Rest and Relaxation

After a busy academic year, I wanted to celebrate the end of term with a blog about books related to the importance of rest!

I know a lot of teachers and others reading this will still be busy and working over the summer, but I really hope you also get an opportunity to rest and if you need some encouragement, here are some books that might interest you.

The Art of Rest by Claudia Hammond

Reading this book is a complete act of relaxation. Claudia dedicates each chapter to different ways people like to rest. She looks at the research into why people find these things restful and helps to provide good arguments for why an hour in front of the TV or in the bath is a good use of time. This book is beautifully written and is easy to dip in and out of.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottesa Moshfegh

This book is a bit more quirky! The story is told by an unnamed narrator who takes rest and relaxation to the extreme by putting herself in self-induced coma through prescription pharmaceuticals. Her aim is to see how she can sleep for as long as possible, and she sets herself up to be able to mostly sleep for a year with brief interludes to eat etc. It is an odd plot, but the blunt honesty of the narrator and the absurdity of the plot make it an interesting read.

Wintering: The Power of Rest by Katherine May

It may seem odd to mention a book called wintering at the start of the summer holidays, but in the context of this book ‘wintering’ means taking a period of rest to rejuvenate ourselves. Katherine May tells us about her own experiences of needing to take a rest and how this helped her. She also has a podcast which is an interesting listen too.

Rest: Why you get more done when you work less by Alex Soojung- Kim

If you are looking for something with more quantifiable research around the importance of rest. This book may appeal to you. Based on neuroscience it provides tips for incorporating rest into our lives. This might be helpful if, like me, you already have a full summer and you want some simple tips for adding in some rest!