Rest Easy: Discover Calm and Abundance through the Radical Power of Rest

by Ximena Vengoechea

Brimming with encouraging wisdom, easy-to-follow guidance, and illuminating illustrations, Rest Easy is an antidote to burnout culture and an invitation to find joy, balance, and energy through the transformative power of rest.

Rest Easy invites you to experience the life-changing power of resting your mind, body, and spirit. In these pages, rest expert Ximena Vengoechea explores the power of rest and guides you through dozens of proven methods for relaxation and renewal, including movement, sound, visualizations, journaling, time in nature, meditative activities, and so much more.

PROVEN  The techniques and practices presented in these pages are proven to improve rest, reduce stress, and boost joy. The author distills her research to make a range of rest techniques accessible to everyone, allowing readers to experiment with a wide variety of practices and find what best fits their lifestyle and needs. 

FRESH APPROACH TO HEALTH AND  Through a charming combination of beautiful artwork, compelling storytelling, engaging sidebars, and easy-to-follow takeaways, this book offers a distinctive approach to wellness and well-being. Warm and inviting, Rest Easy  is a simple and authentic way to connect and be present for someone in need of gentle encouragement and uplifting support.

POSITIVE & This book presents contemporary methods for well-being in a simple, easy-to-engage format. Readers will discover information on practices for mindfulness, breathwork, yoga, and more.

MEANINGFUL SELF-CARE The beautifully designed hardcover package is an infinitely giftable book that can be given to friends, wellness enthusiasts, and people experiencing burnout. The content is general enough to speak to a range of experiences, and the colorful art and empathetic tone make it a wonderful option for those looking for thoughtful, personal gifts for someone who needs a pick-me-up.

Perfect

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Health, Psychology, Personal Development

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

Ximena Vengoechea is a user researcher, writer, and illustrator whose work on personal and professional development has been published in Inc., The Washington Post, Newsweek, Forbes, and Huffington Post. She is the author of the book, Listen Like You Mean it: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection (Portfolio/Penguin Random House). Her second book Rest Easy, received a starred review from Library Journal and was a BookRiot Best Book of the Year in 2023. Her most recent book, The Life Audit, and its companion, The Life Audit Journal, are based on her popular project, The Life Audit.

Ximena is a contributor at Fast Company and The Muse, and writes Letters from Ximena, a newsletter about personal growth and human behavior at ximena.substack.com. She is also the creator of the popular project The Life Audit. She previously worked at Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Reviews

[Am Y · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can you write a 290-page book solely about rest? Apparently you can. How? You just make stuff up. And sometimes pretend to write it so it seems like a science (when it's not). In this book, you will learn that you are either a "functional rester", "gold-star rester", "anti-rester", "deprived rester", or "intuitive rester". Once you learn your "rest profile", you can then apply the correct "rest technique" to help you rest most efficiently. None of this is based on any science, mind you. It's just stuff the writer invented to help you apply a label to yourself so that you seem special, as people nowadays seem to love doing. The book also examines the various reasons why people possibly can't rest properly (guilt, work/personal commitments, etc), as well as how to combat them. You will learn nothing here you don't already know (unless you've been living in an ivory tower): e.g. meditate, doodle, spend time in nature, listen to music, embrace silence, stretch, have a routine, etc. I gleaned nothing from this book. The aforementioned "rest profiles" didn't even apply to me because I apparently fit in none of them.

[Sara Budarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read a bit like a very long buzzfeed article - lots of tips, not much depth. But still a good reminder to try to get more sleep.

