Relaxation

Relaxation is a very important part of being healthy. If you aren't taking appropriate rest days you'll burn out pretty quickly. This is true in mental work, and exercise alike.

Because exercise makes your muscles stronger by tearing them so that they will re-heal, giving them a chance to do that healing is essential. If you don't take a rest day once or twice a week when you're exercising, those muscles won't have a chance to repair themselves. Continuing this will only lead to your muscles failing under the strain of your exercise - which in turn leads to sprains, pulls, tears, and sometimes even broken bones. Your body needs appropriate rest and one way or another, this marvelous machine will make sure that you give over the goods!

The same is true with work. It can be easy in a world of deadlines and alarm clocks to forget how important mental rest is. We can get caught up in checking off our various, very full checklists and forget entirely that the mind is also a muscle that very much needs its own healing time. When your mind doesn't get rest time it reacts the same way the rest of your muscles do: with eventual failure. This is what causes mental breakdowns, anxiety attacks, as well as all of the physical manifestations of stress (back pain, joint pain, and shortness of breath, just to name a few).

What do you do to rest? What makes you feel refreshed and ready for whatever comes next? If you're struggling with this one, think about your favorite celebrations. What makes them so good? Is it the family? The food? The chance to just have fun? Whatever part of your celebration makes you feel the best, integrate it into a healthy habit of relaxation! If your favorite part is friends and/or family, then schedule some coffee dates, shopping days, casual sports, or even just a walk. If the part of celebrating that feels best to you is food, then find a special and healthy meal - my personal favorite is pastazero noodles with broccoli and homemade meatballs. Whatever part of celebrating is the part that makes you the most relaxed, find a way to mix it into your life (without compromising on your goals!)