Resonance – Episode 35
Verbatim Transcript
Speaker: Viktoria Levenberg
Most of us are working so, so much and never stopping, literally. We wake up at 7, think of
work, go to work, go home, think of work nonstop. You’re no good to anyone if you’re
depleted, and rest is so, so important, yet most of us don’t understand. Sleep is a crucial
component of rest, and yet there is so much more to rest that we need in our life than just
that.
Have you ever slept for seven to eight hours yet still felt exhausted the next day? Yep, been
there. And you know what? I thought more sleep was the answer to all my problems, but I
couldn’t have been further from the truth.
You see, today we will unpack the seven types of rest that you need, and most people don’t
know about. And we will debunk the belief that sleep and more time on the couch is going
to solve all of your fatigue problems, because hear me out, it isn’t. Let’s dive in. This one is
really important.
Welcome to Resonance, the podcast for high performers and entrepreneurs who wanna do
life, work, and success differently. I am your host, Viktoria Levenberg, and I am obsessed
with efficiency, productivity, and planning in a way that harnesses your energy and your
natural rhythms, while keeping you in alignment and integrity.
Because I have figured out that lasting success is not about the hustle. It is about being in
resonance. Let’s begin.
Alright, I’m sure just like myself, you probably noticed at this point, yeah, the holidays are
over. We’re back to normality. Most of the public holidays are out the way, you know, and
we’re probably starting to feel it, right?
I mean, like the holiday season can be really nice, especially here in New Zealand where it’s
sunny and bright outside, and you’re like, yes, I feel so energised. And you’re kind of, oh, I
gotta go back to work, and I’m so tired, and all these social outgoings, and you’re so
depleted. You’re giving so much of yourself away, and rest is so, so important, yet most of
us don’t understand that there is more to rest than meets the eye.
Most people don’t understand that sleep does not equal rest. And I taught this inside the
Stress Reset just this week at the time of the recording of this episode, and realised how
little known this fact is. So I’m sharing it with you now so that you can make informed
choices. You can uncover where in your life you’ve got the biggest rest deficit and start to
finally recover and recuperate that long-lost energy.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Okay, so the concept that I’m going to introduce you to today is, um, created by Doctor
Sandra Dalton-Smith. And she is a best-selling author. She’s a speaker, and she really
focuses on burnout prevention, workplace wellbeing, and change management. And so
she has a whole book. She did a TED Talk about this as well. And so we’re going to just kind
of deep dive into this a little bit more and unpack her theory of the seven types of rest that
we need, which I’m sure will resonate with you just as much as they did with me when I first
heard them.
First of all, yes, physical rest is important. I’ve spoken to this in a previous episode where I
deep dove into sleep, and why sleep, and how to sleep, and all the things that impact the
quality and, uh, quantity of your sleep. So I’m just gonna link that up in the show notes in
case you wanna deep dive down that rabbit hole.
Because yes, most of us are sleep-deprived, and so physical rest is really important. There
are actually two types of physical rest. There is passive physical rest, so that is your
sleeping, your napping, which again, most of us have a pretty big deficit in. So definitely
start there.
But there is also such a thing as active rest. And active physical rest is restorative activities,
things like yoga and stretching and massage therapy. So, um, you know, that might be
actually more of the physical rest that you are craving than the passive.
So this is all under the umbrella of physical rest. Yes, it is number one, but it is only one of
the seven types. So if you’ve been thinking all along that getting more sleep is gonna help
you with your chronic fatigue and exhaustion, let’s think again. And let’s uncover the other
six missing links that you may be in desperate need of.
Number two is mental rest. Think about it. Most of us are working so, so much and never
stopping. We think about the work deadlines. We think about the emails. We are thinking
about the presentation we’ve got to give tomorrow. We are just literally, we wake up at 7,
think of work, go to work, go home, think of work nonstop.
And most of us have such a massive mental rest deficit because this little monkey mind
just doesn’t stop.
So what will help someone with a mental rest deficit, and this is super important, is taking
short breaks throughout the day that honour your ultradian rhythm. Your ultradian rhythm is
basically your body’s automatic clock that runs 24 hours of every day, and it’s roughly a 90-
minute, um, cycle.
If you think of it like as a wave, um, where your productivity, your mental focus, your energy
rises, you reach your peak, and then it goes down. And at the very bottom of that cycle,
ideally your body wants about 20 minutes of rest. But again, look, we are all in this muggle
3D reality. Who here has got 20 minutes every hour and a half, right?
Um, however, even just a few minutes, even a few minutes of conscious pause, stillness, is
gonna be so valuable. Because that gives your body the best chance of recovering. It gives
your mind that opportunity to sift through all the information that it took in and create
memories and new neural synapses so that you can go back into the cycle and continue
your journey.
Another way to help navigate your mental rest deficit, and I swear by this, is journaling or
writing things down. To write down your thoughts. So if you know me, you probably know
that like, if I don’t write something down, it’s not happening. That’s because now I have
mastered the ability to keep the mind as clear as possible.
