Rest to Reset: The Busy Person’s Guide to Pausing With Purpose

by Suzy Reading

A roadmap to rest and recovery - with exercises that take as little as 60 seconds

As a society, we are more exhausted than ever before but despite hearing the call to relax, many of us find it hard to switch off. We see business as a badge of honor but, ask yourself, does this approach to life work for you?

Self-care expert Suzy Reading is here to challenge everything you've ever been told or told yourself about rest. Rest is not only calming and restorative, but energizing and fortifying, a way of preparing you for the days, weeks or months ahead.

You can also reset in as little as one minute - when we're already struggling to find a work-life balance, many of us feel like we don't have time to rest. This book is here to take the pressure off. Rest need not be another thing to add to your heavy schedule, many practices take seconds and can be woven into everyday life in no extra time. Discover how to make your chores more rejuvenating and your bathroom break a ritual for rest!

Rest to Reset is separated into two Redefining Rest unpacks the true meaning of rest and introduces the eight pillars, which will help you identify the type of rest you need in any given moment. Part two,  Creating Your Own Rest Prescription features 25 toolkits to help you bring your mind and body back to balance. It includes tips for when you're struggling with classic restful practices, like napping, meditation and breathwork; exercises to make existing daily activities more restful; and advice to improve your emotional wellbeing through rest, such as building confidence, dealing with grief or anger and learning the art of saying 'no'.

This book will not only revolutionize your relationship with rest but ultimately your relationship with yourself.

Genres: Self Help

160 pages, Hardcover

Published February 21, 2023

Reviews

[what.heather.loves · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Welcome to the HOW of rest! This road map will first take you through practices we commonly associate with rest...and will show you how to make them maximally effective...We'll also explore how we can make everyday activities more restful - some may surprise you! Then we going to get super prescriptive with rest, exploring practical ways to bring yourself back to balance when you are feeling a certain way...and even toolkits for when you want to feel differently..."

I follow the author on social media and find her approaches inspiring. I'm a working mum of two kids with sensory and SEND needs, have a father-in-law with Alzheimers and some familial strains, so rest and finding balance is essential. However, as many of us experience, rest can be hard to make time for without feeling guilty. So I read this hoping to learn some things and I did!

First rest is defined and it's not necessarily sitting still, napping or sleeping (although to can be), it's often about providing a balance to whatever has tired you, whether that's hunched over a laptop, on your feet, in a busy and noisy environment, or alone in deathly quiet, for long periods of time. Then this guide disputes myths about resting that relate to social pressures to be busy and finding yourself a slave to technology. The final section gives prescriptive methods of resting (there's an Index of Toolkits) and when they might most be needed. It's a beautiful, dust-cover-free hardback in calming pastel colours, with clear text and appealing images and graphics (I particularly related to The 8 Pillars of Rest); they, and the author's distinct and supportive voice, combine to create an accessible guide I will dip back into, to remind myself.

Most useful for me, as a people pleaser, was the reminders that in order to support those who rely on me, I need to support myself. I know this, but it is hard to put it into practice. I also like the prompts to squeeze small amounts of rest into busy days (such as making dead time downtime), developing sustainable, resting skills, we could probably all benefit from. I highly recommend this accessible toolkit to anyone who is exhausted, has multiple demands placed on them or is experiencing 'brain fog' or feeling overwhelmed.

[Tere Sa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book talks about the importance of rest (perhaps we don't need to 'push harder and harder' to accomplish more) and that it can take many different forms, such as yoga stretches, a walk in nature, taking a break from phones and other daily stimulation, breathing exercises, etc. The idea is to regularly check in with ourselves and to rest, even for a minute, once we recognize our body needs it. Toolkits are included, along with beautiful illustrations. Rest can be restorative and productive.

[Gigi Maroulis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As somebody who sometimes gets so occupied, I forget to rest, I decided to pick this book up to have some downtime. and man, I truly needed to read the words. it was really nice to get tips on how to rest and the book was easy to read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect amount to get the message across with out overwhelming and guilting

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good tips, but a little more self-help than I typically read.

[happylittlebirdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[cakecoffeeandbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reached out to Suzy to ask which of her books she’d suggest I read next after Self care for Winter and she immediately recommended this one, which was perfect timing as we enter spring.
Full of such helpful reframes and tips, all spoken in Suzy’s unique caring, non-judgemental voice. Just like her Instagram posts and group sessions, this feels like comfort, inspiration and guidance all in one, and it’s definitely a book I’ll continue to refer back to.