Article: The 7-8 Different Types of Rest You Need for Overall Well-being

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Jun 17, 2024Motherhood

The 7-8 Different Types of Rest You Need for Overall Well-being

rest is one of the most misunderstood concepts in modern life. we treat it as a single thing — sleep — and wonder why we feel depleted despite adequate hours in bed. but rest is not just sleep. it is a multi-dimensional need, and different types of depletion require different types of restoration.

dr. saundra dalton-smith, whose research on rest has reached millions of people, identifies seven distinct types of rest that human beings require. understanding which type you are deficient in changes the conversation about what you actually need.

Types of rest for overall wellbeing — conscious living by Myrah Penaloza Bali

the 7 types of rest

1. physical rest. the most obvious and the most incomplete on its own. physical rest includes both passive rest (sleep, lying down) and active rest (yoga, stretching, gentle movement that releases rather than depletes). if your body aches or feels heavy, this is the deficit. sleep alone does not always resolve it — active physical rest often does what passive rest cannot.

2. mental rest. the inability to switch off. the mind that keeps running even when the body is still. mental rest involves deliberately disconnecting from mentally demanding tasks and creating space for the mind to idle. scheduled breaks during the work day, a genuine lunch away from screens, a walk without podcasts. the absence of input is itself a form of input for the mind.

3. emotional rest. the depletion that comes from consistently managing your own emotions while simultaneously managing others'. from being the person who holds the room together, who absorbs the stress of those around her, who performs okayness when she isn’t. emotional rest involves honesty — with yourself and with others. saying I am not okay. saying I need space. setting a boundary and holding it.

4. social rest. not all social interaction is restorative. time spent with people who drain, who require performance, who leave you feeling smaller — this is social depletion. social rest means spending time with people who genuinely restore you, or choosing solitude over depletion. it also means recognising which relationships are nourishing and protecting access to them.

5. spiritual rest. a sense of disconnection from meaning, from purpose, from the feeling that what you do matters. spiritual rest does not require a religious framework. it is found in any practice that connects you to something larger than the immediate demands of life — time in nature, meditation, ceremony, creative work pursued for its own sake, service to others.

6. sensory rest. the depletion from constant sensory input — screens, noise, artificial light, crowded spaces. the modern environment is extraordinarily demanding on the sensory system. sensory rest involves reducing input deliberately: a dark, quiet room. a morning without music. a meal eaten in silence. time in natural settings away from urban stimulation.

7. creative rest. the specific exhaustion of people who create for a living — or who bring creative energy to their work, their parenting, their relationships — without replenishing the well. creative rest means allowing yourself to receive beauty rather than produce it. reading for pleasure. visiting an exhibition. sitting with flowers. letting something move you without immediately turning it into something useful.

8. digital rest (added for our times): a recognised extension of sensory rest specific to screen and notification overload. deliberate periods of disconnection from devices. for more on this, read A Guide to Digital Detox for Entrepreneurial Women.

for the evening practices that restore multiple rest types at once, read Embrace Serenity: Effective Wind-Down Rituals for Women.