[Janine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rest Easy: Discover Calm and Abundance through the Radical Power of Rest is not a book for every reader.
While I found some of the suggestions of interest, I felt as though the writing was addressed to neurotypical, able-bodied, middle-classed readers who don't have a lot of experience with active rest and recuperation methods and have office jobs with regular hours.
I might recommend this book to absolute beginners but there were too many instances where I thought, "this would have made me feel terrible if I didn't know better" because the language was alienating to people with executive dysfunction and self-regulation issues. A lot of the tips are described as purposefully constructed to be "easy" but they just seem shallow to someone (like me) who has been told, "just don't be so distracted" or "just try to relax" as I attempted over and over and didn't reach the desired results because my brain works differently, particularly when processing sensory information.
While I understand that this book may be appropriate and comforting to many neurotypical and able-bodied readers who have issues with finding ideas for different forms of rest, it's not for everyone. The author says that many of the suggestions are aimed to be cost effective but again, I found alienated by the stories of visiting many specialists (expensive and time consuming), taking rooms and hours to yourself, and the waxing lyrical on the benefits of walking that everyone is able to do (except the chronically ill, fatigued, and physically disabled). The hidden costs of many of the suggestions are blithely passed over, making me feel like I was reading a message aimed at a very different class of people. I also think while many of the techniques sound like scientifically sound, commonsense solutions to lifestyle problems - they would require major life changes to make happen for many people.
Most of the tips are aimed towards college students, executives, and suburban moms who have a lot of privilege and personal choice when it comes to their lifestyle. Night shift workers and people without time permissive schedules are mentioned and dismissed in one of the early chapters of the book and are not mentioned in sections where they would desperately need help, like that of sleep and insomnia. I would not be able to pass on this book to my friends who are teachers, doctors, DJs, and artists because "set a bed time" and "don't drink caffeine" would be an immediate non starter.
Some of the language about self-image and attitude was also unpleasantly reminiscent of toxic positivity and seemed to encourage invalidating your feelings and moralising behaviour. Towards the end of the book, the author describes rest as though it's a diet or productivity habit to be hacked and it deepened the unpleasantness of the experience of reading for me.
I think if you are neurodivergent, if you are poor, or have significant barriers to how much you can change about your material circumstances, this book is not a useful place to start. I certainly do not think the adjective "radical" should be applied to this work. It was like reading a book-length Psychology Today article: people who are not rich and privileged will have to be very creative to implement these suggestions and have limited success. You can find most of these suggestions if you follow a pop psychology social media page.

[Lily Laverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone, who in the past has not prioritized rest, I found this book helpful in providing actionable tips. Also great reminders on reconnecting wtih your limits, the power of bounaries, an marathon rest.
Although this is basic and common sense, I see that for vacations I would start my holiday being burnt out, then trying to do and see as much as I could on holidays, only to return exhausted and not rested. The author says on page 204"When burnout and fatigue hit, 'marathon' resting sessions like vacations can help. Just be careful not to fall into a cycle of burnout > marathon rest > burnout. Vacations can help us recover but will always be more restorative if we're starting from a place of wellness, not burnout".

[Mikala · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was legitimately so helpful and also had a ton of different and fresh insights on the topic!!!

The pull towards doing..."The pride of living intensely"

THIS WOWWW...what we think rest is: "Another night of mindless streaming. Wine o'clock. A 2 week vacation."
What rest actually is: " Puzzles, birdwatching, forest bathing, white noise, a 2 min meditation, play."

"Resting isn't about achievement or competition. Resting well is about going at your own pace in your own time. "

This is such a wake-up call, honestly. I want to be productive and create quality things. However, I NEED good, quality rest to be able to do this.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was clearly written for squarely millennial moms who are woefully overworked, and the concept of resting intentionally has never occurred to them. That's fine, there are plenty of those women out there, and I wish them well in reading this book. I personally was looking for something more thoughtful and deep, and this is written for Type A types who need a more basic primer.

I was hoping this would be more like Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey. It's clear the author did tons of research, but pulled very little of it into her writing, and did even less deep analysis of the research. It gets the point across, but didn't feel meaty enough. For example, when discussing why black women often find rest harder to access, she paid lip service to Hersey's movement and brought up a single anecdote of a successful black woman accused of shoplifting. While a humiliating and illustrative story, I wish Vengoechoa went just that bit deeper and more systemic in her analysis.

