming effects not only on the state of mind, but also helping to balance hormonal and immune function.

Don’t let stress run the show. Select a restoration activity and see if it works for you—whether that’s finding

something to feel grateful about every day or trying a new yoga pose. Be intentional and open.

Take back a few minutes a day of your life, balance your emotions, and your health and wellness will follow.

Disease Prevention & Treatment with Rest

In conversation with colleagues there seems is a "type" that seems to get fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or irritable bowel disease.

These individuals are typically described as either Type A personalities or nervous types.They tend to be individuals who have burned the candle at both ends and burned themselves out.

A wide variety of conditions benefit from restorative practices, for example:

Anxiety, depression, and mood disorders

Cancer

Chronic pain and fibromyalgia

Gastrointestinal disorders

Sleep disturbances and stress disorders

Heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension

Hot flashes

Asthma

Your Rest Prescription

Here is your Daily Rest prescription.

Chose one of these activities to perform daily.