When do we need emotional rest? Emotional rest is important all of the time, but particularly when we’ve been dealing with stressful or draining situations. Emotional rest allows us to process our own emotions, free up our emotional “bandwidth,” and regulate our emotions better.
The signs that you may need emotional rest can include feeling like you don’t have any control over your emotions, having outsized reactions to small mistakes or accidents, or feeling drained and like you don’t have any energy to deal with your feelings. There are others, but these are some common ways that emotional exhaustion can show up. So, let’s look at ways to bring back emotional rest into your life.
- Journaling. I love journaling as a tool. It helps us put words to our experiences and the act of writing, especially with pen and paper can help activate the more creative parts of our brain. Now, I know journaling is difficult, especially for us perfectionists, but just try writing 2 or 3 pages a day. It doesn’t matter what you write because we are not going to look at the pages again. If you feel tempted, throw the pages away. Remember, the goal is in the writing, in the process, not in the end result.
- Talk with someone you trust. Sometimes we need to share and feel supported with everything going on in our lives. Talking with someone allows you to let go of a little bit of the load that you carry daily. It can be a big relief.
- Exercise. I recommend exercise for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that even 15 minutes of exercise can help reduce the stress hormones in our bodies. The second reason is that exercise and movement can allow our bodies to process our emotions and improve emotional regulation.
- Practice self-compassion. Self-compassion focuses on accepting ourselves and extending the same grace and compassion to ourselves as we would to others. Being kinder to ourselves has a range of benefits that are too many to explain here. (For more information on the benefits, click here!)
- Relax. Take some time to create an environment that lets you take a break and relax. For me, that could look like lighting candles, taking a bath, or even doing a coloring book. Use your preferences to create a relaxing space and enjoy it for a little while.
- Listen to music. Music has a large impact on our emotions. Listening to music in different genres can help you process your emotions. Finding music that speaks to you and singing along or dancing along is a great way to work through emotions.
- Practice some of your interests or hobbies. Engaging with things that we’re interested in can help us to relax and give us a much needed break from focusing on different stressors in our lives. If you can’t think of anything, why not give a new hobby a try?
I hope this helps to identify why we want more emotional rest in our lives and how we can get that rest. Next time we begin talking about some of the lesser known types of rest, including sensory, creative, and spiritual rest.