I say master, but like, I’m not perfect. No one’s perfect. But like, I do my best, and I’m not
cluttering this thing. So I’m not ever going to be that person who’s like, okay, and then I
need to remember this and this and this and this. Like, no.
That’s what my notes app is for. That’s what my calendar is for. That’s what my journal’s for.
Like, I’ll write it down, I’ll get it out of the way, and then I’ll come back to it later. And I have a
whole process where I like sort and reorganise my thoughts. But, um, yeah, don’t keep it in
here because then it’s just contributing to your mental fatigue.
That was number two, mental rest.
Number three is sensory rest. Think about it. Bright lights. Artificial lights. Computer
screens. Background noise, whether it’s construction or people talking in multiple
conversations, like if you’re in an office or on a Zoom call. All of this is causing your senses
to feel overwhelmed and overstimulated.
And unfortunately, especially in today’s society, we really are in desperate need of sensory
rest.
And so some really simple ways that you can give yourself a bit of sensory rest are things
like closing your eyes, unplugging from technology, maybe sometimes like putting block-
out headphones on if you have to. Like, that’s something I need to do at the office quite
often because the audio is just so stimulating for me, of hearing all the conversations.
Um, time in nature is gonna be really good sensory rest because generally nature tends to
be quiet. Um, and there’s actually a tool as well that you can do which is called the optic
nerve reset, um, which if you’re interested in, just send me a DM and I’ll record a little video
for you and teach it to you as well.
So sensory rest is number three.
Number four, creative rest. You might be like, what, I’m not creative. No, no, no, no, hear me
out. You cannot spend 40 hours a week staring at a blank screen or a messy surrounding
and blank walls and expect to feel passionate about anything, let alone come up with great
innovative ideas.
So creative rest is really important, especially for anyone who needs to problem solve and
brainstorm and come up with great new, different ways of doing things. So the way that you
can invite more creative rest into your life is through immersing yourself in things like
beauty, nature, the arts.
And you will gravitate towards different things depending on your own preferences and your
own personality style. But for example, it could be, you know, some people love going to
museums and looking at artwork. Other people love fashion and beauty.
And they get a lot of joy out of like dressing up or, or looking at fashion, or you know, kind of
being out and observing people out and about. Being out in nature, taking a walk, getting
out into the forest, into the beach. Like all of these things inspire you and reignite that
creative spark, because you cannot, you cannot spend all day looking at a screen and feel
inspired. That is just not how we are wired. So creative rest was your number four.
Number five is emotional rest, and this one specifically is really important for my people
pleasers and people who tend to gravitate towards the fawn response. So a few weeks ago,
I published an episode on boundaries. Now this week, I will again reaffirm that setting
boundaries is a really important part of giving yourself emotional rest.
People who have an emotional rest deficit often have a hard time saying no. They tend to
put everyone else first before themselves, and it’s really hard for them to tune into what
they really need. So a way that they can give themselves that emotional rest is, of course,
either setting healthy, firm boundaries and sticking to them, but also beginning to explore
with safe people. I wanna really highlight it’s important you do this with safe people who
will respect those boundaries as well.
So start with, you know, people you can trust. Don’t go to your biggest trigger right away.
Um, with safe people, start to practice vulnerability and like what it would be like to give an
honest, authentic answer to the question, how are you, rather than trying to sugarcoat
things.
Like it is my biggest pet peeve when people ask me how are you and they’re like halfway
gone before they’ve even finished asking the sentence. Like don’t ask me if you don’t care.
I’m not gonna give you a half-assed answer either. Like when I ask you how you are, I want
the full story. I don’t want the good, how are you. No, no. No, like I care.
And so beginning to answer authentically and in truth is a way for you to experience
emotional rest.
Having spaces like the women inside the Stress Reset where you can openly share, where
you can be your authentic, vulnerable self without the fear of judgment, where you are
invited to explore yourself deeper than you ever have before, without any shame, guilt, or
self-flagellation, that is emotional rest.
Alright, let’s move on to number six.
Number six is social rest, and often people who have an emotional rest deficit tend to have
a social rest deficit as well. So this one’s also kind of got a dotted line to boundaries, which
is why I made sure to include these episodes kind of quite close to one another. So if you
haven’t listened to that one, I highly recommend giving it a go as well and adding it to your
queue.
But basically, when we fail to differentiate between the relationships that revive us, that
give us energy, that light us up, from those that exhaust us, we tend to experience social
rest. Like you surely know this. Like when you spend time with that one person who it feels
like they have sucked all the juice out of you in like a few moments, versus that friend or
family member or acquaintance who you are around and you just like feel like you are lit up
right away. They’re just joy in your life and they fill you up. They fill up your cup, right?
They’re two distinctively different experiences.
