Pete Alexander2x TEDx Speaker and best-selling author helping transform burned out workers into engaged colleagues.

Stress Relief Tool - 7 Types of Rest

8 Dec 2021 · 3 min

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2:46

In this video, presenter Pete Alexander (SPEAKER A) explains Sandra Dalton‑Smith’s framework from the book Sacred Rest, which distinguishes seven distinct types of rest—physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, and spiritual—beyond ordinary sleep. He links each rest type to specific activities (e.g., stretching or massage for physical rest; micro‑breaks or meditation for mental rest; technology detox for sensory rest; nature or color exposure for creative rest; Emotional Freedom Technique for emotional rest; limiting negative people and social media for social rest; daily gratitude for spiritual rest). The speaker emphasizes that holiday‑season sleep disruption can mask underlying rest deficits, and advises viewers to assess where they expend the most energy during the day to prioritize the appropriate rest type. Practical examples illustrate how a graphic designer might need creative rest, while a marathon trainee would need physical rest. The overall message is that matching the right kind of rest to one’s energy demands reduces stress, improves performance, and makes sleep more restorative.

Chapters

Now that we are in the holiday season, some of us may find that our sleep cycles get out of whack. And we all know how important good sleep is for stress relief. But did you know that there are 7 types of rest? According to TED speaker Sandra Dalton-Smith, sleep and rest are not the same thing. Rest should equal restoration in 7 areas of your life. 1. Physical, whether it be passive like sleeping or active like stretching, exercise, and getting a massage to help improve your body. 2. Mental, where micro-breaks, journaling, and meditation can help calm your noisy mind. 3. Sensory, bright lights and electronics can lead to sensory overload, so detoxing from technology is important for proper rest. 4. Creative. Especially if you need to brainstorm new ideas as part of your work, creative rest is critical. Spending time in nature and surrounding yourself with colors can be very helpful. 5. Emotional. The opportunity to freely express your feelings, which can be done in the privacy of your own space using the Emotional Freedom Technique. 6. Social. It should come as no surprise that negative people suck our energy while positive people do the opposite. To get this type of proper rest, it is best to avoid negative people and limit your use of social media. And 7, spiritual. Whatever spirituality means to you, doing a daily gratitude exercise can be a game changer in changing your overall outlook. In her book, Sacred Rest, Dr. Dalton Smith says that determining what type of rest you need starts with evaluating where you're using your energy throughout your day. The areas where you expend the most energy are likely going to be the areas where you need to prioritize rest. For example, if you're a graphic designer and spend most of your time creating new designs, you're using a lot of creative energy throughout the day, and as such, will need to prioritize creative rest. If you're in the middle of training for a marathon and are running 15 miles every day, your body is going to be exhausted, and you'll need to get plenty of physical rest to recover. So the next time you are wondering why a solid night's sleep doesn't refresh you, take into consideration which type of rest may actually be needed in order to reduce your stress and perform at your best.