What Kind of Tired Are You?

The Seven Kinds of Rest

Have you ever felt like you’re still tired after resting? You veg out on the couch, maybe even take a nap, but you don’t feel replenished.

You’re not alone, and you’re not doomed to a lifetime of fatigue. You’re likely just giving yourself the wrong kind of rest.

Let’s talk about it: What Is Rest, Really?

Rest isn’t just sleep. It’s not zoning out in front of the TV. And it’s definitely not laziness. True rest is intentional recovery of the parts of you that are depleted: physical, mental, emotional, and more.

Most of us are unknowingly walking around in a rest deficit, pouring out energy we never refilled. Then we wonder why our health plateaus, why the anxiety lingers, or why our body just doesn’t heal, no matter what we try.

If that sounds like you, it’s time to reframe everything you’ve been taught about what it means to “rest.”

A Personal Note: Why Rest Became My Non-Negotiable

Rest is the second pillar of the C.Twain Method for a reason.

During my battle with chronic Lyme disease and a thyroid disorder, I learned the hard way that the body cannot heal unless it feels safe and supported - and that requires rest. Real rest.

A major shift that allowed my body to finally start repairing came when I started seeing rest as essential, not optional.

I learned that healing is metabolically expensive.

It takes energy to repair cells. It takes resources to reduce inflammation, rebuild tissues, regulate hormones, fight infections, and calm an overactive immune system.

If you're constantly running on empty, your body has nothing left for healing. That was me, until I slowed down enough to give my system the conditions it needed to heal.

Why Rest Is So Misunderstood

Somewhere along the way, we were taught that rest = laziness.

That if you’re not doing something, you’re falling behind. That stillness is unproductive. That rest is something you “earn.”

Here’s the truth: Rest is not what you do when everything is done. It’s what you do so you can keep going. 

If you’re always running on empty, your body will find a way to force rest - through illness, chronic pain, burnout, or breakdown. Let’s not wait for that.

Most people don’t realize that rest isn’t just about feeling good, it’s about biological repair.

What Happens When You Rest

When you truly rest - not just sleep, but downshift your entire system - your body moves into a parasympathetic state, often called “rest and digest.” In this state, healing happens:

•  Inflammation decreases 
•  Immune repair activates 
•  Tissues rebuild 
•  Digestion and detox improve 
•  Hormones stabilize 
•  Cognitive function resets

But when you stay stuck in sympathetic overdrive - fight, flight, or freeze - your body prioritizes survival, not healing. Blood shunts away from your gut and toward your limbs. Cortisol remains elevated. Inflammation smolders. And your ability to regenerate tanks.

Even more concerning? Chronic rest deprivation disrupts circadian rhythms, and suppresses immunity, making you more vulnerable to illness and slower to recover from anything.

In other words: without adequate rest, your body can’t heal. 

So, What Kind of Rest Do You Actually Need?

The Science: 7 Types of Rest

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a physician and researcher, identified seven distinct types of rest we all need to thrive. If you’ve been “resting” but still feel drained, you’re probably missing one of these.

Here’s how I teach them through the lens of my own recovery and what I now offer my students:

1. Physical Rest Yes, this includes sleep - but also active recovery, like self-myofascial release, mobility work, and therapeutic breath-led movement.

If your body is inflamed, tight, or weak, it needs more than stillness. It needs gentle, targeted movement to restore circulation, hydration, and fascia function. Try: A Healing Sequence

 2. Mental Rest Can’t shut your brain off at night? You’re likely in mental rest deficit. Your prefrontal cortex - your decision-maker - is maxed out.

Tools like HeartMath® and breathwork help downshift mental overactivity and bring clarity.

Read: Why I've Added HeartMath As a Tool in Whole-System Healing

 3. Sensory Rest We live in a world of pings, screens, lights, and noise. Sensory overload is real, and your nervous system pays the price. Sensory rest means turning off the noise: start by trying to eat and go to the bathroom without your phone ;), take a walk without your earbuds, dim the lights early. These moments allow your system to recalibrate.

4. Emotional Rest Emotional suppression is exhausting.

You need space to be honest, to not perform, to not be “on.” To say, “I’m not okay,” without fear. To have space for your emotions without stuffing them down.

 Emotional rest might look like journaling, therapy, or a conversation with someone who just gets you.

 5. Social Rest This is about tending to your relationships by being with people who don’t just need from you, but nourish you. For introverts, this might mean solitude. For extroverts, it may be gathering in restorative community. Either way, it’s about honest connection.

Emotional rest creates room for the real you to emerge.

6. Creative Rest Creative depletion feels like burnout, stuckness, or disconnection. Creative rest helps you refill your well through awe, beauty, nature, art, without pressure to produce.

Go for a walk. Stare at the sky. Let yourself absorb beauty, nature, or art without needing to do anything. Creativity isn’t optional - it’s how we process the world.

7. Spiritual Rest This is connection to your purpose, your source, your inner compass. Whether that’s prayer, meditation, nature, or community, spiritual rest reminds you that you are not alone and your life has meaning beyond productivity.

Take a Moment with Me

Think back to a time you felt great—fully alive, energized clear, and at ease.

Where were you?

•  In nature?
•  Laughing with friends?
•  Creating something?
•  At a concert, a church service, a retreat?
•  Moving your body with presence and freedom?

That feeling? That was rest and replenishment. That was the result of being in alignment with the kind of rest you actually needed.

And you can have that again.

Not someday, but starting today. Think back on what has replenished you and find ways to give yourself access to it again, even in small doses throughout the day or week.

Here’s the good news: rest doesn’t have to mean canceling your life or checking into a spa. You can start now with small, intentional breaks of as little as 5-10 minutes scattered throughout the day.

These aren’t indulgences. They are entry points to repair, and the ripple effect is enormous..

Final Thought: Rest Is Power

Most people won’t do this until their health forces them to.

But you don’t have to wait, and your body depends on you not to.

Everything I teach - whether it’s mindset, breath mechanics, fascia work, or nervous system regulation - depends on one foundational truth: The body won’t heal if it doesn’t feel safe. 

And your body can’t feel safe if it’s constantly depleted.

Rest is not selfish. It’s not lazy. It’s not optional.

Rest is powerful medicine.

So ask yourself:

What kind of tired am I?
What kind of rest have I been ignoring?

When you answer honestly - and meet that need - you don’t just feel better. You begin to become better: more present, more energized, more you.

And that, my friend, is what healing is all about.