Productive Rest

“Rest is not idle, not wasteful. Sometimes rest is the most productive thing you can do for your body and soul.” ~ Erica Layne

• How do you experience rest?

• What does the idea of rest mean to you? Does it hold importance or does it feel secondary to other priorities?

• What are some practices that invite authentic rest into your life? Perhaps a good book or long walks in nature. Perhaps a morning without the alarm clock. Maybe a decision to say, “No” to something that has required too much energy from you. 

• Reflect on a time when you felt truly rested and renewed. Where were you? What was the situation like? Who were you with?

• When you read the phrase, “Productive rest,” what does that mean to you?

As we read in our quote for today’s reflection, rest is incredibly important and productive for our overall health. I invite you to set aside some time to consider the ways you experience rest. For some, this may take longer. Many of us may need to really think about this idea before we recall the last time we felt truly rested. But once you find yourself in that mind-space again, perhaps this will be a guide toward the practices to include for rest in the days and weeks to come.