7 Types of Rest

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:08:37 -0400

From NPR Lifekit: 7 kinds of rest (other than sleep) each supporting different aspects of our needs for rest.

Notes & examples:

Physical rest (can be passive or active)

sleeping, napping
going for a walk
getting a massage
stretching, yoga, tai chi, qigong
constructive rest position (I’m partial to doing this with my knees resting on a chair or couch while listening to an audiobook)

Signs you might need it:

muscles are sore or painful
tired but can’t fall asleep
relying on substances to keep you awake or help you fall asleep

Mental rest

meditation
time blocking
pausing to follow one breath in & out
looking out the window / listening to sounds around you

Emotional rest

journaling
playing or listening to music
dancing wildly alone!
body shake

Sensory rest

like a system reboot or hard reset

Could be time alone or could be spending time with life-giving people who pour energy back into you.

Creative rest

allowing white space
boredom
daydreaming
spending time in nature

Spiritual rest

volunteering
meditation
prayer

Global health is interconnected

Tue, 19 May 2026 19:02:00 -0400

Ron Klain, former White House Ebola response coordinator under President Obama, about the response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic and what’s different today:

I hope that the U.S. government will help respond to this epidemic on the ground in East Africa because in the end, no one is safe until these epidemics are extinguished. And though the risk of transmission to the U.S. is low, it’s not zero, and the longer it goes on, and the more it spreads, the more that risk goes up. We’re all interconnected. And the more the U.S. does to help extinguish this epidemic in East Africa will not only save lives there, which is vitally important in and of itself, but will also help protect Americans, too.¹

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/19/nx-s1-5825902/former-ebola-czar-weighs-in-on-differences-between-2014-epidemic-and-today ↩︎

Longform on Interdependent Health