Podcast Episode 40: Rhythm of Rest
Introduction:
Thanks for clicking on Conversations with Crosswinds Counseling. I’m Curtis Smith and I invite you to subscribe to our podcast and to like and share it as well. I hope you enjoy today’s episode.
Podcast #40:
Curtis: Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s episode of Conversations with Crosswinds Counseling. I’m here with Grant Anderson, the clinical manager of our Indianapolis office. Grant thanks for joining us on the podcast.
Grant: Thanks for having me.
Curtis: We are talking about something today that I think is going to interest a lot of people. The rhythm of rest. And the reason I think that will be interesting to many people out there, I know it is to me, is because I feel like I don’t do a great job of getting rest. And I feel like we live in a world where more people than ever aren’t getting rest, don’t feel rested, don’t feel refreshed as they go through their day. So, I think most of us know what rest is, but what is the rhythm of rest?
Grant: So, we do this naturally with our physical health sometimes. So, every night we’re sleeping, we’re waking up, we’re eating, we take care of our hygiene, we’re showering, brushing our teeth. It’s a daily thing that we take care of ourself without even thinking about it. Right. So that’s a daily thing that we’re doing. We don’t always think about that in terms of our emotional health. What are we doing every single day to take care of ourself emotionally? Are we taking time away to read? Are we taking time away to just be mindful of our present awareness and what’s going on around us? And then pulling that forward in that rhythm to what are we doing on a weekly basis? So, if we’re talking physically, we do this naturally with the weekends, or kind of, you know having a break between our work week. But we don’t always think about that. What are we doing special this weekend to make sure that we’re readying ourself for our work week? How are we emotionally recuperating what took out of us this week to get ready for our work week?
Curtis: So, the rhythm of rest is thinking about ways that we can get rest in a daily way, then a weekly way. How far out do you take it? Do you take it to – is there a monthly, or quarterly, or an annual thing that we need to be focused on to get some level of extra rest in?
Grant: Yeah, so when I talk about it, I usually take it all the way out to about once a year. Once you get out that far I think there’s a lot of overlap sometimes. So, if you’re doing a vacation, you’re getting that physical break from your life, but it can also be an emotional break. So, getting away from the stress, getting away from emotional situations that are going on, and just kind of recuperating yourself in that mentality.
Curtis: Well, let’s just talk about each stage. That’s what occurs to me to naturally do. So daily you mentioned, maybe getting a few minutes to read. What are some other daily ideas that someone watching the podcast could maybe incorporate into their lives on how to build a little rest into the normal rhythm of their whole lives.
Grant: Yeah. So, one of my favorites is just kind of what we call mindfulness or awareness. Talked about quite often in the therapy world.
Curtis: Yeah.
Grant: But just being present of where you’re at. So often, we’re so focused on what we’re doing, what we have to do, or what we should have done, that we don’t focus on the present. And we know from research that just that present mindfulness and that awareness can bring us a whole lot more peace. And so I would say daily focusing on what am I being aware of that’s going on in my present moment.
Curtis: But I do also love the idea – maybe reading isn’t your thing, but trying to steal away for 5, 10, 15 minutes to read or to do something that maybe isn’t looking at a screen, or interacting with others. Or some people, you know, some people are extroverts. They get charged up by being with others. If you’re alone all day, maybe you rest, maybe you get filled up by being with others if you’ve been alone all day or vice versa. So, I love that.
Grant: What’s just breaking the routine can be huge too. Getting out and walking or doing something in between meetings and things like that can be big for you.
Curtis: Yeah, and we’re getting into the warmer months. So, getting outside is more and more viable. Let’s take it out to the weekly. What are a couple of tips that you might have for someone who’s looking to build a little more rest into their lives on a weekly basis?
Grant: This could be times when you’re figuring out what builds you up or draws you in passionate-wise. So, pouring into hobbies. That can be for some people, getting out and doing a sport. For some people, it can just be getting out into nature. It can be cooking if that’s something that you enjoy, but it’s doing something that fills you up. And then making sure that you’re doing it routinely, and not just when I have time – which may be a harder time if you don’t make the time for it.
