In this Guardian article, Emma Beddington describes how Seven types of rest described in a book Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity by Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith, a physician.

The following are some quotes from Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith, who talked with Beddington and are produced in verbatim from the The Guardian article.

• “The book starts with an extremely relatable account of her lying on the floor, her kids snacking in front of the TV.
• “People would come in saying: ‘I’m tired all the time’, ‘I don’t have energy’ … lots of non-specific complaints. Nothing where you could give them a pill; things that needed lifestyle changes.
• “I was experiencing some burnout-type symptoms. I never knew how hauntingly healing cold wooden planks could be.
• Beddington writes:“I don’t like resting I tell he. I get listless and sad and feel a failure. She is not surprised. For some people, rest is almost uncomfortable. It’s almost as if their psyche fights back against it because of the new sensation. She would never recommend a three-day silent retreat to a completely frazzled patient. For someone who is actively burned out, that’s almost traumatic.”
• “It’s a billion-dollar industry, we have speciality pillows, weighted blankets, all of this stuff rather than focusing on the root problem.

I wanted people to take a more diagnostic approach to their fatigue. When someone comes in and they say they’re hurt, I can’t treat that without having more details: what hurts, where does it hurt, when does it hurt?

– Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith (source: The Guardian)

The SEVEN types of rests described in Dalton-Smith’s book include physical, mental, emotional, social, sensory, creative and spiritual.

• Physical: Incorporating “body fluidity” into my day with hourly small movements. It’s easy and rewarding to set a phone reminder to roll my neck, clench and unclench my hands, or stand up and rock on my heels. Even better is the advice to “choose to be still on purpose for five minutes while lying down.” I do this on the sofa, under a blanket; the hardest part is getting up after five minutes.
• Mental: Focus with a basic technique: time spent blocking out “low-yield activities”, such as email and social media, and periods of concentration. It dovetails well with the hourly movement breaks from physical rest.
• Emotional: Identify people who “drain” you, “risk vulnerability”, and “cease comparison”.
• Social: “Dalton-Smith’s social rest means spending time with people with whom you can be your unvarnished self.
• Sensory: “A huge uptick in the number of people who were experiencing sensory rest deficits. Some adults irritated each other to death. That non-stop hum of somebody talking in the background causes you to get agitated. That’s what sensory overload does to us.
• Creative: “Build sabbaticals into your life”. That’s not a month-long writer’s retreat; it can be as little as 30 minutes, doing something you choose, away from the grind.
• Spiritual: “At the core of spiritual rest is that feeling that we all have of needing to be really seen, of feeling that we belong, that we’re accepted, that our life has meaning. That might come through voluntary work, or other activities.