Part 4: How I Rest

My go to examples of the 7 types of rest

Hey there,

This week I am sharing part three of a four part series on rest in collaboration with Dr

Jillian Bybee

a US based physician and the writer behind

Humans Leading

.

In case you missed any of the previous three parts in this series on Rest, here they are all linked up and ready to explore!

Part 1: What it means to rest and why we need rest with Jillian Bybee

Part 2: The 7 Types of Rest with Jillian Bybee

Part 3: A ‘weekday wind down’ yoga class to help you rest with me

Part 4: How I Rest * you are here*

How I Rest

My go to examples of the 7 types of rest

This week I am sharing how I rest, using the seven types of rest. It is important to understand that we all rest differently and hanging out on a cliff like I do might be considered a nightmare experience rather than rest. Likewise, most forms of socialising is not what I consider restful.

Physical

• Passive - napping with the help of my silk Slip sleep mask, it even has little pockets for your eye so there is no eyelid pressure!

• Active - yoga, rock climbing.

Mental

• Morning pages - though something I haven’t done much of this year, I see it returing to my mornings in 2025 (see The Artist’s Way).

• Reading - mostly fiction (currently reading The Yield) but also personal essays/auto fiction like Deborah Levy or Helen Garner’s Dairies (currently reading How to End a Story).

• Yoga and climbing - though climbing in particular requires some thinking, it requires focus, which makes it very much a mindful movement activity.

• Meditation - either through my vedic meditation practice or the Restful App by

  Tahlee Rouillon
  .

• Watching TV - love to zone out with a good drama and Pery snuggles. I’m currently watching The Diplomat to give my mind a rest from the endless moving house to do list.

Emotional

• A good vent after work with Matt or with close friends.

• Morning pages.

Social

• I find this the hardest rest, while I love time with friends and family, large groups and lengthy hangouts exhaust me. I also need to be consider about what I do, when and with who. I find I generally need solo time after social gatherings.

Sensory

• Restful App or vedic meditation.

• Reading as it slows everything down for me.

• Snuggles with Matt, Oscar and Percy.

Creative

• Morning pages.

• Writing Between a Rock and a Hard Pose when I get into a flow state.

• Teaching yoga - Yoga sequences are a creative outlet for me.

Spiritual

• Nature - particularly while climbing through my connection with the rock.

Now it’s your turn, how do you rest?

Is there maybe an area of rest you might be skimping on? Is all your rest physical? All your rest still too plugged in? Does all your rest involve some kind of electronic stimulation or input (music, tv, gaming)?

Share with me in the comments which of the seven types of rest you find the most restful and how you practice that.

In need of an some guided rest?

Did you know you can practice yoga with me at home? Check out my library of online yoga and meditation classes.