Rest when is needed

With the stress of combining full time work with an executive MBA Classes, it’s necessary to advocate for mental health resources and daily routine that would help in promoting physical and mental wellbeing. Rest is vital for better mental health, increased concentration and memory, a healthier immune system, reduced stress, improved mood and even a better metabolism. 

So many Africans are caught in the grind of work, family responsibilities and ongoing stress. Often, we only allow ourselves to truly rest on holidays or vacation. However, it’s so important to prioritize adequate rest and quality sleep in your everyday life. Rest and sleep are two different things, but both are equally important to your mental, emotional and physical health. Plus, prioritizing rest can actually improve your quality of sleep. 

Rest can be difficult to define because it can look different for everyone. Rest is any behavior aimed at increasing physical or mental well-being. It can be active, such as going for a walk outside, or passive, such as taking 10 minutes to sit down and breathe deeply. Regardless of how you choose to rest, these daily behaviors can help you recover and recharge from physical and mental effort. That’s why better rest is linked to better physical and mental health. 

Sleep, on the other hand, is a body-mind state in which individuals experience sensory detachment from our surroundings. Sleep is an essential function of the body and impacts every system from our cognitive function to immune health. Quality sleep can help us reset, recover and recharge. It’s absolutely vital to brain function, memory, concentration, immune health and metabolism. Unlike rest, sleep is something your body cannot function without. In fact, if you are sleep deprived, your body will force you to sleep, no matter what you’re in the middle of. 

If we do not attend to it, long-term stress can result to headcahes, digestives issues, depressions, sexual desire alterations and inability to concentrate. While you are faced with some many deliverables, its very important that we build in some routine for daily rest and relaxation.

Just as some basic daily routine are fixed into our days, we must also ensure we create the time to rest. You can start by finding a relaxation technique that works for you. This could be meditating, practicing yoga, walking outside, listening to music, reading a book, taking a bath or any combination of these things. When planning out your daily routine, find a consistent time to rest. For example, you could take a relaxing bath before bed, practice meditation each morning or go for a short walk during your lunch break at work. 

It is safe to believe that the journey is still quite long, therefore we owe it to ourselves and all that we represent to stay healthy and fit. In pursuit of whatever it is, we should always know that we need this body to actualize all the lofty dreams and meet all our desired targets, hence, this temple must be well taken care of. We must also learn to listen to it, because the body indeed speaks.