7 Weeks of Sacred Rest Invitation
Sleep is different than Rest and there are 7 key areas of Rest that we need to thrive in life.
7 Types of Rest:
Physical Rest
Mental Rest
Emotional Rest
Creative Rest
Spiritual Rest
Sensory Rest
Social Rest
Important Notes:
You by no means HAVE to do this. The point is that we GET to have fun and play and see just how rested we can be.
Take what feels good and incorporate micro changes that compound and before you even realize it you are naturally have built in more restful moments into your day.
This is your invitation for 7 weeks- or forever. It gets to be easy and let’s see how easy it can be to micro-shift our way to create a more restful fulfilling life.
How to do this:
This isn’t about resting more… Its about RESTING BETTER
This isn’t about more “to-do’s” its about creating more space for meaningful, fulfilling, and replenishing rest.
Let’s see how simple and fun this can be. Let’s start small and with one area of rest and slowly build upon it.
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smiths Quiz to see where you need rest and which kind Take it HERE
7 weeks to more Rest
Or Follow Along Below
FIRST: The 7 Types of Rest & How to Improve Them
1️⃣ Physical Rest – Rest for the body
🔹 Signs you need it: Fatigue, body aches, tension, frequent illness, tired but wired, depend on substances like caffeine/sugar for energy and alcohol to relax.
🔹 How to restore it: Prioritize passive rest (sleep, naps) and active rest (stretching, massage, yoga, deep breathing). Give your body recovery time instead of pushing through exhaustion.
2️⃣ Mental Rest – Rest for the mind
🔹 Signs you need it: Brain fog, racing thoughts, forgetfulness, trouble focusing, irritable, avoid doing things, ruminating/guilt/stress about the past or anxious/stress about the future.
🔹 How to restore it: Take breaks from deep work, do a brain dump before bed, and set boundaries with overstimulating tasks. Try mindfulness, meditation, or simply staring out the window (yes, really).
3️⃣ Sensory Rest – Rest from stimulation
🔹 Signs you need it: Eye strain, headaches, irritability, feeling “touched out.” Sensitivity to loud sounds or no sensitivity to loud sounds, crave processed foods for the flavor,
🔹 How to restore it: Reduce screen time, lower background noise, close your eyes, and spend time in dim or natural lighting. Swap endless scrolling for moments of intentional silence.
4️⃣ Emotional Rest – Rest from people-pleasing & performing
🔹 Signs you need it: Feeling emotionally drained, suppressing feelings, hiding our feelings, struggling to say no, or voicing opinions. You may focus on flaws, failure, or insecurities and fears keeping you from trying new things. You apologize and provide clarifications a lot. Excessive worrying or anxiety
🔹 How to restore it: Be honest about your emotions, talk to someone you trust, and practice setting boundaries. Give yourself permission to express how you really feel without guilt. Get curious about what your emotions are trying to tell you- this is how the nervous system talks to us.
5️⃣ Social Rest – Rest from relationships that drain you
🔹 Signs you need it: Dreading certain interactions, feeling lonely even around others, burnout from social obligations. Feel detached and attracted to people who mistreat you, it’s hard to have deep relationships, prefer online relationships over in-person.
🔹 How to restore it: Spend less time with people who deplete you and more time with those who uplift you. Allow yourself to opt out of social events without guilt.
6️⃣ Creative Rest – Rest from problem-solving & constant output
🔹 Signs you need it: Feeling stuck, uninspired, or like you’ve lost your spark. Focus on the needs of others, talk yourself out of self-care, feel selfish, don’t feel valued or appreciated, hard to enjoy things in their natural state.
🔹 How to restore it: Step away from problem-solving mode and immerse yourself in inspiration—nature, music, art, or play. Let your brain wander without needing to create something.
7️⃣ Spiritual Rest – Rest for the soul
🔹 Signs you need it: Feeling disconnected, lost, angry at the world, or like something is missing. Feel helpless, hopeless, not satisfied, defeated, no motivation, depressed and numb.
🔹 How to restore it: Engage in practices that connect you to something bigger—prayer, meditation, gratitude, or simply acts of kindness. Find ways to nourish your soul beyond daily tasks. Notice the miracles and amazing moments in life.
Your Body Knows What It Needs
If you’re exhausted even after resting, ask yourself: Which type of rest am I actually missing?
