Throughout our lives, rest has been important, but now that we’re older, it’s more essential to our health than ever. We must get the rest necessary to keep us going for the long haul.

  Rest is any period of inactivity during which our bodies can restore expended nerve energy. Anytime we’re under excessive stress, we build up cellular waste faster than our body can eliminate it and we’re depleting our energies faster than our bodies can restore it. To stay healthy, in our 50s and beyond, we have to give ourselves permission and time to rest. 

 There are four kinds of rest and each is essential.  

1) Physiological rest or sleep is when our bodies are primarily inactive and we’re able to catch up on building nervous energy for future expenditures. 

2) Sensory rest refers to meditation and also sleep. During sensory rest, the nervous system and brain are relaxed or not normally exerted. Closing our eyes is sensory rest. It saves a great deal of energy and removes about 80 percent of energy-draining distractions. 

3) Emotional rest comes from withdrawing from real or perceived stressors that drain our emotions. If we want to be healthy, we each need to give ourselves permission to remove ourselves from situations in which our emotions are being raised to unhealthy, stressful levels.

4) Mental rest happens when we allow ourselves to leave the office behind; accept that tomorrow is another day; and give ourselves credit for the fact that we really can handle life if we take it one step at a time.  

Rest in each of these forms is essential for maintaining peak health. It is also during rest that our minds can dream and create new possibilities, as well as when our bodies can reap peace and experience recuperation.  

We’re all busy. Many of us are living extremely full lives, caring not just for ourselves but others as well. However, life is a balance between rest and movement. If we want long lives, we’ll need to figure out how to strike that balance. 

Silver Disobedience® philosophy believes all healthy relationships begin with self-awareness. I’m @DianGriesel aka @SilverDisobedience ✨ I am a Perception Analyst and I wrote The Silver Disobedience Playbook. Here, I share my Daily Meditations for other Ageless, Passionate & Curious People.  More info in my bio, my websites and at Wilhelmina New York