HOW TO: rest correctly
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
Sometimes, rest is the most productive thing you can do.
It can be argued that the programming and periodisation of training for competitive athletes is more critical for performance than the intensity of effort itself. Using the same muscles over and over again, putting constant strain on the body, and neglecting recovery will eventually create injuries and can ultimately lead to burnout.
The body is able to maintain a relative level of homeostasis and is able to adapt to small amount of fluctuation in order to stay at a constant level. But in order to improve and increase the baseline level of maintenance, an athlete must undergo blocks of both training and recovery phases.
Homeostasis (noun): Homeostasis is the ability to maintain a relatively stable internal state that persists despite changes in the world outside.
Training puts stress on the body and breaks down muscle tissue — appropriate recovery strategies allow this muscle to recover and can then adapt to in order to deal with an increased physical demand. The transitional declining phase allows for an increase in the bigger picture results only if subsequent recovery is taken seriously.
This pattern of growth through exertion and recovery is closely monitored by competitive athletes in order to ensure their rate of overall increase is at its maximum potential so that they have the capacity to perform at their best. If recovery is neglected, the balance can’t be restored or even maintained — constant exertion will create more and more deficit, sending the athlete into complete exhaustion.
Training recovery response (HRV Fit Ltd, 2019)
Like with the body, the brain (while not technically a muscle) follows a similar pattern of growth. Resting the mind is equally as important as applying it. Often we forget to allow ourselves the time and space to create recovery periods for our brain and can find ourselves developing mental fatigue as a result.
The brain has two main modes of processing — one is action-oriented; it allows you to focus on tasks, solve problems, and process information. This is what you use when you’re working, watching TV, scrolling through Instagram, or just trying to make sense of life’s dramas. The second is called the default mode network (DMN); and this switches on whenever your mind takes a break to wander inward. Spending time in your DMN is critical:
It creates rejuvenation in the brain, when you can chew on or consolidate information and make meaning out of what's going on in your life. It helps you make sense of who you are, what actions to do next, and what things mean, and it's linked to well-being, intelligence, and creativity.
— Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D., associate professor of education, psychology, and neuroscience at the University of Southern California's Brain and Creativity Institute
Active vs. Passive Rest
Just as specific techniques and strategies are employed when training, recovery periods can also be structured in order to promote fast and effective healing. The two main types of recovery are known as active rest and passive rest. Active rest for athletes can include things such as massage, stretching, mobility work, and light movement. Passive rest on the other hand involves no activity at all and is undirected.
For purely physical purposes, both active and passive recovery can be effective for athletes — as long as the focus is on allocating time for the body to wind-down, the rest will be doing its job. However passive mental rest can sometimes be a little more challenging to allow for — often can be very difficult to come out of a period of mental stress and to suddenly ‘just relax’. Pausing physical activity and switching the body off is a lot more straightforward than trying to pause your thoughts.
Accessing a state of mental rest allows the brain to access its DMN — which helps to shift your mind away from external stressors.
Passive mental rest is very difficult to achieve through simply doing nothing in the same way as you would with passive physical rest. If only we had an on/off switch to enable complete freedom from thought and temporary disregard for all of life’s stressors. Attempting to just ‘not think’ is almost impossible to achieve when not thinking is the only plan of action. We can consciously take days off to rest, but when our mind stays fully online, we come out the other end just as stressed as before.
In order to counter this problem, we can use the concept of active recovery to structure our rest days in a way that allows us to redirect the insistent eagerness of our mind and utilise this energy by engaging in more calming and enjoyable activities. Just like with regular goal-setting for productivity, we can set intentions to guide our down-time. In planning periods of rest into your daily/weekly/monthly schedule, it’s important to consider not only the ‘when’ but also the ‘how’ and ‘why’. Figuring out and understanding your ‘how’ and ‘why’ will help your mind shift away from dwelling on mental stresses and you'll find it easier to fully immerse yourself in routine mental recovery periods.
Create a plan that includes a couple of ‘rest’ activities and set your intention as to why this rest is important to you.
‘How’ to Mentally Rest
Move the body — sport, exercise, yoga, dance, stretch
Meditate — guided, walking meditation, mindfulness, focus on breath, set a timer
Be in nature — swim, walk, sit, run, climb a tree, observe
Switch off the phone
Stay away from social media (keeps brain in action-oriented processing mode)
Cook or bake
Practice self-care — bath, face mask, get a massage
Witchcraft — diffuse some essential oils, light candles, make a wish
Make art — draw, scribble, paint, sculpt, collage, write, colour
Make something for/give something to someone else — food, art, piece of clothing, letter
Journal — gratitude, intentions, goals, memories, manifestations, affirmations
Clean — your room, organise your clothes, your toiletries, the fridge/pantry
DIY project
Read
Listen to podcasts
Listen to/play music
Engage in your hobbies
Try some gardening
Take yourself out on a date
Get a full 8-hour night of sleep
‘Why’ to Mentally Rest
Rest allows my brain to grow
Rest helps me gain clarity
Rest helps regulate my emotions
Rest makes it easier for me to respond calmly in stressful situations
Rest improves my immune system
Rest increases my motivation
Rest increases my potential
Rest makes me stronger
Rest gives me energy
Rest is empowering
Rest helps me understand myself
Rest is a gift to myself
Affirmation: “I need rest, I deserve rest.”
References:
Davey, C. G., & Harrison, B. J. (2018). The brain's center of gravity: how the default mode network helps us to understand the self. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 17(3), 278–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20553
Hinzpeter, J., Zamorano, Á., Cuzmar, D., Lopez, M., & Burboa, J. (2014). Effect of Active Versus Passive Recovery on Performance During Intrameet Swimming Competition. Sports Health, 6(2), 119–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738113500769
Signorile, J. F., Tremblay, L. M., Ingalls, C. (1993). The Effects of Active and Passive Recovery on Short-Term, High Intensity Power Output. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 18:31-42, https://doi.org/10.1139/h93-004
Tipton, K. D., Hamilton, D. L., & Gallagher, I. J. (2018). Assessing the Role of Muscle Protein Breakdown in Response to Nutrition and Exercise in Humans. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(Suppl 1), 53–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0845-5
