The Little Book of Rest: 100+ Ways to Relax and Restore Your Mind, Body, and Soul

by Stephanie Thomas

Take your self-care and healing to the next level by redefining rest with these accessible and practical approaches to looking beyond sleep and focusing on other physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional parts of the self.Do you wake up in the morning and still feel tired? Do your supposedly relaxing activities actually just feel like another thing to check off that to-do-list? Do you feel like you never really have time to recharge? It’s time to rethink rest! Rest is no longer about just getting a good night’s sleep or taking an evening to relax on the couch and watch TV. It’s a radical act of self-care that asks you to take into account all the different aspects of yourself that need to rest and take a break. And The Little Book of Rest has everything you need to get started. In this book, you’ll find restful solutions that will impact each of every part of yourself, -Your Yes, sleep is important. But did you know that taking a bubble bath to relax your muscles or practicing foam rolling can also help your body chill out? -Your Try some activities to help give your mind a break on those days when you’re distracted and unfocused like doing a ten-minute meditation or taking a thirty-minute break from your phone. -Your After a stressful, difficult situation, your emotions need some cool down time too! Try cuddling with your pet or even spending ten minutes daydreaming about something pleasant. -Your Even something as simple as lying on a beach or sitting outdoors and listening to nature sounds can be enough to give your soul the rest it needs. With insight into why resting—really resting—can benefit you and your community as a whole, this book is your guide to slowing down, letting go, and finding peace and healing within yourself.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2022

Reviews

[Gary Anderson]

Stephanie Thomas’s The Little Book of Rest is 100 things we can do to “relax and restore” ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually. Common threads include meditation, yoga, gratitude, nature, journaling, and honesty. Thomas provides practical guidance for each suggestion in case it seems prohibitively unfamiliar. Although a few of the practices are too far out for me–for example, alternate nostril breathing–many of these ideas seem doable, and I will keep this book handy to try them.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A relatively short but enjoyable read. Some basic ideas and some I had not heard of before. Just the kind of book I was looking to listen to during some stressful times and give me some ideas to embrace rest.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're like me, you are one of those people who feels they cannot rest until they have maxed out their productivity for the day, squeezing every ounce of accomplishment out of the hours, and in fact, rarely resting because there is always more that you could be doing.

The Little Book of Rest was written for us.

I have made it a goal in 2023 to spend more of my time enjoying my time, making an effort to rest, relax, and take care of myself. Of course as a self-professed productivity addict, I need some help, which is where Stephanie Thomas' The Little Book of Rest comes in.

This pithy self-help volume details the importance of rest on our overall well-being, and gives specific activities to implement in your life to bring forth rest and relaxation. Broken down into four sections - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual - The Little Book of Rest provides 100+ strategies designed to get you more rest.

Each of the suggestions in this book is backed up with information as to how implementing it into your life will manifest rest and relaxation, and even gives tips on where to find the resources needed or how to properly utilize them. Some of them are simple, and are changes I am making in my life right away, such as switching out my evening coffee for chamomile tea and utilizing the scent of lavender in my bedroom before I go to sleep at night. Others may require a bit more time and effort on my part, but are likely to have a benefit, such as release writing to draw out all of my negative, anxious thoughts, or planning a vacation. I was also pleased to learn that I do in fact implement many of the strategies in this book already, such as watching sunrises and sunsets, spending time in nature, and playing and cuddling with my dogs.

The Little Book of Rest is recommended to anyone who is looking to slow down and breathe a bit more deeply in the new year. For those of us who are always on the go, but who never take the time to stop and just be. As a plus, if you are able to listen to an audiobook copy of this book, it comes highly recommended! Subhadra Newton's narration is relaxing and soothing, and I felt well-rested just listening to her read.

[Lafourche Parish Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're like me, you are one of those people who feels they cannot rest until they have maxed out their productivity for the day, squeezing every ounce of accomplishment out of the hours, and in fact, rarely resting because there is always more that you could be doing.

The Little Book of Rest was written for us.

