Rest is an aspect of self-care which is one of the three dimensions of coping and living with the climate crisis. We need rest to survive and to function. But getting enough rest isn’t always easy. In the context of the different phases of climate anxiety and grief, high anxiety, depression or distress can disrupt sleep and make it impossible to relax. If you’re someone whose response to learning about the climate crisis is to throw yourself into action, then it might be hard to allow yourself to rest. Though it might feel counter-intuitive when faced with an enormous, urgent problem, that no one with any power seems willing to act on, it can be argued that rest is an essential part of our response. Dr Panu Pihkala explains that we also need a rest from our strong emotions. He says that researchers into grief tell us that people see-saw between different reactions, and need a break from engaging directly with the strong emotions of grief.1 Pihkala, Panu. “The Process of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief: A Narrative Review and a New Proposal.” Sustainability 14, no. 24 (January 2022): 16628. P. 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416628. The first argument is that proper rest is essential to avoid burnout which is a common experience among activists. The second argument is that insisting on prioritising rest is part of the work of transforming our society into a sustainable one. Rest can be a form of resistance. Here rest as self-care overlaps with rest as an action to tackle the root causes of the climate crisis.
What is rest?
Often when we start thinking or talking about a topic that seemed like it might be straightforward it turns out that it’s a little tricky to pin down. This happened with rest. As I started reading before the session I wondered what counted as rest. Is it sleep? Is rest the same as relaxation? The same question came up when we talked as a group and someone suggested there might be different kinds of rest.
It turns out we’re not the only ones to wonder about this. A survey on rest found that rest means different things to different people. People do different things to rest. Not just sleep. This BBC article about the research explains that many of the activities reported in the survey were ones we do alone, suggesting perhaps we need a rest from people.
The Mental Health Foundation describes 6 ways to rest:
- Rest your body
- Rest your mind
- Rest your ‘heart’
- Rest your ‘soul’
- Rest your connectivity
- Rest your senses
Ideas for conversation or reflection:
- What does rest mean to you?
- Is work the opposite of rest? What is the opposite of rest?
- What makes you drained and what restores your energy?
Ideas for practice or experimentation:
- Follow Emma Beddington’s lead and find ways to try out 7 forms of rest.
- Try these worksheets to identify which activities are draining or sustaining activities for you.
- Read the Mental Health Foundation’s guide Rethinking Rest. It has questions for reflection, suggestions for ways of engaging in different kinds of rest and ideas for making rest a regular part of your life in the long run. It’s based on the 7 types of rest described above. The guide is written for teachers and educators which is why you’ll see references to the demands of lesson planning and marking but it’s appropriate for anyone.
These practices are all individual-focused. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need – there’s nothing wrong with treating the symptoms of a problem and it can be critical. If you’re interested in engaging with the bigger questions about the social and cultural causes of our exhaustion and what this has to do with climate change, take a look at Rest is Resistance.
Reading
Beddington, Emma. “The Seven Types of Rest: I Spent a Week Trying Them All. Could They Help End My Exhaustion?” The Guardian, November 25, 2021, sec. Life and style. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/25/the-seven-types-of-rest-i-spent-a-week-trying-them-all-could-they-help-end-my-exhaustion.
Hammond, Claudia. “How Being Alone May Be the Key to Rest.” BBC News, September 26, 2016, sec. Magazine. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37444982.
Mental Health Foundation. “Rethinking Rest.” Mental Health Foundation. Accessed January 7, 2024. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/programmes/programmes-families-children-and-young-people/resources/rethinking-rest-guide.
Pihkala, Panu. “The Process of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief: A Narrative Review and a New Proposal.” Sustainability 14, no. 24 (January 2022): 16628. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416628.