Four Ways to Get More Rest and Relaxation in Your Life - 2018 Spring Spectrum

FOUR WAYS TO GET MORE Rest and Relaxation in Your Life From the Balanced Living Blog of the Health Alliance Plan of Michigan (HAP) After seven years of frustrating, difficult work, Knowing you need more rest is an idea we can all Albert Einstein took a break from a series of intense get behind. But getting more rest? That may seem mathematical calculations. As the days passed and as out there as Einstein’s E=MC2. Here are four he let his mind wander, Einstein was struck by the ideas to incorporate relaxation to give your brain kernel of the idea that he would eventually turn into and body time to reboot. the theory of relativity. Of course, not all of us have the same lightning-bolt 1 SCHEDULE IT. It may sound intellect as Einstein, who went on to win the Nobel Prize in physics. But all of us require the ordinary contradictory, but scheduling ingredient that led to Einstein’s insights: a break downtime is a simple way to help from daily obligations for rest and relaxation. create a new habit. Start with a If we’re always doing, moving and releasing active once-a-week appointment, say hormones, such as cortisol, we can’t sleep even at 10 minutes, that you put on your bedtime, experts say. “This is made worse by the digital or paper calendar. When that time fact that people stay on their phones or computers rolls around, put away your devices and find a right up until bedtime, stimulating the brain and quiet place to sit, with no agenda or goals. making it nearly impossible to fall asleep and stay asleep,” says Dr. Heidi Hanna, executive director of 2 JOURNAL. Get creative by the American Institute of Stress. Does the lack of downtime matter, even if we're giving yourself space and time not going to make world-changing discoveries, like to jot down ideas, inspirations Einstein? Quite simply: Yes. and observations. Schedule your While resting, your brain makes connections that journaling time, if necessary. it’s unable to make when you’re active. Scientists have found that while concentrating, your mind 3 USE TECHNOLOGY. A variety of “turns off” a set of brain regions. However, when your thoughts wander, those disconnected regions apps, many of them free, can help establish complex connections that have become you carve out vital rest time. Lynne known as the default mode network. They control Goldberg, a meditation coach and vision, hearing, movement, attention and memory. cofounder of the Breethe app, credits So, when you give your brain a break, it’s doing meditating with helping her recover work that it’s otherwise unable to do, including from life events. “When you meditate, evaluating what’s happened to you and coming up you’re giving your body cues that you are OK, with new ideas. that nothing bad is happening, and you’re changing your physiological reaction,” she says. Apps like hers make it simple and easy to routinely get a few minutes to pursue mindfulness. 4 BREATHE. Resting doesn’t have to equal a long nap or an entire afternoon with no to-dos. If you feel hurried or anxious, practice simple breathing techniques. “Deep breathing helps slow the heart rate and clears the mind,” Goldberg says. ▲ 16 SPECTRUM | SPRING 2018