I have made it a goal in 2023 to spend more of my time enjoying my time by making an effort to rest, relax, and take care of myself. Of course as a self-professed productivity addict, I need some help, which is where Stephanie Thomas' The Little Book of Rest comes in.

This pithy self-help volume details the importance of rest on our overall well-being, and gives specific activities to implement in your life to bring forth rest and relaxation. Broken down into four sections - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual - The Little Book of Rest provides 100+ strategies designed to get you more rest.

Each of the suggestions in this book is backed up with information as to how implementing it into your life will manifest rest and relaxation, and even gives tips on where to find the resources needed or how to properly utilize them. Some of them are simple and are changes I am making in my life right away, such as switching out my evening coffee for chamomile tea and utilizing the scent of lavender in my bedroom before I go to sleep at night. Others may require a bit more time and effort on my part, but are likely to have a benefit, such as release writing to draw out all of my negative, anxious thoughts, or planning a vacation. I was also pleased to learn that I do in fact implement many of the strategies in this book already, such as watching sunrises and sunsets, spending time in nature, and playing and cuddling with my dogs.

The Little Book of Rest is recommended to anyone who is looking to slow down and breathe a bit more deeply in the new year; for those of us who are always on the go, but who never take the time to stop and just be.

- Brooke, Public Relations Librarian

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

rest is more than hanging out on the couch or sleeping. this book has some good suggestions and reminders on ways to rest, divided into four categories: physical; mental; emotional and spiritual

some highlights

physical
—stretch every day —I do this most Amy’s because I have tight hamstrings and hips and a bad back
—use a lavender pillow spray— I keep these in a basket next to my bed but don’t always remember
—use an acupressure mat— going to try to get one of these
—restorative yoga
—walking meditation—should do more often
—take a yoga class at a studio— I volunteer at my local yoga studio so get two classes a week—one is a gentle yoga and restful
—start day with a morning meditation

mental
— ten minute meditation
—declutter something
—consume less news
—journal your thoughts
—read a fiction book
—listen to binaural beats
—try release writing

emotional
—cuddle with a pet
—watch a positive TV show
—visit a museum
—daily gratitude practice
—watch a funny movie
—write a poem
—box breathing

spiritual
—practice grounding
—gratitude meditation
—light a scented candle
—lie in savasana
—sound bath meditation
—volunteer somewhere important to you
—learn tarot reading
—yoga nidra
—alternate nostril breathing

[Kasey Wells · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book felt like it was for a very specific demographic and I am not that demographic. While some of the ideas were helpful and align with other rest recommendations I have seen, throughout the book I felt that it was geared toward well-to-do people with a lot of disposable income. It seemed like a lot of the ideas assumed the ability to regularly spend money and that is frustrating.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book. It’s nothing spectacular, most things people would already know, but it has already motivated me to take active steps to do restful things so it’s a good rating. Some things were way too new age for me but I was fine just skipping those parts.

[Aimée Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice enough little book with lots of small ideas to help you relax and rest. Most of it was pretty common sense stuff but always worth a read to remind yourself of them. I did find some of the tips quite repetitive (mediation and yoga came up frequently!) 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

[Kelly Prososki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book, small can hold with one hand. It does have a lot of great suggestions on how to relax and restore your mind/body/soul. Useful, I would add it to my shelf. However, it does lack a little. I think it would have been great to expand each area that was suggested.

[Erika Haveman · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book had some good ideas, there were a lot of assumptions made and it seemed to not take into account that not everyone has the resources or time to do what it suggests. It wasn’t a book made for everyone, but more for a certain demographic.

[Ratty Datty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gave me tons of ideas to self heal.

[Inevitable_choice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty limited and repetitive collection of some ideas how to rest. I didn't find it very helpful.

[Graemme Boone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very encouraging and inspiring read. Easy application for REST! I would definitely recommend this book to others to get the needed rest to do all that you need to do.

[Diane Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fast read, with practical common sense ideas.

[Trogium Pulsatorium · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information.