Curtis: Yeah, well I think we’re all really bad at that. We don’t prioritize ourselves. We don’t prioritize things like getting away. Getting rest. Stealing away from the world for a few minutes. I don’t know why. It’s human nature to be bad at it, but it sure seems like it is. I know it is for me.
Grant: Yeah. No, I think that’s very natural that we get our leftovers sometimes. We don’t – we give and give. We don’t think about what we need to do to prioritize yourself, like you said.
Curtis: Let’s take it out to monthly. so a couple of tips on the on the monthly cycle of rest.
Grant: Yeah, so getting out and doing things like dates. Getting out and getting out into nature when, especially with the summer months, if you’re big in nature, getting – going camping. Things that you can do that maybe aren’t realistic on a weekly basis, but maybe much more realistic if you get out that far. They can be movie nights or things like that. With a family, it can be going out to the movies. Things that might be a financial piece, that kind of builds you up, and kind of emotionally recharges you.
Curtis: It seems like there’s a balance too, in sometimes being really purposeful about this and scheduling things out so if you’re looking at something like a camping trip, for example and you know it’s going to be in a month, make sure you get that date on the calendar, but it seems to me that there would also be a benefit of doing a few things on a whim and just kind of on the fly. Say, ‘Hey, let’s do this tonight,’ or, ‘let’s do this tomorrow,’ or – and finding that balance of planning out some things, but being a little more free-flowing other times.
Grant: There’s definitely a balance to it. I think if you’re going to really find a rhythm, you’ve got to be spontaneous, but I think if if you’re going to be consistent there’s got to be some planning put in.
Curtis: For sure. All right, and then one that’s got to take some planning is the annual stuff, you mentioned vacation. That’s kind of the obvious one. I think, you know, a lot of us take a vacation, or two, a year hopefully, but maybe you don’t. So, vacation, obvious place to start. What else comes to mind Grant for you on an annual basis, that we can be doing to build rest into our lives?
Grant: It’s one of the things that I’ve encouraged clients before is just trying something new. Whether it’s a new hobby in the summer that you’ve never done before. Maybe you’ve never gone camping and so you’re trying for the first time. Getting out there and doing something that you haven’t done will take planning sometimes and if it’s something that will be like taking a dance class or something like that, there’s an investment that’s needed. But if you don’t enjoy it, it becomes you know, a one-time thing usually. So, if you enjoy it, it might turn from a special occasion, once a year, to more of a monthly thing. And so recognizing where is that rhythm and that balance for your life.
Curtis: Interesting. You’ve mentioned camping a few times. Is that your way of getting rest.
Grant: It is one of mine. Yes. I do love to camp and actually this last year, recently, started involving the family a whole lot more.
Curtis: Wow.
Grant: Now the family’s going camping more.
Curtis: And is that still restful?
Grant: It’s a different kind of rest. Still enjoyable, but it’s a different kind of rest.
Curtis: From a counseling perspective, a serious question, it looks to me, and I’m no counselor, like you can get rest in different ways, and I mentioned earlier maybe an introvert needs to steal away from the world. Maybe an extrovert’s alone all day for work and needs to get connected to people. Is that rest, or is that something else, filling yourself up – feeling fulfilled. Is there rest in that?
Grant: Yeah, so it kind of takes us a little bit different. When I talk about it, I tell people there’s different ways that we fill up. So, whether it’s socially, emotionally, physically recharging, intellectually recharging, sometimes even spiritually recharging. So more of a weekly thing would be like church, recharging, sometimes it could be Bible study. If we’re looking physical, maybe it’s you know the gym – maybe more daily for some people. For some people, maybe, it’s once a week they’re getting to the gym. So, there’s different boxes of which we can recharge in. So, the social box may be a very important box for an extrovert to recharge.
Curtis: Well, whatever box you need to check, we encourage you to to build some rest into your life on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis because it’s important. It’s important for our mental health to make sure we’re getting rest and getting recharged on a regular basis. Grant Anderson is one of the amazing counselors we have here at Crosswinds Counseling, and you can find them all at crosswindscounseling.org. Grant, thanks for being on the podcast today.
Grant: Thank you.
Curtis: Thank you for joining us on Conversations with Crosswinds Counseling. We’ll see you next time.
Outro:
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