Permission to Pause: 7 Types of Rest for Your Own "Pause Week"

What if you gave yourself permission to pause? 

This episode explores why rest is essential, not optional, covering the seven types of rest, the cost of burnout, and practical ways to create your own “pause week.” Consider this your reminder that what doesn’t bend, breaks; and that even small pauses can refill your cup.

Rather than a luxury, rest is a necessity for our mental, emotional, and physical well-being

Key Takeaways:

• Pause is rest, and rest is essential for survival and life.
• There are seven distinct types of rest as identified by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith—physical, mental, emotional, social, sensory, creative, and spiritual—and each plays a role in our well-being.
• Burnout isn’t just exhaustion; it’s a warning sign that something has to change.
• Burnout is not sustainable; intentional rest prevents breakdown.
• Long-form content and slower rhythms can reawaken our capacity for focus and depth.
• You don’t have to pause from everything; you can choose one area to pull back from in order to nourish another.
• Rest strengthens resilience, helping us bend instead of break.
• Scheduling rest in your calendar is an act of self-commitment, just as important as any external obligation.
• A pause can look different for everyone: travel, nature, time with loved ones, or simply creating quiet space at home.

This solo episode with Nina Rodriguez is also your invitation to look at your own calendar and schedule in a "pause week", whatever that looks like for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• "You Deserve Rest" social media post
• Resting Grief Face on Substack

Grief Support Resources for the Road:

• Grief Tending Toolkit
• Access our online community

About the Host:

Nina Rodriguez is a podcaster, grief-informed coach, speaker, writer, and the creator of GRIEF AND LIGHT, a podcast and support platform born from the sudden loss of her only sibling. She helps grievers navigate life after loss with curiosity, compassion, and agency, on and off the mic. Through her work, Nina invites others to honor the full spectrum of being human and build sustainable practices that embrace the both/and of life.

• Visit: griefandlight.com
• Connect: @griefandlight

Chapters

• 0:00 Preview & Intro Song
• 0:26 When it's all too much
• 2:34 7 Types of Rest
• 11:16 What is the alternative?
• 12:30 Creating Your Own Pause Week

Transcript

Our lives are busy and sometimes the idea of rest feels like another thing on the to-do list. I get that. And also, what is the alternative? You just lost your loved one. Now what? Welcome to the Grief in Life podcast where we explore this new reality through grief-colored lenses. Openly, authentically, I'm your host, Nina Rodriguez. Let's get started.

Hello everyone, welcome back to grief and light. I'm your host Nina Rodriguez. Have you hit a wall where everything just feels like too much? The news, the notifications, the anniversaries, the endless to-do list. That's where I found myself last week. And the only thing my body and my spirit were asking for was a pause, a break, just to stop. And I know that many of you have been feeling this way because I hear it.

in the grief circles in my one-on-ones and messages from friends, there is overwhelm on top of grief that seems to be adding pressure to our lives. So what can we do? For me, it was the sixth anniversary of my brother's passing and his birthday. He would have been 38 and it's the sixth year since he's been gone. And I decided to take a break from everything. I called it a pause week. I just said, I need to pause for a week.

And honestly, it just came out of necessity between the intense news cycle and the sixth anniversary of Yosef's passing. Everything was just too much and my body and my mind were telling me to pause. So I listened. I deleted all of my social media apps from my phone, every single one of them, except for Substack.

because Substack feels nourishing, it feels different. It's long form, it's thoughtful, and it invites me to slow down. And if you want to stay connected there, you can follow me at restinggriefface on Substack. So the first couple of days were interesting because I would catch myself automatically reaching for my phone, my thumb hovering over the spot where each app is. But by day two, it already started to fade.

And instead, I found myself reaching for my phone less and less. Instead, I found myself craving things that had more depth than just 30 to 90 second clips that I could sit with reminded me that I'm human and life is not this constant barrage of information and that pause is rest. It's not just about sleeping or taking a nap. Those are important. But did you know that there are seven types of rest?

And you may have heard these before, I actually posted about this a while ago on social media, I think a couple of months ago. But I want to walk you through them because they matter not just for basic productivity and mental health, but for our basic functioning as human beings, especially when we're grieving. So the first one is physical rest. That's the one that everybody thinks of when you think rest, which is sleep, naps, stretching, light movement that restores your energy.

