Restorative Wellness

Like many of you, I sometimes don’t get the rest I crave – or need. In the end, I end up being less productive, harried, and stressed out.

A colleague of mine (the head of our K through Grade Nine department) sent an email talking about “Restorative Wellness”. While he had a lot more to say on the topic than I’ve included here, I thought I’d sum it up in my own words.

Getting good, restorative rest requires awareness. It’s okay to work and play hard but we need to balance activity with rest in order to live well. A great example is any stringed instrument. The strings on a guitar or violin need to be under a certain amount of stress in order to produce music. Too much and they’ll break. Not enough and it’s out of tune. It is that same grand balancing act that allows us to move forward, make progress, and grow without coming to a breaking point.

Here are some examples of the types of rest we need:

Sabbath rest – a guilt-free time set apart to reconnect with the people you hold dear (and hopefully God, too!) in an unhindered and unhurried atmosphere.

Sleep – between 7-9 hours a day is recommended.

Stillness – pause with a cause! This type of pause restores – like stepping into the sunshine, reading a good book, breaking for a cup of tea, or grabbing a short nap.

Solitude – This is intentional time off the beaten path. It can be difficult to find longer amounts of time to step away from everything, but it really makes a difference in the end.

Take some time to assess your own levels of rest today!

Many of these ideas were taken from Run Hard, Rest Well .