Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith is an award winning Physiologist who specialises in stress and rest research, Saundra and Restorasis (her well being consultation agency) have developed a framework wherein there are 7 types of rest (physical, mental, emotional, social, sensory, creative and spiritual) that all need to be fulfilled in their own way to ensure you feel energised and prepared to face the day.

1. Physical rest – repairing the muscles and joints of your body through sleep and stretching, physical rest is simple and straightforward helping you via limbering up stiff and aching muscles and providing yourself with the most basic kind of energy and recovery.

2. Mental rest – mental rest comes from ordering the chaos that is organising & handling all the tasks and trials of day to day life, allowing your brain to take a break from the constant stress; meditative practices, writing down plans rather than trying to remember them and taking time to collect your thoughts will help you to tackle tasks that seem daunting now

3. Emotional rest – Needed when the pressures of daily life drive you within yourself; emotional rest is about allowing your true self some time to be expressed and not suppressed for the sake of people pleasing, the need for emotional rest is obvious in the world with depression becoming ever more prevalent it is important to have an expression outlet and the help of close friends or a professional.

4. Social rest – Social rest is about spending time with people who help your rest by being genuine and supportive in a way that prepares you for when you have to deal with people who are the opposite, prioritising good relationships and minimising time in unnecessary negative environments that reinforce bad decisions and steer you away from the rest you need.

5. Sensory rest – A break from the myriad sensory overloads that are everywhere, adverts designed to grab your attention with loud colours and subconscious signals, 24/7 blue light from handheld screens and plenty other aspects of modern life the nervous system is constantly overworked beyond what sleep was ever meant to repair in one night, sensory rest is best done by taking a step away form the screens, the sounds and the stress to experience tranquillity however best you find it.

6. Creative rest – Creative rest is exploring your inner imagination and drive – our personal speciality at Creatful – many people are beat down by the monotony of life and losing your spark creates a positive feedback system of self doubt and insecurity where your lack of inspiration compounds and leaves you feeling unsatisfied with everything as you are devoid of the creative spirit that drives you to try new things and to get better at them, luckily these ruts can be broken by just about anything and so you should always keep trying to find your new muse

7. Spiritual rest – More than just faith or beliefs Spiritual rest is making sure any people/ community you surround yourself with watches out and uplifts rather than suppress each other – good community is the key to being a fully rested person as your ability to rely on those around you when you need help makes every type of rest that much easier to achieve

Our Creatful groups are a particularly good way of getting 3 of these crucial types of rest:

1 – Emotional rest, all about expressing your true self, at Creatful mental health and the journey of recovery that emotional rest so well defines is one of our main focuses, in our groups we work as communities where everyone learns a bit about themselves and how they can express themselves together through our creative activities and group discussions so as to give people have a safe space they can rely on to recuperate when life tries to make them feel small.

2 – Social rest, all about making sure the people around are a help not hinderance, The Creatful groups are warm & welcoming spaces where anybody can come to be part of a group and use their imagination to make something with people without prejudice, because at times in life we see too much belligerence in life and on the news that some time spent with genuine and kind people can make a huge difference

3- Creative rest, finding what inspires you to create and take joy in making an effort, the most obvious form of rest you find in our groups with many accessible arts & crafts materials along with each weeks creative activities we provide many opportunities to explore old talents or try new things to get your creative cogs turning again.