I'll admit that my personal bias gets in the way of this one, but this author also has a pretty serious blind spot around whether people can access rest: mental illness. She talks about caring for a partner with mental illness, which is odd because it skips over the possibility that the reader themself might struggle. Ultimately, she talks around mental illness, but it seems clear to me that her version of anxiety is brought on by the social pressures of being a middle-class to affluent working mother, and is more a social condition than a chronic one.

While that is a valid barrier to rest in and of itself, it honestly seemed like she didn't even speak to someone whose mental illness or chronic illness was a barrier in accessing rest. Conditions like OCD and generalized anxiety or panic disorders often mean people desperately want to rest, but can't. The tools she suggested, like journaling and meditation, can take the edge off, but don't address the very real struggles some people face. Anyone who's had the same very basic conversation about sleep hygiene for decades with different doctors can tell you that.

As someone who's suffered from insomnia due to anxiety my entire life, it felt very odd to me that the existence of people with insomnia or more serious sleep disorders like narcolepsy seemed to never have occurred to her. It's possible that she deliberately chose not to include them due to what a complex subject it is, but to not even pay lip service to it was disappointing. If she did and I missed it (I listened to the book on audio) I sincerely apologize.

Conversely, conditions like depression can mean people rest far more than they want to, and often feel guilty because of the lack of energy feeds into the negative self-image their disorder foments. The book operated off of the premise that of course everyone needs more rest, and discussions of having a healthy relationship with rest tended to focus on hyperproductive people who don't rest enough, not those with chronic illnesses that cause them to rest more than what is socially acceptable.

TL/DR: While this book is thoughtfully researched and well-written, it really only applies to a very narrow niche and seems to have some significant blind spots in the area of sleep and rest.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Some of us learned a long time ago to ignore the signs to slow down. We keep going because we believe ourselves unstoppable. Or because life's responsibilities--work, rent or kids--make it impossible to stop. Sometimes we press on because, deep down, we actually enjoy being busy. We feel the pride and exhilaration of living intensely, the seduction and powerful pull of checking things off our to-do list."

I relate to absolutely none of the above, I said to myself as I raced from a half-finished sentence on my work computer to pulling dinner out of the beeping oven, pausing mid-stride to answer a syntax question from my 5th grader.

Nope, definitely can't relate.

This book was a solid recentering force for me. Yup, I'm one of those people Ximena dibs as those who have confused "worth with output". In these pages, there's plenty of practical tips on how to rest, from breathing to creating negative ions in your space, from forest bathing to practicing distancing by framing our messages to ourselves in the same way we would speak to a friend.

One tip I appreciated was framing our needs through a framework of "I need..., I want..., I expect..." and then holding ourselves accountable to those needs. I'm working on this, as well as allowing myself to rest. While reading this book, I gave myself permission to lay on the couch a few times, and even watched a movie, which normally doesn't factor into my "output heavy" days. So, I'm learning, and I have a feeling a lot of us anti-resters would benefit from reading this book.

Or, you know, listening to it on audiobook while we clean the kitchen and answer What's App questions. Rome wasn't un-built in a day, after all.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

In today’s fast-paced world, we are all in need of a little more rest. From the chronically burnt out to the occasionally overextended, Ximena Vengoechea presents actionable steps to work your way to living (and resting) better in her book Rest Easy.

Vengoechea covers a lot of ground in this book, exploring both theories and science surrounding rest, and presenting readers with a plethora of ideas they can try to live a more restful life. Her rest tips go beyond getting to bed early and getting 8 hours of sleep a night. She explores a variety of practices, some of which involve sleep, and others that do not.

