Rest: The Best 4-Letter Word
Rest can be such a critical part of living chronically well.
It seems like many of us with chronic illness need to make sure we get enough rest. If we don’t listen to our body when it is signaling for rest, we can start to experience negative consequences (e.g., symptom flares, irritability, or not being able to show up for daily life).
I tend to think of these inconvenient signals as a reminder the body is working on healing (or surviving) issues that we may, or may not, know about. Rest gives the body the opportunity to repair itself and to bolster immune function.
If you are living with a chronic illness, the benefits of rest could not be more important!
But, rest can be difficult to embrace when living with chronic illness because getting rest can feel forced. It can get in the way of our life, work and social engagements. We can end up feeling sidelined because our bodies can't do as much as our minds would like us to. It’s enough to make you want to say some choice 4-letter words.
R-E-S-T is the best 4-letter word.
When I start to feel this way, I usually need to remind myself that R-E-S-T is my favorite four letter word because it is important for me and my health. Getting rest is a healthy habit that is as significant as exercise and eating well. And, just like other healthy habits, getting enough rest can be challenging in its own ways. It can require timing, planning, effort and commitment.
Rest can feel different than other habits like exercise because many of us don’t think of it as being productive.
Taking a break or sleeping doesn’t look quite the same as lifting weights. I would like to point out that this view of rest is a societal and mindset construct because the body would beg to differ.
Rest is productive! This is particularly true when it helps you to show up for daily life or give your body some time to heal. It is similar to recharging an electric car. It is required for us to function.
When we think of rest as a necessary, healthy habit that supports and sustains us, it might start to look like a higher priority in your life.
Frequently, it takes more rest and self-care for many of us living with chronic illness to function well. And, when we accept that reality, we can make better choices to support ourselves in a way that allows us to reach a better quality of life.
Making rest a priority is akin to putting on your oxygen mask before helping others around you. It requires prioritizing what is best for you, your health, and the impact that may permeate other areas of your life.
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My Experience
Learning to get enough rest has been a hard-earned lesson for me. And, it is something that I continue to work on and find my right balance. In my experience, it is harder to do this when I am feeling pretty well and something outside the normal routine shows up - like a work or social engagement, travel, etc. I start to think that I can get away with it, and lean into my inherent tendency to do more. That can blur the lines of prioritizing rest.
I will say that I am much better about noticing when this starts to happen. If I start to feel run down, or that there is simply too much on my plate, I am quicker to notice. I am better about putting on the brakes. Because I have gone through this cycle so many times in my life, I know that less sleep, more stress, or a packed schedule pretty much always leads to health trouble for me.
Because I don’t want that trouble, I know that this is when I need to slow down and take better care of myself. I remind myself that it simply takes effort and care for me to be well. Because my health has such an impact on my quality of life, my health will take precedence over just about anything. It is important to me to be mindful of when I am not grounded in my priorities and getting a little ahead of myself.
How To Incorporate Rest Into Your Regular Routine
For me, there are some fundamentals:
Getting a good night’s sleep on a relatively consistent schedule
Not over-packing my schedule
Scheduling breaks in the day
Listening when my body and/or mind signals that I need to slow down
Taking a rest from inputs when that might cause stress (i.e., news, social media)
Reminding myself of what rest makes possible in my life and health (for some positive reinforcement when I need to make tough choices to prioritize rest)
How About You?
How do you incorporate rest into your daily life?
What does rest make possible for you?
How high of a priority is rest in your life right now?
If you are struggling with putting sleep and rest higher on the priority list, it might be time to take a quick inventory of what is going on in your life. Then, prioritize, simplify and delegate where you can. Don’t forget to put on your oxygen mask first!
MAJOR CAVEAT: For many of us, there are points in our chronic illness journey when there are not enough hours in the day for us to get enough rest to feel human. I think of how I felt during certain parts of chemo, radiation and pneumonia. It was impossible for me to feel rested.
If you are reading this at a similar point in your chronic illness journey, I am sending hugs. My hope is that this will pass in time. It took me weeks, months, and/or years to reach more energy (depending on what was causing fatigue). This is definitely something to discuss with your healthcare provider and a time to ask for help from others in your life if it is difficult to manage the day-to-day.
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