Resting Is Productive

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There was a skit some years back on Saturday Night Live featuring Christopher Walken. Being the different sort of cat he is, Walken was perfect for the role. He plays a New York City resident who failed to send in their census.

 

The scene opens up in a classic apartment hallway. Cast member Tim Meadows knocks on Walken’s door to help him fill out the census in person. After figuring out that not 80 people live in the apartment, but two, the employment question comes up.… “Are you employed?”

 

Walken answers, “Yes, part of the time.” 

 

Meadows: “Okay, how many days a week?” 

 

Walken continues, “Every day of the week, from about 9 to 5.” 

 

Meadows clarifies, “So you work a full day?” 

 

Walken is confused, “I wouldn’t say that. There are huge chunks of the day where I am just asleep. You know…for hours. It’s ridiculous.” 1

 

As you can tell, Christopher Walken’s character misunderstood the concept of the 40-hour work week. 

 

Now, you might think this is a funny fictional scenario, but it’s not all that different from some of the conversations we have with people in the clinic. Some have actually said they don’t like to sleep too much because it isn’t ‘productive.’ The same has been said for other restful pursuits such as napping, sitting down to a cup of tea or even taking a leisurely stroll. 

 

As far as being productive, people usually equate this to accomplishing tasks around the house or “getting work done.” But, sleep, napping, sitting down to tea, and leisurely strolling through the woods are actually times when something magical is happening. It might seem like you are laying there doing absolutely nothing at all, but it’s not what it seems. 

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Where the Magic Happens...

 

Without getting into it too much and having your eyes glaze over, let’s remember that our body runs a countless number of processes on its own. These include digesting food, fighting off infections, replacing intestinal linings, creating new cells of all kinds, distributing nutrients throughout the body and breaking down old cells that are no longer doing their duty. 

 

All of these magical things happen when our body is in more of a parasympathetic state (rest, digest and repair), as opposed to the other side of our autonomic nervous system - the sympathetic side (fight, flight or freeze). 

 

Think of these two sides like gears in a stick shift (manual) car. You can’t be in more than one gear at a time and if you are - grinding will commence and you’ll need a new something or other soon. 

 

What does this mean? Contrary to popular belief and what someone on TikTok told you - your autonomic nervous system is not a great multitasker. 

 

That’s just how we are. 

 

Way back in the day, there was only enough juice in the system to either: 

 

    A) run from the sabre toothed tiger; or 

    B) digest some berries. 

 

Fast forward to today, the choices could be: 

 

    A) worry about your mortgage rate; or 

    B) digest some berries. 

 

Yes, worrying can be the same thing to your body as running from a sabre toothed tiger. We’ll get into that another time.

 

The point is that given the two choices in this simplified example, our body only has enough resources to do one thing well. And, because outrunning the sabre toothed tiger was a beneficial survival tactic, our bodies have hardwired this over the years as something useful to carry forward. 

 

Remember the repair feature of the parasympathetic nervous system? This is where the magic happens. This is when our bodies do all the great things they can, as long as we give them a chance to. 

 

So, those times sleeping, napping, sipping tea and listening to the birds where you think you’re doing nothing at all - countless repairs are taking place and your body is getting rid of germs and invaders so they don’t overwhelm you. 

 

All this happens when you are not in a sympathetic state (running from a sabre toothed tiger - real or imaginary). Just like neglecting to take your car in for scheduled maintenance, the lack of time you spend on the parasympathetic side leaves your body to chance…where things can get dicey…

 

As your friendly neighbourhood Osteopathic Manual Therapist, one of the things we are trained to do is to help your body find this state more easily. This can take many different forms, but regardless of what someone’s complaint is, this is usually something that we need to take a look at in every session. This is also part of the reason why changes we help your body make tend to stick (as long as you are doing your homework).

 

So, to summarize: 

 

• Your body is amazing and has the ability to heal and repair itself as long as you give it time to do so in a parasympathetic state (Rest, Digest and Repair).

 

• If you don’t take care of yourself now, things can get dicey now and/or in the future. 

 

• No chores around the house are above your health. Some things can wait, use your head to decide if you would be better served by taking a break. 

 

• Osteopathic Manual Therapists can help your body find the rest, digest and repair state and discuss tools for you to help yourself in the future.

 

References: 

 

1. Micheals, Lorne. Oct 24, 1992. Host: Christopher Walken. [Season 18, Episode 4]. Lorne Micheals. Saturday Night Live, NBC.