🌿 7-Week Rest Renewal Invitation 🌿
✨ One type of rest per week, small daily shifts, big transformation ✨spend a week or as long as you’d like diving into replenishing these different types of rest. Let’s see how easy and fun it can be to create more rest in our day!
Week 1: Physical Rest – Rest for the Body
✅ Goal: Reduce exhaustion by improving sleep & body recovery. Inner healing happens daily. Notice how you feel in stillness. Is your body craving stillness or gentle movement?
Daily Actions:
🔹 Day 1: Prioritize sleep—set a bedtime & remove screens 30 mins before.
🔹 Day 2: Stretch for 5 minutes in the morning & before bed. And find pockets of gentle movement and motion throughout the day (roll neck, ankles, wrists, rock back and forth on legs, sway body)
🔹 Day 3: Do a gentle movement practice (yoga, walking, breathwork)(Yoga Here, Breathwork Here).
🔹 Day 4: Schedule a 10-minute body break (massage, hot bath, foam rolling, MFR) (MFR here) (Alexis has a glorious self foot massage here).
🔹 Day 5: Take a true break—sit or lie down for 10 minutes without distractions.
🔹 Day 6: Try a 20-minute nap or guided relaxation meditation or sit and watch your child play without a screen to distract you is good too. (Mindfulness practices Here)
🔹 Day 7: Reflect: How does your body feel? What will you keep doing?
Week 2: Mental Rest – Quieting the Mind
✅ Goal: Reduce overthinking & create space for mental clarity and rest. There is no quick fix for this and requires daily commitment of activities to provide opportunities for mental renewal.
Daily Actions:
🔹 Day 1: Brain dump your thoughts and to-do’s—journal for 5 minutes before bed.
🔹 Day 2: Set a “mental break” alarm & do NOTHING for 5 minutes. Option to meditate and notice what thoughts are occupying your mind. Just notice them and don’t judge them or act on them. Make a conscious effort to fill your mental space with restorative thoughts.
🔹 Day 3: Limit decision-making—prep meals or clothes the night before. (ChatGPT help with meal planning here)
🔹 Day 4: Unplug from screens for 1 hour before bed and create a mental sanctuary(a place where your mind can rest- focus on things like love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness). (GEM bits like “show me the miracles and ease”, “invite in more ease”, “pure possibilities in the blank space”and more)
🔹 Day 5: Try box breathing (inhale 4 sec, hold 4 sec, exhale 4 sec, hold 4 sec). (Breathwork Here) or Listen to GEM bits to reframe thoughts/stress of the past and future (GEM bits especially “reducing stress/anxiety when it comes to past and future thoughts”)
🔹 Day 6: Take a walk without distractions—let your mind wander.
🔹 Day 7: Reflect: How does mental stillness feel for you? Extra- notice how you feel mentally after different activities and eliminate the ones that have no value. If activities must be completed, try to schedule them all to be completed at once (mornings are usually the best).
Week 3: Sensory Rest – Reducing Overstimulation
✅ Goal: Give your senses a break from constant input. Unplug from technology every day. Can you create a sacred hour of no technology? Test different sensory inputs and see if you can flip it and see how you feel.
Daily Actions:
🔹 Day 1: Lower background noise—turn off unnecessary sounds if you have lots of sound. Or turn on peaceful noise if you don’t listen to music much.
🔹 Day 2: Dim the lights & limit bright screens after sunset. Bonus, lower the brightness earlier in the day too.
🔹 Day 3: Close your eyes for 5 minutes during the day. Or do the 20/20/20 - take a 20 sec break every 20 mins to look at something 20 feet away.
🔹 Day 4: Take a slow, mindful sip of tea or coffee—focus on the taste.
🔹 Day 5: Spend time in nature without your phone. Bonus- turn phone on do not disturb. Breath in the fresh air.
🔹 Day 6: Try 5-10 minutes of silence—no music, no TV, just stillness.
🔹 Day 7: Reflect: What senses need more rest in your daily life?
Week 4: Emotional Rest – Releasing Suppressed Feelings
✅ Goal: Make space to express emotions freely and let them communicate with us with curiosity.
Daily Actions:
🔹 Day 1: Identify an emotion you’ve been holding in—write about it. (feelings are a part of who we are at this moment. Stop comparing ourselves with others- it destroys our ability to be authentic. Trying to fit in is emotionally taxing and can affect your feeling of worthiness. Embrace our quirkiness.)
