Well to the Core With Robin LongShembull

Soul Rest

One day I sat in my doctor’s office after months of not feeling like myself. She said to me, “Robin, you can handle a lot, but you don’t know when to say that enough is enough. Your body is telling you that you need to slow down. And while there are practical things you can do, like take supplements and add healing foods, the number one thing you need to do is do less.”

Essentially, I was living in a state of fight or flight. Without even realizing it, this way of living had become my new normal. My nervous system was always on high alert, and I rarely had a chance to rest, recover, and reset. (The mere noise level in my house prompted my body to respond as if there were a threat behind every corner.) My body and my brain were helping me function—they stayed in overdrive to help me meet the demands of my job, my home, and my relationships. But I couldn’t keep up that pace forever.

Around the same time, I began hearing from friend after friend that they, too, were in a similar situation: experiencing feelings of exhaustion, unexplained weight gain, hair loss, muscle aches, and digestive issues, not to mention emotional and spiritual weariness. The go-go-go lifestyle has become the norm in our society, but it’s only a matter of time before we crash . . . unless we do something about it.

So what does it truly mean to rest? Rest can look like a good night of sleep, but it goes much deeper than that. Part of resting is considering our rhythms throughout the days, weeks, and years as well. We need both sleep and healthy rhythms to support the regeneration of our minds and bodies. When we do, we’ll feel our best, day in and day out.

Rest isn’t just a good idea—it’s something God instructs us to do often. Yes, our bodies need to slow down and set down the weight of the world, but so do our minds and souls. We need to rest to be reminded that we’re not in control—God is. There’s freedom in knowing that he keeps the world spinning . . . even when we pause.