For years, when I thought about my physical wellbeing, I thought almost entirely about exercise and nutrition. I added hydration to the list as I got older. It took me a long time to get to the point where I realized that for true wellbeing, rest had to be a critical part of my routine too.
Rest is not just recovery — rest is an essential building block of our physical wellbeing.
In today’s “hustle” culture, rest is not often portrayed as essential. We tell ourselves lies like, “I’ll be able to rest when I’m done with…” or “When I get past … I’ll have time to rest.” We often treat rest as an after thought, instead prioritizing doing more. Rest, however, is a requirement for total wellbeing.
It’s also easy to think of some of our forms of doing as rest - when in reality they might not be. A Netflix binge session may not be restful. If you’re feeling some sense of urgency or guilt, you’re not resting. Real rest comes when we are quieting our minds.
When it comes to rest, we often think of passive rest - and specifically sleep. The brain science of sleep has really been intriguing to me lately. If you ever pulled an all night cram session before a big test, you actually did yourself more harm than good. Multiple studies have shown that sleep actually helps you remember by:
- consolidating fresher memories
- moving those memories from the shorter term storage of the hippocampus to the longer-term storage in the cortex
- thereby freeing up the short term memory circuits to learn more the next day.
There is always truth in sage advice like “sleep on it.” You may be sleeping, but your brain is doing important work to clean up and sometimes help you reshape information. Sleeping on it is improving your memory.
Rest can also be active. Reading, daydreaming, and many forms of exercise as well as social time can all be forms of rest. When you participate in active rest, you have to set boundaries to make sure you’re not falling over into work or other forms of productive work. As you read this, I should be engaged in one of my favorite forms of active rest which is exploring new places and doing new things on vacation.
As we come to the end of the year, I’m beginning to think about themes for the year. One theme keeps coming up over and over again and it is originating out of the fact that I easily overcommit myself and fail to leave time and space for rest. So, as I try to savor some much needed rest this week, I ask that you consider What’s one restful practice you can do this week? Do you need to prioritize rest as we approach the new year?
I'd love to hear from you. Hit reply on the email (although I won’t respond for a few days) or click the button below to chat about it in the Circle Community.
Some Other Things You Might Find Interesting
What I Published This Week
What's Coming Up?
Interested in Financial Coaching - or know someone who is? I offer free 30 minute consultations for potential coaching clients. I am earning the Accredited Financial Counselor certification and would love to provide free or low cost financial coaching to you or someone you know who might benefit.
Below are the next events of each type in the community. To see the full schedule, visit Circle and click on Events.
November 14, 2025 14:00
(Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Do you want to get a better handle on your finances? If so, join me for a free one hour workshop to talk all things money. I'll do a demo of the budget software YNAB and talk about how to get started getting your financial information in order - with YNAB or completely on your own. Bring your questions!
December 12, 2025 09:00
(Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Join me for a one hour workshop designed to help you choose a theme for 2026 - and if you wish to go deeper to choose monthly or quarterly intentions or themes. Participants will receive a beautiful Intention Setting Guide to download. We'll spend an hour choosing a theme and deciding on ways to keep that theme visible to yourself during the year.
December 19, 2025 12:00
(Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Join me for a one hour workshop designed to help you choose a theme for 2026 - and if you wish to go deeper to choose monthly or quarterly intentions or themes. Participants will receive a beautiful Intention Setting Guide to download. We'll spend an hour choosing a theme and deciding on ways to keep that theme visible to yourself during the year.
November 04, 2025 09:00
(Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Join us for the bi-weekly Obsidian Office Hours Session.
Office Hours are a time to ask questions about Obsidian. If you have a question, reply to the event with your questions - or attend live and you can get your question answered in the session.
When appropriate, office hours sessions will be recorded and the recording posted here.
Starting 5
Basketball season is upon us. If you heard Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle during the Pacers run to the finals during last year's NBA season, you might have heard "In 49 other states it's just basketball. But, this is Indiana" Basketball is just special here. In our house, we run hot and cold to sports ball seasons - but basketball usually gets some notice.
Gayle, as Bestie Bungalow Entertainment Director, added Starting 5 on Netflix to our viewing queue. It's been a delightful opportunity to get to know some of the players a bit better.
