Wellness book club selection
07 Jun
Uncategorized, WWB Book Wise Club

Don’t Wait for Vacation! The Spring 2023 ‘Book Wise’ pick is ‘Well Rested Every Day’ by Jolene Hart

How many of us wait until that summer vacation to rest and recharge? How many of us sleep in on Saturdays hoping to make up for much needed sleep we didn’t get during the week? How many of us wait until we are burned out and exhausted before we finally recognize we are not taking care of ourselves? And sadly…how many of us have a painful symptom screaming for our attention whether it be in the form of insomnia, digestive distress, or irritability and depression? Whether you checked off one or more of these, just know you are not alone! Living in our ‘sick culture’ is not conducive to self-care and wellness practices. It’s up to us individually to make our health a priority. I hope Jolene’s book reframes the idea of ‘rest’ and our society begins to understand that technology can go 24/7 but we humans are not designed to!

Being well-rested may seem like an unachievable luxury for many women because they are often wearing multiple hats and in caretaking roles. This is why I have chosen to select ‘Well Rested Every Day’ 365 Rituals, Recipes, and Reflections for Radical Peace and Renewal By Jolene Hart as the Spring 2023 ‘Book Wise’ pick. We need to stop seeing rest as a reward we earn when the weekend or vacation comes.  Rest is a ‘restorative’ daily necessity for our biological and mental health, and whether you call it restoration or recharging, the body, mind, and spirit needs it. Little rituals add up!

Getting a good night’s sleep is one way we restore and I am sure you must have heard by now, we need sleep! Give or take an hour or two, we all need about 7-8 hours of sleep for healthy functioning in general. But being well rested for optimal health and well-being goes way beyond just a good night’s sleep. As the subtitle of the book “Well Rested Every Day’ promises, there are so many rituals and ways to check in with yourself and strive for a state of well-being. I am always so happy to review a Jolene Hart wellness guide ( check out her full list of books here), and hope you find the Q&A with her informative and inspiring. Being well rested is an empowering act of self-care we all need to embrace for every day functioning, and for flourishing through the ages.

 

Laura Connolly, CHC, Founder of World Wise Beauty

 

Book Q&A Feature

‘Get Your Rest’ for wellness and longevity…

 

Lauroly Q: Welcome back Jolene! I think you are my ALL STAR featured author at World Wise Beauty! This is solely because your books are truly filled with wellness wisdom, we can all cultivate in our lives. What motivated you personally to write a book about being well-rested?

 

Jolene Hart: Thank you for having me back! I had been on a personal journey to heal from Lyme disease and coinfections for about 7 years, an experience that deeply impacted my nervous system. The experience pushed me to learn everything I could about nervous system health, and healing in general. A few years into my research and exploration of all types of therapies, I began to realize that this information would benefit all of us— especially in a modern world where we are often overstimulated and disconnected from our body’s needs. I knew that the ability to find rest within ourselves could be deeply transformative for parents, for busy professionals, for the Type As, as well as the empaths and givers among us. It’s knowledge we all deserve to refresh and highlight.

 

Lauroly Q-I think it’s really important to flush out what being ‘well-rested’ means beyond getting a good night’s sleep. Can you give us a quick description of how you as an Integrative Health Coach define ‘well-rested’? Your book offers 365 rituals, recipes and reflections for radical peace and renewal which is awesome but for a blog post review, let’s put it all in context so readers can really understand why rest matters for health and well-being.

 

Jolene Hart: You’re right when you say that rest is much more than sleep. I believe that ‘well-rested’ is akin to thriving. It’s functioning at your best because you’re in a place of balance, replenishment, and optimal physical/mental/emotional health. The hard truth is that we’ve been led to believe that we’ll miss out on opportunities and experiences if we slow down and choose rest but I’d argue that we miss out on way more when we don’t slow down!

Lauroly Q- So true! I love the idea of rest rituals because living in a productive driven western culture doesn’t always encourage them. How do we make time for rest rituals? Can you share with us some of the simpler ones you might suggest working into our busy daily lives?

 

Jolene Hart:  I strongly believe that rest is as valuable as— or even more valuable than— productivity. Rest makes productivity possible. It makes just about everything possible! And our bodies were designed to recover and restore through periods of rest. That rest might look different depending on the day or the person, and that’s why there are 365 entries that inspire different types of rest in the book. There’s something for everyone and every type of rest. Making time for ‘rest rituals’ really starts with making time to check in with your body and its needs. And that’s how I frame ‘well-rested’ in this book. It begins with checking in with yourself and listening to your body more often— which is something you can do in just a few minutes here and there throughout your day— and that leads you to the types of rest that you need at that time. Some of my personal favorite rest moments to incorporate in my day are movement, binaural beats audio, nervine herbs, naps, and time outdoors.

 

Lauroly Q- I think many people don’t fully understand how our nervous system needs care and attention. Like sleep, some of us need more rest than others, but all of us can benefit from ‘checking in with ourselves’ and knowing intimately what our body, mind and spirit needs to be well. I love how you emphasize self-knowledge throughout the book. There are different life circumstances which require we get more rest, and oddly enough when we are stressed, we neglect the need just when we need it most! Can you expand on what you wrote for Day 20 in the book for us?

 

Jolene Hart: Yes! The essence of Day 20 is that your nervous system is incredibly wise; it tells you when you need to slow down, seek quiet, or ground yourself. Oftentimes, we miss those nervous system messages though because we’re not aware of them. That’s why much of the book is geared toward recognizing communication from your own body. The book has a recurring category of entries called ‘Know Yourself’ that contributes to this. We don’t all need to same types of rest each day, so figuring out what your personal needs are is paramount.

 

Lauroly Closing- Thank you, Jolene for gracing the pages of this blog again with your wellness wisdom. It is yet another of your books I will add to my wellness library. Yes! I have a wellness library, but what I also love about your books is they are compact, and you can take them to peruse almost anywhere you go! With summer trips ahead of us, ‘Well Rested Every Day’ is a must pack book!

 

Jolene Hart Closing: Thank you so much for sharing my passion for intuitive rest and helping me share Well-Rested Every Day with your readers! Since the book is in a page-a-day format, it’s it easy to absorb in just a few quiet moments each day— and portable, like you said. I know that everyone who checks it out will take away ideas that can be transformative for their minds and bodies.