Checking in After a Week of Intentional Rest and Being
A post by occupational therapy students, Peter Simon and Emily Otremba
Good afternoon, everyone!
How was your rest this past week? As we stated last Thursday, we were going to be reflecting on our rest patterns right along with you. Today, we wanted to check back in and also share what we observed within ourselves. Maybe you will be able to relate or maybe you have ideas or techniques you could share with us which worked well for you. Either way, we hope this last week helped you to notice how you do or don’t rest. It was an insightful week for us and these are our reflections that we took from this past week.
Image descriptor: A trail in the woods on a fall day
Reflections from Peter
This past week of noticing what I need and intentionally resting has not gone exactly how I wanted it to go. When writing up the post last week, I had this grand idea in my head of what I wanted to say for this week and how to say it perfectly. That I wanted to have a perfect week, with the perfect rest schedule. And then I would be able to come write this post and spill all my secrets on resting to you. Looking back, this is a good preview of one of the biggest lessons I learned about myself this past week.
I learned that I was doing a lot of wanting and creating an idea of what I thought my week should look like. However, I found out that what I wanted wasn't necessarily going to be what I needed.
I quickly discovered that even when I thought I was resting, I was not-- I somehow could not manage to turn my brain off. Not when I went for a run, not when I meditated, not when I was watching a TV show, not when I was hanging out with friends. I think that it speaks for itself that I wrote many thoughts down in the middle of my runs or walks of how I wanted to say something. I always seem to be thinking of what I have to do next in the middle of another task, thinking two steps ahead, and frankly, that is exhausting.
That isn’t to say I was unable to rest, it just was not the rest I expected. I do want to take a moment to celebrate the moments of rest I did take, which until I was talking with Emily, I didn’t realize I had completely left out of my post. It is so easy to focus on the negative, isn’t it? I found rest in reading a book that had been left untouched on my bedside table for the past couple months. I found rest by going on a sporadic hike in the morning with my best friend in the bluffs-- the kind of quietness I experienced during this hike was humbling. And I found rest by going on daily walks over my lunch and picking out my favorite trees or leaves.
So I didn’t get the rest I thought I would, but in practicing being kind to myself, I am grateful to my body that I at least took the time to be curious and notice. I noticed I get distracted easily. That even when I think I have escaped from all possible distractions, I still catch myself listening for something. That I can know exactly what I need to do to rest, but for some reason am unable to make the time for that rest. That going on my phone is not rest but rather mindless scrolling that still takes up my energy. That my anxiety seems to make just sitting and listening to a podcast and doing nothing else near impossible. That my weekends are not innately restful just because I am not going to work.
In all honesty, I am not sure where the next step for me to learn how to rest is. I think that it will take time to find that step and what works for me. One thing I have learned recently, yet somehow manage to forget often, is that even if we try new methods but they don’t work for us, it is just as important to see that as a success. I think it is really easy to forget that what works for another may not work for us. And that is more than okay. Our uniqueness doesn’t end with our interests or personality traits, but continues on with how we see and take in the world-- with how we are able to find rest. We are all going to do so differently.
I can want something all that I want to, but what do I really need? Maybe that is my next step, finding out what I need in order to rest. This past week has been a good journey of discovering what I don’t need and what doesn’t work. Maybe this coming week I will dive deeper into finding out what exactly I do need.
Reflections from Emily
As I sit and reflect upon my rest patterns this past week, I realize there were some successful moments and also areas needing improvement. Thursday was a busy day for me. I found I kept adding “one more thing” to my plate. I was going camping and hiking and knew I wouldn’t have my computer or Wi-Fi-- completing my work was necessary. What else did I decide to do though? Leave packing to the last minute. I could have gathered my belongings the night before, but that would be too easy, right? In turn, I felt rushed. Mentally I was exhausted but had a two-hour drive ahead of me-- I needed to clear my mind. I remembered something my dad said when his mind occasionally raced after work-- he would drive with the windows down and the radio off. So I thought I would give that a try. Even though I only felt the silence and the breeze for 20 minutes before I had to stop for gas, that one small act awakened my mind-- I felt rested. I was able to complete the drive with nothing on my mind beside the road ahead and belting out my favorite songs.
The next day before hiking I took a nap-- something I rarely do. Which allowed my body the physical rest it needed. I was present in nature and with my loved ones. But when I am with people socially, I know after a while I need to recharge and be by myself. That is what Sunday consisted of-- I read, listened to music, and prepared for my week ahead. I even made a list of what I wanted to improve and what techniques I could utilize to achieve better quality rest to be my most productive and present self. Although I made that list, I found I had difficulty implementing those techniques into my daily routine. When I feel I need to work on multiple things about myself at one time, I get overwhelmed. Causing me to barely check anything off my list--which left me feeling anxious, tired, and disappointed all week. What I did check off that list though, was a walk outside, putting on a face and eye mask, and having a pretty awesome dance party after an amazing chat with Peter and Kary about how influential music is. So, I guess it wasn’t all bad, right?
As I consider what I want my rest to look like this upcoming week, I am realizing that it is okay if I allow myself to work on one change at a time. Slowly implementing that technique into my routine until I feel ready to add another--continuing this cycle until I find what works for me. My hope is that this will prevent me from getting discouraged, causing me to not make any changes at all--as well as preventing me from being disappointed in myself. In trying to allow myself patience and grace, I am being kinder to who I am and who I would like to become.
In Conclusion
As we learned last week, rest is more than just sleeping. Two other definitions of rest from Meriam-Webster dictionary include, “a freedom from activity or labor” and “a peace of mind or spirit”. We hope you were able to achieve this, but if your week didn’t go as planned, that is okay! Ours didn’t either. What’s great is that we still put in the work and learned--being able to use this past week as a jumping off point into what we want to try next. Helping us to grow in our journey toward rest.
As we saw, resting is not as easy as it seems-- what may work for you, may not work for another. Like how Peter sometimes needs to wait until he is resting to know how to rest fully and Emily needs time to herself to recharge. We want to create an open dialogue where it is safe to ask others “what works for you” and “what would you like to improve” because rest is going to look differently for us all. This dialogue can help us to reflect upon ourselves while also connecting with the community around us. We encourage you to continue to find what rest means to you, as we will do the same. Remembering to do it with love and kindness.
