July 7, 2013
by ThomasMcGregor
Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness. -Richard Carlson
Do you live a busy life? This might be a silly question, but if you live what you consider a busy life, you and your body needs rest and regeneration. We all need it rest, whether we like to admit to it or not. I’m one of those people who doesn’t want to admit it, but I have come to understand that I can be twice as productive if I give my mind and body a break. I used to think that rest was for those who don’t have anything better to do, and for those who don’t want to get ahead. Until crashing happened. Then, I took steps to adjust how I approached my life to still feel fulfilled and rested simultaneously. This is a product of a balanced life with excellent time management skills.
Cultures and traditions throughout the world have written about the power of practicing a day of rest or even a moment of rest. But is there a possibility that some of these traditions might have been based in natural principles that they were given for the sake of preserving the health of the people? We already know that many of the ancient traditions regarding eating habits have been found to be based on factual evidence of the forbidden foods were dangerous to the people’s physical well-being. However, when it comes to mastering your personal health, taking a day of rest also has a very practical application to our well-being.
A recent article published by the DailyMail stated that domestic chores, work worries and arguments at family get-togethers are all factors which have combined to make the second half of the weekend just as frenetic as a working day for most. Nearly two-thirds of those polled (65 per cent) said they had busier schedules on a Sunday than a weekday – losing out on time to recover from a tiring week at work. One-in-ten admitted to spending most of the Sabbath worrying about the working week ahead, while 67 per cent said the ‘Sunday blues’ kicked in at some point in the day. Over half of those polled (51%) believe that Sunday is a day ‘for getting things done’. The study for TV channel Really found that an average of three hours and 36 minutes is spent completing household tasks such as ironing, washing, grocery shopping and cleaning. A third of adults (35%), admitted nagging or being nagged by their partners to carry out such chores.
Even though we may not actually feel stress in the conventional sense, i.e. work, bosses, products due, the stresses of arguing with family members and conflicting ideas can cause the same rise in blood pressure, contributing to hypertension and heart attack.
So, let’s not argue and get to relaxing…
If we take the time to relax, which is the ying to the yang of our stresses, we find a deep sense of ourselves. By taking time to be quiet, our internal monologue and personalization with the outside world lessens. As we ease in to our day of rest, we are privy to several benefits that will aid in our stress managing ability for the work week. Those might include:
- It fosters a sense of gratitude.
- Disables flight/flight.
- It helps maintain balance in my life by drawing focus to the things that are most important.
- Quiets the rambling of the inner monologue.
- It helps with mentally catching up and the recharge of physical energy.
- Inspirational. Time to spend connecting with your own spirit force.
What will you do on your day of rest?
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