How Much Rest Is Enough for You?
Could It Be Hurting You?
I was a bit busy for the past one month. And the only thing I did not compromise was my sleep. I took at least 8 hours of sleep almost every day.
This meant if I am sleeping at 1 AM, I can sleep till 9 AM without feeling guilty. And the lack of guilt allowed me to stay in bed or move around in the house half asleep for an hour or so, until it’s too late and I just have to rush to the work.
There are a few downsides of waking up at 9 AM though.
I miss my gym.
I miss my breakfast.
I miss any opportunity to meditate.
Fast forward to today, after one month of this lifestyle, when I finally got things sorted — I decide to do some exercise in my room.
My legs started hurting after only 20 high knees and I was out of breath after 10 knee-push ups.
I am very thin and have lost about 7 Kgs (15 lbs) in past two months of not going to the gym.
Now I realized that what I lost was mostly muscle mass.
I felt bad at my current state, and found it as bad as I had been sick for a long time.
The result is that I have lost my physical strength and it’s effect is visible on my ability to do mental work as well.
The irony is — I was taking care of getting enough rest (sleep) to stay healthy.
Too much of rest with too little of work is what hurt me.
This made me think do we really need as much rest as we think?
And how much of it is pure laziness dressed as our need to rest?
After a day of mentally taxing work, do we need to wake up late in the morning to get enough rest? or do we need to wake up on time, go for a run, inhale fresh morning air, and meditate to actually refresh the brain?
