Why relaxation is just as important as sleep – and 6 ways to do it better

As your eyes scan these words and comprehend this sentence, do you feel rested? There’s good reason to feel that way: in 2016, over 18,000 people took a survey called “The Rest Test” to ask how they relax, and the most common answer was “reading.”

There is a caveat to this. Sitting in a sunny garden, New ScientistYou might answer in the affirmative. But if you’re a student researching an essay that’s due tomorrow, the answer is probably a resounding “no.” Whether an activity constitutes rest obviously depends on the situation, and is highly subjective. In the “rest test,” most people responded that they would prefer to either exercise or immerse themselves in work.

These challenges are one reason the topic has been largely ignored by science: Until now, researchers have preferred to study bodies and brains engaged in active tasks, rather than periods of rest that can be hard to define. “In psychology and cognitive neuroscience, scientists sometimes fail to realize the importance of things like rest,” says Erin Wamsley, a psychologist at Furman University in South Carolina.

While sleep research has been a bonafide branch of neuroscience for decades, only now is a plethora of new research from multiple disciplines beginning to explain why rest during waking hours is also important. When chosen in the right amounts and with the right activities, rest is a critical process for optimal functioning of the mind and body. This includes our ability to recover from illnesses like COVID-19, whether we can maintain self-control, and our ability to form stronger memories of the past.