Greetings! Today, we shall learn about rest and relaxation. Have a lot going on lately? Then, this lesson is for you!

The Whole Being Involved  

The entire life must be brought into the right way of living. We must know what is right and then do it. This includes the physical, moral, and spiritual phases of human life. We need to confess and forsake our sins in all three realms, and then trust everything to God. This is necessary to good health.

The program begins with the mind because the mind is the king. The excellent counsel is found in Holy Writ: “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Phil. 4:8

Think right concerning the physical, mental, and spiritual phases of life; speak right concerning them to your fellows; and then live that way. These principles do not belong exclusively to any cult or church, but are found in the Bible which has been given for the guidance of all people.

Examples Of A Disturbed Body, From A Disturbed Mind

Shame fills the cheeks with blood. Fear drives it away. Excitement quickens the heartbeat. Grief brings tears from the tear glands. (How many other glands may also be disturbed?) Great shock to the mind will draw the blood from the head, and so cause fainting. Worry will stop digestion. Emotion will stop the work of the stomach and the intestines. Nausea can be produced by some disgusting sight. Emotion can increase  the sugar in the blood and urine, like diabetes. Fright or excitement can cause cold perspiration to come from the sweat glands, all over the body. Anger sends blood to the head and makes the face red. Patients given fake sleeping powders often sleep soundly after taking them. Medical students sometimes “get” the diseases about which they study.

A lady developed attacks of hay fever when merely a rose was brought into her room. One day her physician brought in an artificial rose, and the usual symptoms followed. He then showed her that the rose was made of paper, and the symptoms speedily disappeared. If you fear your food will hurt, it probably will. If we become introspective, it can undo all the benefits of our efforts to secure health.

Relaxation Of Mind And Body

The bow that’s always bent will quickly break; but if unstrung, twill serve you at your need. So let the mind some relaxation take, to come back to its task with fresher heed.

Relaxation is one of the most urgent needs of modern life. It is preliminary to rest. Rest begins with the mind. In  order for the body to secure proper rest, the mind must be at rest. Rest must first be mental. The mind should be at ease, calm, and reposed. Many people in this age maintain a constant nervous tension, which is very destructive of vitality. There should be at least periods of entire relaxation and repose.

One who is highly nervous should take a few minutes during the day for complete relaxation. In fact, he should train himself to do his work with a calm, serene state of mind, rather than under a nervous tension. By so doing, he will live many years longer. Not only are periods of rest and relaxation good for the body and mind; they are also uplifting and ennobling, if we lift our thoughts above the sordid things of earth.

Grenville Kleiser has said: “Cultivate silence and stillness. You grow your best thoughts in times of solitude and meditation. To continue to grow and accumulate useful ideas, you must have frequent periods of mental and physical relaxation.” “Beware of the modern tendency to hurry and waste. The time you give to quiet and intelligent meditation will repay you well. Cultivate quietness, poise, and deliberateness. When you are still and receptive, you can best hear the voice of God and learn His will.”

Amusement Is Not Relaxation

It should also be borne in mind that amusement is not relaxation, nor a substitute for it, but may be, indeed, opposite to it. Many amusements excite the nerves, and lead to greater tensity rather than to relaxation. Some other means should be sought by which to find relaxation. Perhaps you are saying, How can we relax? We have tried and failed! That makes me think of a little skit, which runs like this

Relaxed: “My work just worried me today, I’m simply overtaxed; Right now I’m all worked up and tense, I’m trying to be relaxed.”

Doesn’t that express it? But relaxation does not come in that way, nor from wishing for it. Would you like to know how to find repose? Come and see.

How To Find Repose

It is a state of mind, by which you have decided to lay aside (for the time) the things which trouble you; and take a little time to rest and recoup your vital forces. Just as we learn to take on responsibility, so we must learn to lay it off, temporarily. One of the helpful things to do is to close your ears to life’s annoyances, and open them to the voices of nature: The pattern of rain on the roof; the rustle of leaves by a gentle breeze; the murmur of a babbling brook; the songs of birds; the smell of grass, and earth, and flowers; the odor of pines, honey and fruits; the waving of fields of grain are some of nature’s many voices, calling us to relaxation and repose. But the mightiest influence of all is a clear conscience, a knowledge of having lived each day in the interest of humanity and the service of God; for, having done our duty we may have rest in the kind care of Him who watches over all.

Stimulants

Stimulants cannot take the place of rest and relaxation. Dr. A. N. Donaldson expressed it in these words: “The restoration of vital force depends upon relaxation of mind and body. The present system is to call upon ‘reserve’ energy, stifling the cry of fatigue by coffee, tea, beef extract, coca-cola, and other stimulants – ‘refreshing drinks’ – to supply more ‘go.’ We borrow from the future, and repay in a sanitarium, in an asylum, or in a mausoleum. Rest is the essence of cure whether it be in nerves, heart, colon, or bones. Rest, with an environment that will direct the mind toward the work and workings of the Great Physician – that is fundamental therapy.”

Rest is often the therapy needed to increase the mysterious vital forces, which carry on the wonderful life processes; from digestion down through the list of every organ, and gland, and their functions. In many instances, a few days’ rest in bed would be of great benefit. It is claimed that quiet rest in bed is ninety percent efficient for sleep. As a general principle, whenever pain is present, rest is indicated as one of the primary procedures.

Grab a friend and share the wealth, from what you’ve learned in the School of Health! In our next class, we shall conclude our study on, The Right Use of the Mind. God bless!

 Previous Classes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3