What is rest?

It is a period of inactivity during which the body analyzing, and sending messages to all 75 trillion. That's why the brain is the biggest enigma in our universe. The billions of signals flashing through your brain incessantly carry a mind-boggling load of can restore expended energy. When we've depleted our energies faster than they can be restored, a period of inactivity enables the body to catch up. You've experienced this. You're tired, fatigued, so you sit down and close your eyes for a moment or two; your head nods a few times, then all of a sudden you "come to," and in those few seconds you feel refreshed and invigorated.

Types of rest

There are four kinds of rest that can be used to replenish and refresh oneself.

 1. Physical rest may be obtained by discontinuing physical activity-sitting or lying down and relaxing.

2. Sensory rest is secured by quiet and by refraining from using the eyes, which curtails a great drain of energy.

3. Emotional rest is achieved by withdrawing from involvement in the ups and downs caused by personal interaction.

4. Mental rest is obtained by detaching the mind from any and all intellectual demands or activity.

Essentially, rest is the curtailment of energy expenditures, which permits the body to redirect energies to restoration. It can be used very effectively to rejuvenate yourself and improve your outlook.

It is far better to take some time to rest quietly, with eyes closed and body still, so as to perform more efficiently in the afternoon and evening hours than to forgo a needed nap and drag through the whole afternoon performing at a greatly reduced productivity level-the impaired efficiency more than offsets the extra time you work when not alert or not feeling well. Napping is also important in that it improves body functions, including digestion, thereby promoting better health through better nutrition. Resting prevents excessive fatigue, promotes better and more efficient work, and increases productivity. When you are fatigued, mental sharpness and physical powers are greatly diminished. Resting sharpens the mind and prevents the fatigue that otherwise makes you nervous and irritable at night. It also allows you to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly.

The healthful custom of taking a short noontime nap has been largely destroyed by the needs of an industrial society. This loss has, to a great extent, contributed to our ill health and stimulated habits that make industrial nations so highly stressed and diseased. Our parents knew what they were doing when they called us in during our childhood for our afternoon "snooze." RESTING AND NAPPING IS NOT A SIGN OF LAZINESS. IT IS AN INTELLIGENT AND PRODUCTIVE USE OF YOUR TIME.

 How much sleep does one need? Let's put it this way. You should go to sleep when you're sleepy, and you've had enough when you wake up. Actually, enough is what is required to recuperate nerve energy, build up reserves, replace and cast out spent cells, and eliminate the by-products of metabolism. There is no single set amount for everyone. Different conditions require different lengths of sleep. Some people do fine with four hours, some need ten. If you supply the best conditions in terms of air, water, food, sunshine, exercise, and positive influences, you will stay asleep as long as your system needs you to, then you will wake up. As long as the purposes of sleep are fulfilled, it doesn't really matter how long you are asleep.