Keys to learning to stop and truly rest

How many times do we long for the “deserved rest” of the holidays and then, when the longed-for moment arrives, we don’t really rest?

Remember the benefits of rest and above all knowing how to enjoy it will make us sleep when sleep comes, anywhere and in any position. And be that as it may, for those who observe us, we will transmit the sensation of knowing how to enjoy the placidity of sleep.

A certain degree of activity is also necessary to rest well. Hence the importance of physical exercise. Tired, but without it it costs more to rest.

Reserving one’s own spaces and finding moments to seek proper rest is essential, as is knowing how to say “no” and reject social pressures or obligations when what the body asks of us is to stop.

Why resting on vacation is necessary

No activity, no matter how good and pleasant it may be, develops in a linear way, but occurs with its maximums and minimums, and each period of activity is followed by another of less activity or rest.

It is important to know this law and know when we are up and we are capable of more activity, and when we are down and we need rest.

These cycles are easy to understand, although more when it comes to daily wakefulness and sleep than the weekly rest, between lunar critical points or yearly.

And precisely because we have understood them for centuries, we institute partying and rest as something as sacred or even more sacred than work. Today, however, the lifestyle makes many forget about the parties and others live permanently plugged into them.

What is becoming increasingly clear is that ignoring these key rest points leads much of society to turn to and depend on stimulants, antidepressants and sleep aids.

The dangers of not knowing how to rest

The overstimulation, imposed by work or self-imposed, by excess of information, noise, activity or sometimes from stimulant substances, food, medication or drugs, can make it difficult to rest.

Also there are people who seem to resist resting, as if life were lived more intensely filling the schedule with things and sleeping little.

But the body and mind cannot function uninterruptedly; they need to slow down regularly so they can pick it up later. Everything, including the mind, regenerates in stillness.

In tests of great physical effort, such as performing more than 100 hours of activity without rest, it is observed that decay cycles appear at night between 3 and 5 in the morning, as well as an improvement of vitality at dawn.

It is also observed that Motivation helps to get over it physically, but lack of sleep is totally out of control on a mental level.

Until recently we didn’t know much about the different electrical waves produced by the activity of the cerebral cortex and how these change with activity and rest:

beta (daily conscious rhythm),delta (when sleeping and dreaming),theta (dream-like state) andalpha (in states of deep physical relaxation and emotional serenity, when the mind is calm but still alert and awake).

In the 50s of the last century, when the REM sleep activity and the non-REM phase were discovered, these brain waves were observed. Now we know that, when we relax, theta and alpha waves predominate, which provide a feeling of well-being.

Every day more have been found too disorders related to lack of rest: triggering epileptic seizures, Parkinson’s disorders or sleep apnea are some examples.

We have not only seen the electrical modification that these alterations have Rather, all of them are related and improve by changing lifestyle habits and above all by respecting the sleep cycle, but very little publicity is carried out in this regard, while the number of patients taking sleeping pills and others increases every day. drugs.

What is true rest like?

Rest is the natural and logical consequence that occurs when you are tiredeither by muscle fatigue caused by movement or by another monotonous, repeated activity.

We all get tired and need to rest daily, but also in weekly, monthly or annual periods we go through established cycles of greater or lesser activity, most of them influenced by light and temperature.

Cults and customs have been developed on these cycles since time immemorial. And it is that to adapt to the environment and survive it was important, for example, to plan the work in the field: planting and harvesting, breaks and the celebration of the harvest.

But what is meant by rest? Sleep? Do the lazy? Entertain yourself with something that helps to “disconnect”? Relax consciously?

All those things we could say that they are part of the concept of resting, and They are not only essential for vital hygiene but alsothat, when the time of crisis or illness has arrived, they are an essential medicine to regain health.

Resting means, as the word itself indicates, undoing fatigue. Is stillness, rest, stop working.

It is responding to the symptom of asthenia, which is defined as the lack or loss of muscle strength that appears in many diseases, perhaps one of the pillars of that manifestation that naturopathic doctors call Vis Medicatrix Naturae (the healing power of nature).

When the body demands rest, it manifests itself with tiredness, and the most intelligent application at that moment is to listen to the body and rest.

The value of bed rest

One of the best techniques rest at all levels – physical, psychological and spiritual – is sleep.

