Sacred Rest by Saundra Dalton-Smith Blog Tour

About the book:

Staying busy is easy. Staying well rested- there's a challenge.

How can you keep your energy, happiness, creativity, and relationships fresh and thriving in the midst of never-ending family demands, career pressures, and the stress of everyday life? In Sacred Rest, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a board-certified internal medicine doctor, reveals why rest can no longer remain optional.

Dr. Dalton-Smith shares seven types of rest she has found lacking in the lives of those she encounters in her clinical practice and research-physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, sensory, social, creative-and why a deficiency in any one of these types of rest can have unfavorable effects on your health, happiness, relationships, creativity, and productivity. Sacred Rest combines the science of rest, the spirituality of rest, the gifts of rest, and the resulting fruit of rest. It shows rest as something sacred, valuable, and worthy of our respect.

By combining scientific research with personal stories, spiritual insight, and practical next steps, Sacred Rest gives the weary permission to embrace rest, set boundaries, and seek sanctuary without any guilt, shame, or fear.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

My review:

Rest? Who can rest when there is so much to do? If I'm not accomplishing something, I feel guilty. Isn't it all about productivity?

Dalton-Smith was on that treadmill with a successful and busy medical practice. She found out that there is a better way of living. We need rest. We need several kinds of rest (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, sensory, creative). If we don't get the rest we need and are designed for, we suffer burnout.

There were some surprises in this book. Sleep is not rest. In fact, our sleep may be quite restless. Sleep is just a physical aspect of our lives and does not touch the other kinds of rest we need. There were some surprises when Dalton-Smith described the kinds of rest too. For example, “Isolation and loneliness are the two most common forms of social restlessness.” (78) Social rest is rather making space for those relationships that revive us. (79)

I love her section on creative rest. She writes about hikes in the mountains or urban trails, seeing God's work in creation. “Studies have shown our brains are most at rest in natural environments like the beach.” (101)

Rest can be uncomfortable. It opens us up and reveals things about ourselves. (111) Maybe that's why some people surround themselves with noise, activity, or social media, even if those are things that never truly satisfy.

Dalton-Smith writes about the benefits or gifts of rest in the second part of the book. One is allowing the soul room to expand and grow. (177) There are spiritual benefits. “Rest is knowing that you are preapproved for all of God's blessings.” (140)

I highly recommend this book. Dalton-Smith shows that rest is a biblical mandate supported by medical research. She has great teaching on rest and how it affects all of life. She includes a rest deficit assessment so you can evaluate yourself too.

I am taking part in a blog tour of this book and you can read other reviews here.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the author:

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith is an author, speaker, and board-certified physician. She has an active medical practice in Alabama (near the Birmingham area). She received her B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Georgia, and graduated with honors from Meharry Medical College in Nashville. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Baker College and Davenport University in Michigan teaching courses on health, nutrition, and disease progression. Dr. Dalton-Smith is a national and international media resource on the mind, body, spirit connection and has been featured in Women's Day, Redbook, and First For Women magazine. She is the author of "Set Free to Live" and "Come Empty" (winner 2016 Golden Scroll Nonfiction Book of the Year and 2016 Illumination Award Gold medalist). She is a member of the Christian Medical and Dental Association and a repeat keynote speaker at their annual gathering. She has shared her tips on merging faith and medicine with over 16,000 health care professionals to encourage the current and next generation of doctors to treat the whole person.

Find out more about Saundra at http://ichoosemybestlife.com.

FaithWords, 240 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Litfuse.