And often people who need more social rest in their life need to step away from their
naysayers. Those are the people who like tend to judge them and question their life
decisions and kind of be really, uh, negative towards them, and instead move more to
spending more time with their wayshowers. So people who are on the same wavelength,
who will support you, and who want to see you succeed and thrive. Because your success
is my success. Like there is no, there is no separation. We are all connected, and the better
off you are, the better off I am. So you wanna find more people like that in your life.
And I do also want to touch to the fact that there’s an added layer of complexity here for
introverts versus extroverts. So introverts by nature will tend to more quickly have a social
rest deficit than extroverts. So know who you are and know how you get depleted. Honour
that social rest if you need it.
So a way to give yourself social rest is, first of all, putting in those boundaries. You know,
less time with the naysayers, more time with the wayshowers. But also, if you’re an
introvert, honour the fact that you just need space to yourself. You don’t need to be saying
yes to every social outgoing and every event, etcetera. And I know FOMO is a big thing, and I
know people might try and convince you and all that stuff, but like, you’re no good to
anyone if you’re depleted.
Let’s be real. And I, I have unfortunately, you know, gone through this many times where I’d
be in an event and I’m like counting down the minutes until I can leave. And so upon
reflection, I’m like, why did I go in the first place? I probably should have said no. So that’s
just a little insight into social rest for you.
And then lastly, seventh type of rest that we all need is spiritual rest. And this is the ability
for us to connect beyond the physical and the mental reality and feel a deep sense of
belonging, love, acceptance, and purpose.
So some ways that you can nurture that spiritual rest for yourself is engaging in something
greater than yourself. And this is the great thing about spirituality, is that it can mean a
million different things to a million different people. There is no right or wrong. It’s just
what’s right for you.
So whether that for you, it means getting involved in community, whether it’s prayer,
whether it’s meditation, whatever it is, find your way to nurture that spiritual rest cup,
because that is just as important. Because deficits in this space can really quickly evolve
into a sense of lack of purpose, lack of meaning. You know, these have really close ties to
things like mental illness, depression, anxiety, etcetera.
And so please don’t underestimate the power of this as well. And I know there’s a lot of
stigma around this, so just know that it doesn’t have to be any dogmatic, prescribed, like
anything. It doesn’t have to be anything. It could just be you looking at a tree. Like anything
that helps you connect with something greater than just your individual self.
That is number seven.
So to summarise, sleep does not equal rest. Yes, sleep is a crucial component of rest, and
yet there is so much more to rest that we need in our life than just that. And so that
includes physical rest, whether it’s passive or active, mental rest, sensory rest, creative
rest, emotional rest, social rest, and spiritual rest.
Rest all around. Is rest even a word anymore? You know, when you’ve like said it so many
times you’re like, I don’t know if it’s a word. Um, anyways.
My invitation to you this week would just be to reflect on, out of those seven types of rest,
which one you are in most need of in your life right now, and how could you invite a little bit
more of that in.
Now, I know it might be tempting and you might be like, oh my god, I need them all. Yes, we
all do, of course. And which one feels like the deficit is the heaviest at right now? And if it’s
hard to choose one, maybe choose two, maybe even three, but like no more than three.
And start to mind away at that. Start to have a think about, okay, what is a way that I could
invite a little bit more of this type of rest into my life, into my routine. Give it a try.
And hey, if this information resonated with you, like this is just scratching the surface of the
work that myself and the incredible women inside the Stress Reset do. I’ll share a little bit
more about this in just a moment, but for now, I just wanted to say thank you so much for
being here. Thank you so much for listening to this week’s episode.
I am wishing you a restful and restorative rest of your week, and I will see you next week.
Bye for now.
What if I told you that there was a way to skyrocket your productivity, all the while working
less? Don’t believe me? Okay, try this on for a moment. For years, we have been taught that
input equals output. But this concept is so wrong and completely ignores our natural
cyclical nature, which, by the way, applies even if you’re not cycling. Like, think about it.
When’s the last time that you had to push through, or maybe pull an all-nighter, right? How
did that go for you? What was the quality of your work? Probably lots of mistakes and didn’t
feel that great, right?
Because that’s not how nature works. Nature—and we are nature—is not a flat line. It is a
cycle. And cyclical alignment, it is hands down the most effective way to get more done in
less time. This is one of the key pillars that I will be teaching in my brand new upcoming
group program. You can join the priority waitlist today so that you too can achieve your
biggest goals without burning out.
The link is in the show notes below and at viktorialevenberg.com/success. I’ll see you
there.
The views and opinions expressed by guests on Resonance are their own and do not
necessarily reflect the views of me, Viktoria Levenberg LVNHealth, or anyone working
within the LVNHealth brand. This space welcomes a diversity of ideas, experiences, and
stories, and part of Resonance is learning to take what aligns and gently leaving the rest.
Also, while I am a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach and deeply
passionate about wellbeing, this podcast is intended for educational and inspirational
purposes only. Resonance does not substitute personalised medical, psychological, or
therapeutic advice. Always seek guidance from qualified professionals for any physical,
emotional, or mental health concerns.
