A Restful Body Nourishes the Soul

Rest. There are different definitions from 1. a bodily state characterized by minimal functional and metabolic activities, 2. freedom from activity or labor, or 3. something used for support.

I used to define rest was laziness and being unproductive. Others might consider rest a luxury of time that they do not have or able to get, or they see rest as anxiety provoking as one might have to sit in still and hear one’s thoughts. Or rest is when one sleeps.

In America, we thrive on productivity, capitalism and development for more, which are important in our life and society. However, the constant work-a-holic busyness does not make room for creativity, insight, and nurturance.

Why do we need rest?

The constant doing creates a myopic view of life. We might only see the goal rather what are the consequences as reach for the goal.

What I mean by busyness is packing each moment with tasks and to-dos.

Rather, keeping times and days open for rest and even boredom.

We lose sight of our intention for life and become preoccupied with being the best, doing the best, making the most, or appearing busy. We lose touch with your own self.

We become foreign to your own body.

You are do not notice that stress is accumulating and your body is signaling to you with symptoms of headaches, restlessness, anxiety, aches, pain, or upset stomach. We eat more, crave more, shop more, work more, gossip more, and move less, connect less, and rest less.

Body Imbalance

Stress in our body creates imbalance in our hormones, gut bacteria, and many other biological imbalances. With stress, our cortisol levels can be very high or low levels that affect our thyroid levels, metabolism, gut response and serotonin/dopamine (mood hormones).

From there, we develop anxiety, stomach ulcers, hair loss, weight gain, and more. I have seen the physiological, emotional and psychological strain that stress creates and the response varies in each individual.

Healing of Rest

During rest, we are telling our body we are safe, secure and do not need to be high alert, so cut back cortisol production. Here we move from a sympathetic drive of fight and flight and move to parasympathetic rest and relax mode.

When we are in a parasympathetic mode, our body can do vital bodily functioning like digestion, reproduction, elimination.

Also, during this time, our mind can rest, body can recuperate, mood lifted, enjoy life more fully and receive insightful hits and ideas.

Now, let's do a little exercise…

Make yourself comfortable. Either sitting on a chair with our feet touching the floor, or sit cross-legged.

Loosen the jaw and facial muscles. Soften the gaze or gently close the eyes.

From there, observe the breath—what moves as you inhale, what occurs during the pause, and how the body feels on the exhale.

Then, breathe in through the nose for a count of 4, filling the body with breath, and slowly exhale for a count of 4.

Repeat this for 5–8 rounds.

Afterward, how do the mind and body feel? Relaxed? For some, yes. For others, it may feel unfamiliar or even bring up anxiety.

Whatever the response, continue this practice daily—at the beginning and end of your day. It only takes a few moments to entrain your body to relax with your breath. When you breathe with intention, your body knows it is safe and not in a sympathetic (fight-or-flight) state, allowing it to soften and rest.