Happiful January 2020

TOP 10
restful activities
Image: Anatomy of Rest: The Rest Test results, Camilla Greenwell. Source: Wellcome Collection
• Reading
• Spending time in nature
• Being alone
• Listening to music
• Doing nothing in particular
• A good walk
• A nice hot bath
• Daydreaming
• Watching TV
• Mindfulness
Interestingly, ‘spending time in
nature’ and ‘going for a good walk’
also made the list, proving that
rest doesn’t have to be a sedentary
activity to be deemed relaxing
– something Claudia is keen to
impress upon readers. “Rest
doesn’t have to be passive and
doing nothing. We found that 38%
of people who responded thought
walking is restful, and 8% said that
running was.
“I find running restful,” she
continues. “I hate it for the first
few minutes, but then something
kicks in that stops me worrying for
a while, and thinking about all the
work I have to do.”
The way Claudia sees it, that
forward momentum in any shape
or form – whether it’s walking,
running, being on a train, or
generally travelling somewhere –
gives you that permission to pause
and rest.
“People feel so guilty about
resting, and sort of need
permission to be able to do it.
Resting while you’re moving is
easier in some ways because
you’re getting somewhere, so
you don’t feel so guilty about it! I
think choosing activities that give
you permission to rest is quite
powerful.”
That guilt can seep into other
parts of our lives, and we feel
hesitant to take time out for
ourselves. The contemporary
issue of ‘busyness as a badge of
honour’ is a good example of
this, and something that can feed
those feelings of guilt if we don’t
constantly have a jam-packed
34 • happiful.com • January 2020