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

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

• 
  Sara Budarz

  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

  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.
• 
  Am Y

  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.
• 
  Mikala

  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 WO
  WWW...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.
• 
  Brooke

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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.
• 
  Sharon

  Habits to do to rest ease in describing
• 
  Jean

  good ideas on how to sleep better and relax
• 
  Samantha Steipp

  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.
• 
  Maureen

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

  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

  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

  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.