But there are six others, so I'll share them with you and I'll share some examples of what those look like. The next one is mental rest. It's giving your brain a break from constant stimulation. And that could mean stepping away from your phone, turning off the news, journaling instead of scrolling. And in grief, you may have heard the phrase grief brain. Our thoughts tend to be foggy. We have problem doing just the basic functions, especially in those early days of grief.

One way to support yourself and give your mind a rest is to write things down so your brain, your mind doesn't have to hold it all. Give yourself permission not to figure everything out today. Pause, close your eyes, take five slow breaths and just come back to center or engage your hands in repetitive actions like knitting or zentangling so your mind can rest and play. And the reason for that is that when you engage your hands in a

passive activity like doodling or knitting or something that's more automatic, it gives your mind rest. The next one is emotional rest, allowing yourself not to always be on, to not hold space for everyone else's emotions all the time, to cry if you need to, release, or just to simply be quiet. Emotional exhaustion builds when we suppress our feelings or engage in people-pleasing behavior. So instead,

Begin by being honest with yourself, releasing the pressure to please and honoring your authentic self. In essence, you don't have to carry everything alone. This could look like thinking of the person in your life who truly listens and can you reach out to them today? What would it feel like to put your thoughts on paper without judging them? Can you write your feelings down? When was the last time you let yourself fully feel your emotions? Can you give yourself permission to feel? And what is one

small act of comfort that you can offer yourself today. So those are questions that you answer for yourself to support yourself emotionally, to allow yourself to emotionally rest. The next one is social rest. So time away from draining relationships and instead being with people who feel like home or sometimes just being by yourself. There's a difference between alone time and loneliness. Loneliness is when you wish you were able to spend time with other people and you don't or can't for whatever reason.

Alone time is quality time with yourself, listening to your own thoughts, spending time exploring your creativity or allowing yourself to reconnect mind-body spirit. Grief changes how we experience social interactions and social rest in this case can mean stepping away from draining dynamics and leaning into supportive ones. In essence, some

Situations and people light us up and others dim our light. And in practice, social rest can look like setting boundaries. So you can decline or cancel plans without guilt. If you need space, it's okay. Or this can look like enjoying quiet companionship. Pets are fantastic for this. So good cuddles with your fur babies. Also letting go of pressure to respond to every text or call right away. Sometimes we just don't have the capacity and it's okay for people to...

not have access to us 24-7. I think it's great that we have the ability to communicate so quickly and also the double-edged sword in that is that people feel entitled to access our time and energy 24-7 and it's okay to put boundaries there as well. And if you need a little extra help or to make it more visible you can add some me time to your calendar. So literally block it off on your calendar.

Next one is sensory rest, logging off screens, lowering the noise, dimming the lights, letting your nervous system settle. And grief heightens sensitivity. Noise, bright lights, constant notifications, they get overwhelming. And that's what happened to me last week. It was my brother's anniversary. It's already, you know, the anticipatory grief is real. The day of is intense. And then all this other stimulus, it was really just too much. So

Sensory rest is about turning down the volume. The world can sometimes feel too loud, too bright, too much. You can tone everything down. Besides dimming the lights and lowering the noise and creating a soothing environment, let nature nurture you. Go outside. Whatever outside is accessible to you. Allow nature to nurture you. I talk about this quite often because we don't have to do this alone in one.

amazing co-regulator is nature, spending time outdoors. Sunlight, wind, a beautiful landscape, the leaves, the greenery, the ocean, whatever you have access to. Try putting your phone on silent and do a digital detox or wrap yourself in something soft and comforting. That's why sometimes just being under a blanket is all that we need. It feels like a warm hug. Just know what it is that would feel comforting to you, supportive to you, and do that.

The next one is spiritual rest. Are you feeling connected to something bigger than yourself? This could look like prayer, meditation, or simply awe when looking at a beautiful landscape or the stars. Grief often brings deep, aching questions. And spiritual rest is not about being certain about anything. We, in grief and in life, have more questions than answers sometimes. It's more about giving yourself space to connect with something greater.

and know that it's okay not to have all the answers. It's okay to live with questions. It's okay to live with wonderment. So lean into the mystery of living with unanswered questions, meditate, pray, or practice being still. Find comfort in rituals, traditions, or small moments of peace. And the last one is creative rest. Stepping back from problem solving or letting beauty refill you through art, music, nature.

essentially making room for wonderment. When grief, burnout, and constant problem solving leave you feeling stuck and uninspired, CreativeRest invites inspiration back by allowing your mind to wonder and recharge, allowing our minds to wonder which, with so many dings and pings, we're constantly bombarded, right? So our minds don't have time to wonder. There is a purpose to wondering and wonderment.

