THE WELLBEING SERIES: REST

We all have an unique optimal state of function. This is the state where we are at our best and most productive.

How do we reach this state? Well it's just like training our body, we provide an appropriate amount of stress to our bodies to stimulate growth (productivity). However, this growth cannot occur unless we also provide our body with adequate rest.

Getting adequate rest is such a simple requirement, yet it is also one that majority of people on this planet neglect. We all want to be as productive as we can be, yet live paradoxical lifestyles where we neglect rest and overpush ourselves constantly, only to be less productive, burn out and/or live in a perpectual suboptimal state.

We stress and want it all. Always chasing productivity, stimulus and the next big dopamine hit. We want not just amazing careers, but also meaningful careers that we enjoy. We also want a wonderful social life, to travel the world, to experience all the experiences and all the play and entertainment we can get.

So of course it makes sense that we are willing to neglect and sacrifice our rest, recovery and long term health. However, where it doesn't make sense, is that for most of us we do this at the cost of our productivity and enjoyment. Always running on borrowed time, with the battery low and never charging it to full.

Starting each day, experience and interaction at an increasingly depleted and suboptimal state, until we burn out.

OUR OPTIMAL STATE

We know we need adequate rest. So that should be easy because we simply just rest more right?

Take sleep for example, we all know that we should be getting approximately 7-9 hours of sleep a day. If we don't we will accumulate a sleep debt and this could result in long term health consequences but also come with a cognitive and functional cost. Reduced energy levels and alertness, increased reaction times, increased irritability, mood swings and reduced cognitive performance add up to very real impacts to our daily activities.

Yet, while this is something that everyone knows, insomia and sleep deprivation are chronic health issues that are increasing in prevalence. We continue to neglect and down play the importance of this rest. Instead choosing to continue to distract, overpush and stimulate ourselves, through another game or episode, endless doom scrolling and/or late night outings.

But sleep isn't the only form of rest that our modern lifestyles have been negatively impacting. As humans we have universal forms of rest that we all need as follows:

- Sleep:
- Nutrition
- Hydration
- Solitude/Meditation
- Social Interaction

The modern lifestyle filled with distractions, temptations, constant stimulation and demands, makes it difficult to get adequate rest. We are bombarded by stimulus from the moment we wake up, from our devices to our environment and busy lifestyles.

There is no time and space for solitude and meditation, to process our thoughts and feelings (solitude) but to also give our mind a break from all thoughts, feelings and stimulus demands (meditation).

We don't sleep enough but also don't have healthy eating habits and diets. Some of us overeat, some of us don't eat enough and some of us don't eat an appriopiate amount of healthy and diverse foods. A common reason for this is us being so busy and tired from our lifestyles to prepare and eat healthy and diverse foods/meals.

The same can be said about our hydration habits. Most of us don't drink enough water. We are happy to drink our coffees, milk teas, soft drinks and alcohol but significantly underestimate how much water we need to drink.

Strangely enough, we are living in a time with an epidemic of loneliness. We don't socialise or interact with others like we used to during our daily activites. Whether that is our public transport commutes, shopping, exercising at the gym and/or work. To make matters worse, our busy lifestyles leave us with very little time and energy for meaningful social interactions. With the locations to have these social interactions also disappearing one by one. It is hard to make connections and new friends once you graduate from educational institutions.

All these factors have combined to create a cascading avalanche of issues and challenges that make getting adequate rest, an incredibly difficult task. We no longer make time for the processes and things that provide nourishment to our body, mind and soul.

It is important to work and grind for our goals, but it is just as important to balance this grind with getting an adequate amount of rest to make sure we are functioning at an optimal state and not burning out.

UNDERSTANDING REST