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Physical rest versus mental rest

Planted on: August 28, 2026

Recent growth on: September 13, 2026

Something I've been struggling for quite a long time is granting myself enough rest. And I don't mean sleep or time alone, because I can manage that pretty well. But it's more so in terms of what I'm doing for myself in order to truly feel at rest.

Ever since computers have been in my life, which has been for a pretty long time, I delved myself into those screens at any moment in time. On the internet, I can be creative feel connected to others, and have fun. But since those screens have become smaller and smaller, I, and most of the world, have gotten a phone addiction because of the increased availability of that attractive digital world (and of course also the addictive measures that big tech companies play with us).

This had lead me to associate all screen time with rest/hobby/leisure time. However, more and more I encounter myself being even more tired after spending time on my phone. When I get home from a busy day at work, I want nothing more than to lay on that couch and scroll away, but I know I'll feel even worse afterward.

Screenshot of Tumblr post: The inconvenient thing about life is that half of it is all about listening to your body and letting yourself rest, and the other half is accepting that life will be uncomfortable and inconvenient sometimes

In therapy, the antidote to wanting to follow your initial urge is called "opposite action". Anything that you want to do in reaction to your neurosis, do the opposite. It's not anti-intuition, but we might have become a bit disconnected with our bodies.

I do like to distinguish this for myself in terms of: what does my body need at this moment? Is it couch chilling time because I'm not feeling that well or have slept very badly? Or is it that I actually need to take a slow walk / do some yoga / spend some time cleaning / do a hobby? Do I need physical rest or mental rest?