Factors Impacting Rest

Thanks to those who gave me feedback during the “Reflecting on Rest” posts. You can still give your feedback here, here, and here.

One question I received is about how to desire rest. (Thanks Rhoda for this question). There are several parts to this question and I will answer them over several posts.

Beginning with a general overview, there are several factors impacting our rest. Here are some of them. I shall explore each one of them more fully later.

• Medical: health conditions can impact your rest. People with depression, illness, may sleep more or less and will not necessarily feel rested.
• Physical: 
• Nutrition: yes, what you eat or don’t eat impacts your ability to rest.
• Environmental: Environments can include natural or human made ones. The season, the climate of your home, changing environments, moving to a new house, and so on can impact your ability to rest.
• Biological: hormone fluctuations as we age, monthly cycles for women (and men too) impact rest.
• Social: the people we associate with whether children, parents, friends, co-workers can influence the choices we make about rest.
• Political: living in a politically unstable environment will negatively impact your rest. 
• Legal and rules: There are laws and rules that impact our ability to rest. For instance, in some work places, some employers will not pay new mothers during maternity leave. On the other hand, people who work overtime get extra money– who doesn’t want extra money?
• Financial (socio economic) your kind of job, your financial status will impact your ability to rest.
• Ideological: these are the beliefs you have about rest, work, and the purpose of life. If you don’t believe that rest is good for you, how can you rest?

Several factors impact rest. You can start thinking about the most prominent factors affecting your rest.