Its repairing capacity has been so great throughout history that in the temples of Asclepios dedicated to medicine it was considered fundamental. Currently, the act of sleeping rested -in Greek kline– has given rise to the word “clinical”, and in all of them the bed continues to be the most valuable part of the hospital.

In the last century, bed rest was the primary factor in a therapeutic plan. and it reached its maximum expression with the rest cures of the spas and anti-tuberculous sanatoriums, but various circumstances have meant that in the last decades bed rest has ceded in importance.

The demonstration that youn prolonged or exaggerated rest can lead to complications (mainly thromboencephalic) or the observation that surgical wounds heal better with movement are some of them.

Despite everything, bed rest is necessary in many cases, so Knowing the biological effects of excessive or prolonged immobility will help prevent possible complications and prescribe it in its proper measure.

Resting excessively can be as disastrous as it is curative to do it in its proper measure. The bed is a place of therapy, but also where more people die every day.

A prolonged rest in bed can have many side effects: physical alterations such as an immediate disturbance of memory, verbal expression or spatial perception, a slowing of brain electrical activity or insomnia, and somatic alterationssuch as anorexia, decreased blood pressure, venous stagnation, greater loss of calcium and phosphorus, asthenia, ulcers…

Thus It is convenient, as far as possible, to get up and exercise in a relative way. Even in the maximum of yin, of rest, a little yang or activity must be introduced.

The patient is advised move as much as possible in bed while not sleeping. If he moves asleep, it’s a good idea to let him do it.

Respect sleep cycles

One of the most important concepts that should be understood about the dream is that it is cyclical, that is, that it has alternate phases of sleep and wakefulnessand that these phases They are organized in a 24-hour cycle.

Another basic concept is that within the same dream there are two different states -REM and non-REM- and that the environment, light, noise, food and worries affect sleep.

Respecting the cyclical pattern of sleep makes it therapeutic, as well as taking into account its relationship with light. Both phases, activity-light and rest-darkness, are the ones that will produce cascading neurotransmitter reactions that will start the regenerative system of the organism.

The period of maximum hours of sleep will occur in winter, and the most active, in summer, with small intervals of nap in summer and wakefulness in winter. This balance between sleep and action will be one of the important factors for health.

In sleep, cycles of maximums and minimums are observed with intervals of the opposite. This is how the nap or wakefulness appear, and also the REM and non-REM phases.

During sleep, above all, a readjustment of systems will be carried out. Cardiac output, body temperature, and general metabolism decrease in deep sleep, although they may increase in REM sleep.

When sleeping serotonin and moods are also regulated. To lift your spirits there is no way to sleep well. And daydreams act like balancers of psychic processes.

Sleep is also accompanied by a regeneration of the skin and mucous membranes., as well as young cells. Increases lipolysis, that is, fat burning.

On the other hand, a large secretion of melatonin is produced, which induces the immune system to destroy cells in poor condition.

In fact, an excess of stimulation and a lack of rest cause an increase in adrenaline and cortisol levels, decrease attention and memory, worsen physical capacity and reduce antioxidant capacity, which causes further damage to the oxidation system, accelerating aging and weakening defenses.

The digestive system is also very sensitive to rest cycles; both the motility of the intestines and their secretions are adapted to the day, prepared for digestion, while at night they are adapted to the repair of the digestive mucosa.

It’s classic stomach ulcer cycle. It’s known that during the morning there is more danger of perforations gastric by taking aspirin. At the same time, there more danger of recurrences on Thursdays and Fridays due to accumulated stress and also in May and July, November and December.

Despite how much is known today about the relationship between ulcers and the bacteria Helicobacter pylorishould not forget that on/off cycles influence the bacterial world.

The keys to a restful sleep

For good sleep hygiene the first rule is to sleep when you are sleepy. That is, to sleep at night, but also to favor during the day the short naps.

The number of hours that should be slept depends on the person and the moment. The 7-8 hours that are usually recommended are the average required by most, but it can be more or less (between 4 and 12 at extremes) and fluctuate throughout the week, year or lifetime. These variations should be understood as something natural.

some measures They also help improve the quality of sleep:

The room should be spacious, airy and sunny.or at least be properly lit and quiet.The bed must be hard enough and the pillow adequate….