It allows our minds to rest. It invites creativity. It invites inspiration. So give this a try. Listen to music that moves you. Music is a wonderful tool to help us change our energy, including inviting creative rest. You can doodle, paint, or explore a new interest or hobby without the pressure to be good at it. It's just playing.

Keeping that playful spirit alive, allowing your mind to just feel joy and lightness is so important, even as an adult. This could also look like wandering through nature or a museum or a bookstore without an agenda. So doing an activity without any goal, like when we go to the grocery store and it's like, I have to get milk and eggs or whatever you buy, right? Instead of doing that, just allow yourself to walk almost aimlessly.

for a certain amount of time, have no agenda, you'll see how your body relaxes. Or this could look like an afternoon of people watching. Have you ever seen the old people on a bench watching the kids play, like that kind of thing? So think that kind of energy. So those are the seven, physical rest, mental rest, emotional rest, social, sensory, spiritual, and creative rest. And when I think of...

My pause week, I realized I was giving myself a combination of mental, social, and sensory, and that opened up space for creative and emotional rest too. Now I know that you might be thinking, or some of you might be thinking, who the heck has time for all of that in this economy? And I get it, our lives are busy, and sometimes the idea of rest feels like another thing on the to-do list. I get that. And also, what?

is the alternative? I always say if you feel you can't do something, what is the alternative? And the alternative here is burnout. And we all know what that feels like. We've probably all felt it at some point in our lives, especially with grief. It's exhaustion, irritability, disconnection, and maybe even physical illness. And the keys to remember that a life lived on burnout is not sustainable.

Burnout does not sustain life. It's like a car running on fumes. How long could it go before it literally breaks down? Grief on its own is already draining. So add burnout on top and it becomes nearly impossible to function. When you think about it this way, you realize rest is not a luxury. It is a necessity. It is survival. And I'm talking, remember, about the seven types of rest.

That's why I want to extend an invitation to you to create your own pause week. It doesn't have to look like mine. Maybe for you, it means pulling back from one area so that you could pour more into the things that truly nourish you. Maybe this means stepping away from social media, or maybe it's something different like taking a break from work projects, saying no to extra commitments, carving out time in your evenings just for yourself. Allow somebody else

to give you the space so if you have a family, delegate some tasks, even if it feels uncomfortable, you're deserving of rest. So again, you could function properly and you could be pouring into your family from a place of equanimity, of feeling centered rather than a place of burnout. They get the better version of you. It could also be full pause week where you travel somewhere if that's something that you're able to do and disconnect to reconnect with yourself.

Or it could be even simpler. It could be a daily walk in nature, a day with no screens, literally turn your phone off. And if you're afraid to miss a message, tell people that you're going to be off for X amount of time so they're not worried about you. It could be dinner with people who feel like home. The important thing is that it is intentional. And remember this quote that I heard from my mother my whole life. What doesn't bend, breaks.

What doesn't bend breaks. So here's my challenge for you. Open up your calendar right now on your phone if you're able to, or by the end of the day, and schedule in your next pause week. And I'm talking a full seven days. Block the time, honor it like the commitment it is, because it is not an indulgence. It is necessary. It's a commitment to your own wellness so that you cannot just survive.

but thrive. And when you do it, let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear about your pause week. If you want to read more about my own reflections, you can find me on Substack at resting grief face. That's where I share long form writing that I hope feels like nourishment. And I share honestly about grief in written form. And it's actually really fun over there. I'm actually loving Substack lately.

So anyway, thank you for listening today. I will link everything in the show notes, including the post, sub stack, all the things. If this episode resonated, I invite you to share it with someone who might need permission to pause. Until next time, take care. Thank you for being you. And remember to rest. That's it for today's episode. Be sure to subscribe to the Grief and Light podcast. I'd also love to connect with you and hear your thoughts and your stories.

Feel free to share them with me via my Instagram page @griefandlight. Or you can also visit griefandlight.com for more information and updates. Thank you so much for being here, for being you, and always remember, you are not alone.