I realized that Vengoechea knows what she is talking about when she discussed the benefits of nature, and how that spending time in it can restore us in ways we never knew were possible. This is something that I have discovered about myself in recent years, realizing how much better I feel when I spend time outdoors. Vengoechea affirmed my feelings about the restorative benefits of nature and inspired me to try out some of her other tips and techniques since she was so spot-on about nature’s blessings.

Highly recommended for anyone looking to incorporate more rest into their life.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we allow ourselves to be, rather than constantly doing or planning, life’s little possibilities and joy reveal themselves to us. Our hearts fill and our minds quiet when we nourish ourselves with rest.

For many years, I spent little time resting. By resting, I mean engaging in activities that I found relaxing and restful. In Rest Easy, Vengoechea, discusses different kinds of rest that is restorative to our bodies, minds, and spirits. She offers practical examples of rest and restorative activities that one can begin to implement right away. If you are looking to add more calm to your life, this book is for you.

[Karla Strand · Rating 4 out of 5]

See the complete review at https://www.spiritboundpress.com/lite...

As humans in a capitalist society, we are mostly overworked by necessity, (conditioned) choice, or both! So, I am all for the latest rest-as-resistance movement, which affirms naps and relaxation necessary to stay healthy and joyful. Enter Rest Easy, the new book by researcher, writer, and illustrator Ximena Vengoechea.

[Grant Garvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw someone describe this book as something similar to a Buzzfeed article and that is arguably the best way to describe it. Another way you could think of this book is someone that is trying to hit a word count on an extensive essay. Absolutely dreadful. Save your time and just get more sleep at night.

[Corrica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful and informative book with actionable steps and deep insight to prevent burnout, find rest, and recover from the hectic world we live in today. Chronic over workers, burnt out people, and those who are always stressed will find refuge in this book.

[Jj Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

Self-care is a radical action - this book is gave me a lot of food for thought. It's definitely one I want to own in the future. Great read, very thought provoking, and very, very useful. Also, gave serious immigrant eldest daughter energy. I loved it. 10/10 no notes.

[Elisabeth Valienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

We don't focus enough on rest in our current society... I really enjoyed this book, it was a great reminder on how important rest is, as well as having actionable tips that you could try out to figure out what kind of rest you're missing out on and what feeds your soul. Well written and helpful.

[Christi McKinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m glad that this is the first book I finished this year, as I am aiming to focus more on rest & wellbeing this year. I got some great practical tips from this author, and enjoyed reading their experience.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Habits to do to rest ease in describing

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

good ideas on how to sleep better and relax

[lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love ximena’s work!
this book was great to listen to at the start of the year. rest is always a priority for me but even more so after her important research and reminders.

[Kalina K.]

Niby nic nowego, ale porządkuje różne metody i sposoby.

[Samantha Steipp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just reviewed Rest Easy by Ximena Vengoechea. #RestEasy #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL] All I can say about this book is that it is amazing! I feel as though this book was written for me.

[Crystal Crosson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book easy to read and mostly picked it up since I found it in a local gift shop. The name pretty much says it all not too many bells and whistles on this one!

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light book, with reasonable, but likely not life-changing, advice. Audiobook.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm remarkably meh on this book. There were a few bits that called me out, and where I could afford to learn more, but there isn't more here - just pithy comments on the unhelpful pattern and why we do it, then breezing along to the next thought on the next page. There's valuable stuff here but the pacing (or something) was just not quite right for me.

[VIC MC · Rating 4 out of 5]

often we don't know how to just rest and i'm not talking about sitting down or napping and then beating yourself up for doing that, i am talking about truly RESTING. allowing yourself to have time to just be. without distractions. without obligations. without overthinking. without guilt. just true, pure rest. this book has several insightful tips and tricks to allowing yourself to rest. it gave me ideas to try that i hadn't even thought as an option before. would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for ways to reset your mind and habits when it comes to resting.

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quick, thought-provoking read about why we should rest and how we can rest. This is easy to read through in one day, and it will challenge you to think about the role of rest if your life.