🔹 Day 2: Say “no” to one thing that drains you. Option two- notice or think about a couple of situations when you are being inauthentic or performing too much to please others. Ask what you are compensating for with this inauthenticity. Acknowledge them and notice if you can release it and stop comparing yourself. (maybe invite in an adventure of deepening connection through your authenticity)
🔹 Day 3: Call or text someone who makes you feel emotionally safe and lifted. Notice who drags you down emotionally too. Notice how your emotions change around different people and limit the ones that drain you and be intentional about being around people who lift you up.
🔹 Day 4: Let yourself cry, laugh, scream—whatever needs release. (Somatic Practice here, dance, etc)
🔹 Day 5: Write a letter to your past self & give yourself compassion. Maybe write a letter to yourself now from your future self- what would she tell you?
🔹 Day 6: Practice mirror affirmations: “I am feeling …. And it makes sense” and get curious as to what they are telling you. (GEM bits and Nervous System Regulation/eft and Self Connection)
🔹 Day 7: Reflect: What emotional weight have you released?
Week 5: Social Rest – Balancing Energy in Relationships
✅ Goal: Spend less time with draining people & more with those who fill you up.
Daily Actions:
🔹 Day 1: Notice which interactions energize vs. drain you. More of the energizing relationships please! :)
🔹 Day 2: Set a boundary—cancel or reschedule a draining obligation.
🔹 Day 3: Reach out to someone who uplifts you. Mayne a text, call, or face to face. Bonus- Reach out to a fellow GEM mama and connect :)
🔹 Day 4: Take a social media break (even if just for a few hours).
🔹 Day 5: Have a slow, intentional conversation with a loved one and practice listening. (List of Fun Questions Here, and Relationship Questions Here, GEM bit on listening)
🔹 Day 6: Say “yes” to something that makes you feel connected.
🔹 Day 7: Reflect: How can you be more intentional with relationships?
Week 6: Creative Rest – Reigniting Inspiration
✅ Goal: Step out of “output mode” and soak in beauty & creativity. Daily Self-love and self connection.
Daily Actions:
🔹 Day 1: Watch the sunrise or sunset with full presence. Notice the natural rhythm of your energy too and practice flowing (flow, break, repeat. Notice your internal clock too.)
🔹 Day 2: Listen to music or read poetry—just for enjoyment. (Self Connection Here)
🔹 Day 3: Take a break from problem-solving & do something playful. Bonus- Create white space in your day with no plan. (self connection here)
🔹 Day 4: Walk outside and notice beauty in small details. Bonus- Go somewhere new or somewhere you would like to spend more time at.
🔹 Day 5: Doodle, paint, or create without any pressure. (NS creativity here)
🔹 Day 6: Visit a museum, park, or scenic spot—absorb inspiration. You can also look at pictures of nature- especially water, lakes, and beaches if you can’t go to a scenic spot.
🔹 Day 7: Reflect: What type of creativity brings you joy?
Week 7: Spiritual Rest – Connecting to Something Greater
✅ Goal: Nourish your soul with meaning, peace, and connection.
Daily Actions:
🔹 Day 1: Express gratitude—list 3 things you’re thankful for. Go a step further and create a list on your phone or on paper and write down all the beautiful moments you are thankful for throughout the day. (GEM Bit “aloha list”)
🔹 Day 2: Spend 5 minutes in stillness, prayer, or meditation. (loving-kindness meditation is a great one for this too)
🔹 Day 3: Engage in a selfless act—give without expecting anything. (compliment someone, smile at someone, call someone to tell them how much you love them, let yourself get creative)
🔹 Day 4: Read or listen to something that feeds your spirit. And choose to not engage in something that depletes it- like watching or reading the news.
🔹 Day 5: Spend time in nature & feel your connection to the world. Let the awe of the unknown fill you. Equally so, let whatever feeling flow. When you notice little things that you savor, say, “Yes! Thank you! More please!”
🔹 Day 6: Write down your personal values—what truly matters to you? How can you bring more of that into daily life?
🔹 Day 7: Reflect: What brings you the deepest sense of peace?
Final Reflection & Integration
✨ Which type of rest made the biggest impact?
✨ What daily habits will you keep moving forward?
✨ What shifts have you noticed in your energy, mood, and well-being?
By the end of these 7 weeks, you’ll have deeply restored every part of yourself—body, mind, emotions, relationships, creativity, and soul. Feel Free to continue to deepen this until rest becomes an integral part of your life. 🌿✨