Micro-rests: How 30 Seconds Of Rest Can Help You Feel Better
You don’t need a vacation to feel more rested, you can start with a 30 second “micro-rest” today
Let's talk about one of the best things we can do for our physical and mental health: rest.
I wasn't always a big fan of rest. I thought I always had to be doing and going because I was a busy working momma with things to do! I was supposed to earn my good-mom status by living in the busyness of raising young kids, right?
Only that, after years of this busyness I "do-ed" and "go-ed" myself into burnout. Yikes.
Burnout for me looked like panic attacks, super anxious thoughts at 3am, insomnia and irritability. I call my era of burnout being in a “pit of despair.” Do you name your life-eras? I think it might just be me.
When I was in the pit of despair I never rested my body or my brain during the day. At night I was exhausted but still, my thoughts didn’t stop, and sleep eluded me.
Miraculously, this is when the power of rest stepped into my life. I learned that it's not selfish to rest and it's actually extremely important for our physical and mental health.
I realized that my nervous system was chronically triggered by the situations around me, and that my body didn’t feel safe. Because my body didn’t feel safe, my nervous system was hyper-vigilant - always watching for potential danger.
Being in this state was exhausting and was the reason my mind kept racing at night.
My days were filled with fight or flight responses: from the chaos of working as an RN, to my kid getting in trouble at school yet again, to my own terrible thoughts telling me I wasn’t doing enough. I felt very stressed from having to do it all! And I thought I didn’t have time to include rest into my days.
I'd love to ask you, when you hear or see the word rest, do you imagine hours on the couch, or a weekend away, or something that feels - impossible right now? I thought that was what resting meant, too.
What is a Micro-Rest?
Here's the truth: rest doesn't have to mean a whole afternoon of "relaxing," doing nothing. Rest can be just 30 seconds of giving your nervous system an opportunity to recover from stress and move towards recovery and calm.
I call these micro-rests.
How Micro-Rests Support Your Nervous System
Micro-rests are moments you intentionally engage in behaviors that support parasympathetic nervous system activity, or help shift the body into a calmer state.
Your autonomic nervous system is constantly working behind the scenes, helping to regulate things like your heart rate, breathing, digestion and blood pressure.
One branch, the sympathetic nervous system, helps mobilize your body for action—your familiar “fight or flight” response. This response isn't bad; we need it to respond to challenges, exercise, get things done and flee from danger.
But our bodies also need opportunities to recover from all that activation. The parasympathetic nervous system supports “rest and digest” functions, helping to slow the heart rate and supporting processes like digestion and recovery.
Rather than thinking of one system as on and the other as off, think of your nervous system as constantly adjusting to what your body needs.
The problem is that modern life can give us a lot of opportunities for activation and fewer opportunities to slow down. A stressful commute, a chaotic shift at work, an upsetting email, a child melting down, worrying about tomorrow—our bodies respond to all kinds of physical and psychological stressors throughout the day. We need moments of recovery, too.
This is where micro-rests come in. You’re intentionally creating a brief pause from the physical and mental “doing” of your day and giving your body an opportunity to shift toward a calmer state.
Giving your body opportunities to move out of a stress response and toward rest supports processes like sleep, digestion and recovery. These small moments can help support your overall health goals.
An important note: a regulated nervous system isn’t one that’s always calm. It’s one that can respond appropriately to stressors and also has opportunities to recover.
We’re not trying to completely eliminate stress here, we’re trying to intentionally put small moments of recovery into a life that naturally contains stress.
💡This is crucial: when doing your micro-rests, notice what thoughts are coming into your head.*
You don’t need your mind to become completely quiet for your micro-rest to count. When your thoughts wander to what’s next, or your to-do list, or what’s worrying you, gently bring your attention back to what’s happening right now.
Keeping your thoughts on what you are doing in the moment is how the activity actually becomes restful.
*If you’d like further information about unhooking from unhelpful thoughts check out this post.
Examples of micro-rests:
close your eyes and taking 3 slow breaths (exhale longer than your inhale) before you do the next thing at work
step outside for a moment of sun and fresh air while your kids are occupied. They won't notice you're gone for at least 2 minutes!
slow neck and shoulders stretch while you reheat your coffee
take a quick walk, whatever you can squeeze in; movement can also be restful.
put your hand on your heart and thinking "I am doing enough" while your kid has yet another melt-down
rub 2 fingers together while focusing on feeling the actual grooves of your fingertips
unclench your jaw, drop your shoulders, and soften your hands when you notice you’re holding tension
drink your first few sips or coffee or tea without simultaneously scrolling, planning, cooking, or doing anything else; smell and taste the warm beverage
sit in your parked car for 60 seconds before going into the house - no scrolling, no podcasts, just sit and notice your breathing
when you finish one task, pause for 30 seconds to check-in with your breath before rushing off to the next task
How long is a micro-rest?
A micro-rest might last 30 seconds, a minute, or several minutes. The point isn't the exact amount of time. It's intentionally creating a brief pause from the physical and mental “doing” of your day.
We’re also not trying to add more activities to your day. We’re choosing not to fill every available moment with more inputs and stimulation. This can happen by focusing on the present moment, what’s going on around you, and your breath.
You don’t have to earn your rest
Here's the mindset shift: rest isn't the reward you "earn" after you get everything done.
There will always be more to do. Rest is inherent and the resource that helps you keep doing the things you've got to do, without burning out or crashing out.
I experienced improvements in many areas of my life and health once I started intentionally claiming moments of my day for micro-rests. My inner critic started to chill. I started sleeping better. I wasn’t reacting to my kids in anger as often. My nervous system had more opportunities to rest and recover.
You don't have to wait for a vacation or when your house is totally clean to get a moment of rest. You can create these calm moments now, in the life you already have. And that is how you will start feeling better.
Which micro-rest idea are you going to try?
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