Feeling exhausted even though you’re doing all the self-care things? Although you’re making time for rest, you might be missing out on the exact type of rest that you need.
Oh yes, there are types. Seven types, if you’re asking Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD who coined this framework for rest that we’ll get into today. (Need to go deeper on the 7 types of rest? Check out the blog post and her TED talk here!)
[Writer’s note: I have been writing a lot about navigating the day job lately. You might call it my post-busy season “spillover tantrum”! But I sincerely hope someone out there finds those topics helpful. Now I’m really excited to get back to the original premise of the blog: bridging the gap between the day job and creativity after-hours.]
When more sleep just isn’t cutting it
So you’re getting a prescriptive amount of sleep, you’re taking time out to rest at some point during the day, and you still feel like you’re just scraping by? I feel you!
It’s disheartening when we’re doing all of the self-care we “should” be doing, and yet we’re still feeling drained. We start to wonder what’s wrong with us. Sometimes we start looking to make big changes in our environments or circumstances. Other times we start slipping into autopilot and lose our focus, inspiration, and sense of meaning.
Before we do anything drastic, let’s consider that maybe we aren’t just tired… We’re depleted.
In up to seven different ways.
So if more sleep isn’t restoring your energy, read on – you might find a particular type of rest you aren’t getting. Making space for it could make a world of difference!
Rest as a portal for creativity
I see creativity as a dance between inspiration, synthesis, expression, and fear.
To be our most wonderfully creative selves, it helps to come at it from a peaceful and receptive mental state. We want to allow our creativity to unfold by giving space for all of these wonderful parts to move about and mingle. We want to combine the intentional with the unintentional and let it move through us out into the world.
Getting the appropriate rest sets the stage for a fruitful creative practice. In a world driven to hustle and pressured to produce, it’s hard to feel like we’re being productive when we’re resting. Heck, it’s hard to rest.
Yet I would argue that time to rest is actually a vital part of the creative process. A well-rested mind can:
- Intentionally choose inspirational inputs or allow for inspiration to “hit”.
- Have the power to be analytical or it can make space for a sudden realization – a surprise connection – between two otherwise incongruent concepts.
- Express itself fully with the stamina to continue showing up to the creative practice.
- Engage in the slow dance with fear, rather than fighting it or letting it drive the bus.
Rest is an important part of making space for your creativity.
7 types of rest for the creative soul
Ready to restore your creative energy? Awesome, me too. Let’s run through the seven types of rest in the context of our creativity!
In case you’re new to the concept, or want to see more generally how the types of rest play out in daily life, I’ll link again to Saundra Dalton-Smith, MDs’ The 7 Types of Rest That Every Person Needs.
1. Physical rest
This is the classic “take care of your body” type of rest that we’re all familiar with. It includes sleep and otherwise resting the body.
It also includes active forms of rest like stretching, yoga, and massage!
Feeling good in your body helps you feel good mentally. In fact, an aim of yoga is to integrate the mind and body.
Your body may actually be the primary medium with which you express yourself creatively. Singing, dancing, and other performance arts come to mind. Yet even if your creativity is more cerebral, you’ll still want to feel good in your physical space.
I have a desk job and my creative practices are at a desk or computer, so for me a long walk is a great form of physical rest, and the act of walking becomes a lovely conduit for ideation and inspiration.
2. Mental rest
My brain does not turn off. Problem-solving, following curiosity, taking in inspiration, working on creative projects – these are all great things to engage with, but everything in moderation.
What I need is to make sure I’m getting adequate mental rest. A few ways to accomplish this:
- Mindfulness practices. Meditation is a classic one. I also include rapid logging (a Bullet Journaling concept) which allows me to quickly and effectively “empty out” all the thoughts rattling around in there.
- Avoiding multitasking. I set boundaries for my focus and boundaries for my breaks. (I wrote about this in the post on Rest and Recovery from burnout, and it applies here too!)
- Slowing down and creating space for your thoughts and experiences in between tasks.
All of these practices free up mental space. What will fill that free space? Daydreams, ideas from nowhere, and connections which will fuel your creativity when you’re ready to get started again.
3. Sensory rest
Feeling overstimulated? To let our creativity shine, we need to cut through the noise of the world and listen to our inner voice. It’s really hard to do when the world around us is designed to capture our attention.
If you’ve been staring at screens all day, your sensory rest might be to take in the natural wonders around you – the sky, the trees, the scent of freshly cut grass….
I love when my kids are expressive. They love to sing and play boisterous games together. But they are… very stimulating! I need to sit (or drive) in silence at some point during the day and embrace a moment of silence to keep that sensory input in balance.
If you can quiet the things that are demanding your attention (notifications and advertisements come to mind), you’ll make space to notice the subtle inspiration around you. Rather than tuning out at the end of the day, you may still have the stamina to tune in for your creative practice.
