Rest

Most people would agree that diet and exercise are the two main components of living a healthy lifestyle. But there’s a third component that’s equally important: Rest. Genesis 2:3 records God’s opinion of rest: “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Rest is part of the natural rhythm of creation implemented by God on the seventh day. Rest was even part of his covenant with his people when he commanded that they observe Sabbath in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and in Leviticus 23:3: “There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest.” God designed us to rest.

Your body needs adequate amounts of rest in order to stay healthy and function properly. Getting a good night’s sleep allows our brains to rest and relax as well as allow our bodies to repair and relax. Without the right amount of sleep, we feel sluggish, have decreased levels of work and can eventually become ill. While 7 hours is recommended, everyone needs a different amount of sleep. Some people can survive with 3-4 hours while others require 9-10 hours to be at peak performance.

Sleep is what most people think of when they talk about rest. But another type is mental rest! Mental and emotional stress can be very taxing on the body. Exercise stresses the body in a good way and is for a short time. But when you add onto that the stress brought on by other factors, the body starts to show symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, moodiness, depression, sense of being overwhelmed, agitation and becoming physically ill. The body has to rest in order to deal with the overload of stress on the body!

So in other words……SLOW DOWN!!! If you’re feeling run down…….your body is telling you to rest! Make sure you have equal amounts of a healthy diet, exercise, and plenty of rest!

Cara Sheets