Refuge for Your Unrest: Not Just Recommended — Required Reading!
Sacred Rest
by Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D.
Publication Date: December 19, 2017
Publisher: FaithWords
Length: 225pp
ISBN-13: 978-1478921677
Related Links:
Dr. Dalton-Smith’s Website
Blog Tour Landing Page
Buy the Book
Publisher Synopsis
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.
My Review
Many of us are aware we need more rest, but even if we allow ourselves permission to rest, I’m not sure we know or remember how to get meaningful rest. You see, resting well means more than just vegging out in front of the television or computer. It’s also not as easy as logging an extra hour or two of sleep. Luckily, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith has taken her own personal burnout, as well as her experiences treating exhausted patients, added some research, and healthy doses of spirituality and encouragement to write a guide book of sorts, Sacred Rest.
I can’t think of a more universally needed book right now than Sacred Rest. It’s especially auspicious that Sacred Rest was released last month and is being promoted right now. With each new January, folks examine their lives, trying to find ways that they can do something better and more productively (work, success, money and investments) or squeeze in more of this or that into their day. Or maybe they are looking to do something less (destructive habits like overeating, being sedentary, drinking to excess, smoking, etc). Either way, I’ll wager they rarely think about rest. Since by now many well-meaning individuals have already reneged on their promises to themselves, hopefully they are finding their way to Sacred Rest and discovering there is another way – a better way.
Dr. Dalton-Smith (a doctor of internal medicine) uses the first part of Sacred Rest to examine rest through a practical lens using anecdotes and research to explain each of seven kinds of rest – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, sensory, and creative – guiding readers through self-evaluation and application with each succinct chapter.
In Sacred Rest‘s second part, Dalton-Smith looks at rest through spiritual eyes, showing us twelve gifts of rest (boundaries, reflection, freedom, and acceptance to name a few). I hadn’t considered it until now, but it’s no accident that there are more gifts of rest than types of rest.
Finally, in part three of Sacred Rest, Dr. Dalton-Smith invites us to join her off the page in a free 30-day Sacred Rest challenge. This is key. She’s aware that our journey into discovering the why (the value) and the how (the personal application) of rest has not ended with our turning the last page of her book. Rather, we have only just begun. And thankfully, she’s willing to be our friend and guide us with daily tips and affirmations in our inbox. I signed up immediately, and I invite you to join us at ichoosemybestlife.com
Dalton-Smith understand her readers. She purposely keeps her chapters brief, but warns that we shouldn’t rush through the book. Rather, we should take it one bit at a time. Here she helps us break our ingrained notions of life being a race. She quiets our urge to find a quick fix, and reminds us to take our time. She even gives her readers permission to break the unwritten rules and read part two of the book first if that feels better. Furthermore, her two-pronged approach – practical and spiritual – will help every unique mindset find solid footing and a happy place to land. Some may read just part one. Some may find more comfort in part two. And that will be okay.
— Dawn Teresa
Verdict
5 of 5 Hearts. Refuge for Your Unrest: Not Just Recommended — Required Reading!
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith’s Sacred Rest shows us why resting is not optional, but essential. A life well-rested will lead to a life well-lived. The path to living well and resting well is about finding your own pace and your own rhythms. No matter where you are on your journey, Dr. Dalton-Smith’s Sacred Rest will meet you right where you are and give you just what you need.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I would like to thank LitFuse Publicity Group for providing me with a copy of Sacred Rest in exchange for a fair and honest review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