4. Emotional rest
If you’re a people-pleaser, you push yourself to be a high-performer, or you otherwise spend a lot of your day hiding how you really feel, this one’s for you! It takes a lot of energy to be “on”.
Emotions are supposed to flow through you. Not any time, not all of the time, but eventually. The problem is that in the spirit of pleasing, performing, and hiding, we tend to ignore them indefinitely! We forget to make time to express them, so they get bottled up inside – weighing us down, or making us anxious.
To get proper emotional rest, you can find time to share how you really feel with a safe person, get back in touch with yourself in a private journal, and of course – lean into your creative practice! Show up authentically to the page or stage and use creative self-expression as an emotional outlet.
It’s when we really step into our authenticity, and into a space of emotional safety, that our creativity can flow.
5. Social rest
Now to be fair, I’m introverted, so social rest for me means that I need to be somewhere quiet with my own thoughts. I love people, but socializing is draining so I need to make sure to get in that recovery time! The solitude also leaves space to get back in touch with your creative voice. When we’re constantly around others, it’s hard to hear our own inner voice. Quieting the external voices makes space for your internal ones.
If you’re extroverted, or even if you’re introverted but a lot of your social interaction is at work with colleagues or clients, social rest doesn’t necessarily mean being alone. It can mean spending quality time with your inner circle – the connections that truly nourish and inspire you.
6. Creative rest
This is the one we’re all here for, right? For many of us, our day jobs and outside-of-work commitments keep things pretty rigid and prescriptive. They leave little room for error, playfulness, experimentation, or inspiration.
You may feel creatively blocked, or even very “blah” when you show up to your creative practice. It’s a sign that you actually need creative rest. If you haven’t been giving yourself time for creativity, this is your indicator to get started!
What if you have been working on creative passion projects, already? Well, are you truly enjoying them? Are you feeling free and inspired when you create? Or, are you holding yourself to a rigid standard for quality or productivity? If it’s the latter, then yes, even if you’re being creative, you might still need creative rest.
Try something new that you’re curious about. Make something just for you. Change your medium. Try a new location. Mix up your creative practice (maybe don’t even call it a “practice”). Let yourself be inspired by simply enjoying the things your senses love!
7. Spiritual rest
I know I’m in need of spiritual rest when I’m feeling:
- Ungrounded
- Hyper-focused on issues
- Small (or having trouble seeing the big picture)
- Lost or lacking purpose
Getting spiritual rest helps us reconnect to our big Why. It brings hope, love, and wonder to the otherwise mundane and can be wonderful fuel to get you through a creative block!
Spiritual rest doesn’t need to be prayer or meditation (although it can be). It’s really any connection to something greater than yourself. It could mean pondering life and love on a long, quiet walk. It could also mean connecting in a meaningful way with the community around you!
How do you know what kind of rest you really need?
You’ve got to take a moment to yourself here and tune in. I know, it’s really hard to pause when life is so busy around you! But the more you do this, the easier it will be to stay in tune and rest when you need it (and in the way you need it).
In case you need a little cheat-sheet, here are some ideas:
- Are you feeling it physically first? If you’ve been fighting sleep, pushing your body, or on the opposite end you’re stiff and restless from long hours without movement, you might need physical rest.
- Is your brain constantly coursing, ruminating, and looping through scenarios? Try mental rest.
- Feeling overwhelmed by screens, advertisements, or noises? Maybe you’re touched-out, or maybe you want to hide to just “get away from it all”. You might need sensory rest.
- Are you feeling drained, heavy, or tired of being “on” all the time? Have you been hiding how you really feel? Take some emotional rest.
- Experiencing loneliness, or wishing for more meaningful connection? On the opposite end, do you wish you could just have some time alone? Find the right balance with social rest.
- Feeling uninspired, going through the motions, or otherwise blocked? Make time and space for what inspires you with creative rest.
- If you’re feeling disconnected from purpose, craving deeper meaning, or missing a sense of belonging, take some time for spiritual rest.
Identifying the right type of rest for you in the moment is so important, but not a practice we’re used to! More on this to come.
Parting words
Rest can be so much more than the standard sleep, sip and spa. To truly rest is to take intentional care for the multiple facets of our being! And since our being is unique, what we need to restore our energy will be, too. Working with the types of rest puts you back in the driver’s seat.
Instead of reaching for a prescriptive list of self-care activities, tune in and find what it is that would help you, at this moment. Run through the seven types of rest and create your own cheat-sheet of go-to restful activities! Pull them out whenever you’re feeling depleted.
What type of rest are you in need of right now? What’s one way you can get that rest that speaks to you?
May your rest be restorative, and happy creating!
