Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith joins me to discuss the 7 types of rest and the impact depletion in one or more areas can have in your day to day living. She specifically addresses sensory rest, social rest, creative rest and the difference between sleep and rest.

Questions Dr. Saundra and I Discussed:

1. (4:51) Since publishing a podcast episode with my husband on how we Sabbath I have been asked  what we mean by practicing Sabbath or intentional rest. In your book, Sacred Rest you write, “Time chimes in loudly over the roar of our anxious minds, initiating a battle between warring fears and courageous rest. Aborting rest empties me of everything holy. It strips me of the ability to treasure life and peels away the value of being.” Dive into those words a bit and share your journey of intentionally pursuing rest.
2. (10:00) Something I LOVE about your book is the 7 key areas of rest you share and how to determine what area you may be lacking in.  Will you share those 7 areas and touch on a few ways to determine what type of rest we are missing?
3. (17:07) What is the difference between rest and sleep?
4. (19:12) Tell us about rest quiz.com.
5. (23:50) Something that is vital to rest is setting boundaries. How can we go about creating boundaries when it comes to rest?
6. (29:37) Being a physician, what are some overall health impacts a lack of rest has on our bodies and brain function?
7. (32:07) Let’s say someone has a sensory deficit, what is a good thing for them to do?

Quotes to Remember:

“When I look at Sabbath, yes, they cease their normal activities. But really what they end up doing are restorative activities. And that’s what the core of rest is, rest equals restoration.”

“Social rest is the rest we receive when we are around life giving people, when we allow people to pour back into us.”

“When you get busy, oftentimes what happens is beauty gets etched out. You stop appreciating it because you rushed right past it. You don’t have time to stop and let it actually create something inside of you.”

“Creative rest is not you creating something it’s letting what’s already been created, whether it’s nature or art, create something inside of you.”

“We rush by a lot of beauty in our lives and and honestly that’s what makes life worth living.”

“Sleep really is just one of the types of rest….Physical rest has two components, you have passive physical rest, which are sleeping and napping, and active physical rest, which are things like leisure walks, stretching, anything really to improve your circulation and get your lymphatics flowing. When you lump sleep and rest into the same bucket, you’ve basically taken out the other types of rest.”

“If you’re living you’re going to be pouring out…[If] you’re constantly giving and pouring out you’ve got to constantly be receiving and restoring or else you end up in a [rest] deficit.”

“I think a lot of times we give a reluctant yes in places where we should give a truthful no and trust that the relationship can handle our nos. That’s what boundaries looks like, reclaiming your space, your ability to stay in a healthy place without pouring out beyond what you have to give.”

“Electronics are supposed to make our lives easier. They’re supposed to be able to give us resources to be able to use our time more efficiently. And now the tables have kind of turned where they’ve almost become taskmasters. They’re dictating our response, instead of us using them to for our benefit….You have to take back control of how you’re using your electronics, and let them work for you and not against you.”

Resources Mentioned:

• RestQuiz.com
• Sacred Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith

Related Episodes:

• 69: Sam and Amber Cullum | Sabbath As A Family
• 68: Doug Gamble | Learning to Rest with Intention
• 67: Dr. Matthew Sleeth | 24/7 ER Doc to 24/6 Sabbath Rest
• 49: Jeremy Pryor | Family Teams

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Beloved Women’s Online Conference, October 10,2020