Rest and relaxation does a body good and is a basic healthy habit that so many people neglect.  Sounds logical but in this fast paced, go go life style of today it doesn’t happen, but it should.

I am going back to some basics.

Not sure if you believe in and read the bible but I do.  Even God only worked 6 days and rested one.  Let’s not get lost in theological perspectives of what was one day to God.  The concept is you work six parts of seven and rest the one other part.  I remember farmers resting their fields one year after using them for five plus years.  Rest is important.

So what has happened to the concept of rest and relaxation?  Just my opinion but I think shopping on Sunday dramatically changed the concept of one day of rest.  I realize some people have to work on Sunday, firefighters, hospital staff, some factories run 24/7 but in general is it really necessary to have stores open on Sunday?

I remember as a child and it really wasn’t that long ago, my aunt and her children, my cousins would come over for Sunday dinner.  Sunday’s were slower paced, relaxing and restorative.  When I ask my patients what they did on the weekend, I get exhausted listening to all the “stuff” some of them did and then they wonder why they are stressed out and exhausted.  There is only twenty four hours in a day and we are only human. So why is it that the majority of people today try to do more than what is humanly possible of doing?

This fast pace life style is stressing the majority of people out.  Stress depletes the immune system and much more destructive results onto the body. What if better health and wellness was as simple as just resting on Sunday?

I want to share a story.  It’s a true story.  In fact it’s about my children and myself.

One year I decided I wanted to take my children to Disneyland. I was actually feeling guilty as a working single mom at the time.  I wanted to give them something special.  So we flew to Flordia, got a rental car and went to the hotel.  We had never had a vacation like this before.  We went to the tourist attractions, Epcot, Universal studios and Disneyworld.  I remember so clearly at Disneyworld, my daughter, seven at the time was tired and hot.  It was late in the afternoon, she wanted to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool.  I was beside myself.  I told her, do you know how much I paid for these tickets, we are staying to watch the fireworks.  Ya, ya, if I knew today what I knew back then my response would have been different.

Several days later, I ask my children what they wanted to do the next day.  Their response, get up early, walk on the beach, see the sunrise and collect sea shells.  To this day if we talk about the Florida trip they remember the morning on the beach, oh ya they also remember we almost missed our flight home but that is another story.  They don’t remember Disney world, Epcot or Universal studios.

I have made a decision to slow my Sunday’s down.  I choose to go back to the rest and relaxation Sundays.  The only person that can make that change is me.