July 2022 | Volume 4

Quality rest: an essential for your well-being

In today’s time, it has become so normal to view exhaustion and burnout as simply ‘tiredness’.

This kind of tiredness is different from what we once knew: it’s not just something that a weekend break can fix. The primary reason behind this is the absence of true rest which is essential to moderate the build up of adrenaline. Isn’t it ironic: we now have access to technology and gadgets that have made chores easier and yet we are struggling to get proper rest.

So, what’s causing that?

The switch of the modern world is never off and so, our mind and body are working round the clock. Every alert we receive on our phone (whether it’s our email, texts or app notifications) has made our life similar to that of a doctor on call through day and night. We’re always accessible, our mind space is always available to be occupied. This is the root cause behind the adrenaline build up. We are always on high alert.

The solution? Drain the adrenaline!

With high adrenaline levels, we are unable to rest. To make things worse, we tend to occupy our night time with activities that continue to increase our adrenaline levels. Even the news and TV shows are now designed to add to our rising adrenaline.

The simplest way to slow yourself down is to be mindful about the activities you choose to do after dinner. Do things that relax your body, slow your breath and calm your mind.

Here are 3 effective ways to do that:

#1. Turn off your lights

In times before electricity, humans used to go to bed soon after darkness set in. This made sure that their body clock was in sync with nature. But with the coming of electricity and screens, we’re wide awake till the wee hours of morning. Our mind is always active because it’s still interacting with its surroundings and contents on our phone/tv screen. As a result, the mind is confused, hormonal balance goes for a toss and sleep quality plummets.

#2. Create a sleep zone

Nowadays, we do most of our tasks from our beds: working, eating, watching and sleeping.The bed has become a multipurpose zone, and the mental association of a bed with the notion of sleep has been broken. You sleep on the same bed where you watched a crime thriller, the very same bed where you worked on a stressful project, so naturally, the mind continues to be active on that bed even when you’re trying to sleep. Your sleep is therefore shallow.

#3. Practice Yog Nidra (non-sleep deep rest)

Yog nidra is a simple meditative technique that allows the body to move into the realms of relaxation that exist between wakefulness and sleep. Also called yogic sleep, it is so restorative that a 30 minute yoga nidra session can give you the relaxation of 2-3 hours of sleep. You lie in shav asana (corpse pose) and are systematically guided into deep relaxation using voice commands, where repairing and healing of different layers of the body takes place.

To get you started, here’s a recorded guided session of Yog Nidra by Subba that you can easily follow and practice whenever you feel like.

Follow her on Facebook & Instagram and know more about her here.

She loves to use the camera to share “joix de vivre” as they say in her hometown of New Orleans, attempting to gift people portraits where they feel seen and understood.

She explains, “Like our meditations, I find walking with a camera to be an invitation to slow down, and enter silent reflection, even if I am in an urban landscape. I attempt to notice the quiet whisperings of dew on a leaf, or a flower growing in the crack in a sidewalk. There is a message when I pause to look for it, and unpack it, and sometimes that message is just a reminder to be present. Here, the petals that fell from a flower my son picked line the path, and because I am aware of the gift of that moment, they are even more meaningful to me than the beauty of the background behind them, and jump off the page”.

As a result, you will find yourself tossing and turning in the bed trying hard to sleep. This kind of sleep isn’t very deep and there’s a high chance you might wake up feeling grumpy in the morning.

Follow these tips to improve your sleep quality considerably:

Eat light, non- processed foods for dinner
Consciously chew your food well and make your tummy’s job easier
Go for a post-dinner walk to boost your metabolism and accelerate the digestive process

Upcoming events

Best Life Retreat, Bali : ONLY 6 SLOTS LEFT!!!

Join us for a rejuvenating retreat with Subba at Being Sattva, Ubud, Bali where everyday will be a celebration! Dates: 30 Nov - 04 Dec 2022 (5 Days, 4 Nights)