Finding Sacred Rest with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith

Photo by Eli DeFaria on Unsplash

Rest, seems like something that should  come natural, but we struggle with it at some point in our lives.

In Matthew 11, Christ promises us rest if we come unto him. The lack of rest and emotional drain I feel daily lead me to accept Litfuse’s call to review the book Sacred Rest   (affiliate link) by Saundra Dalton-Smith, Md..

I don’t know really what I was expecting as I read the introduction.  A litany of ways to find rest? Restful poems, photos, and prose related to the theme of rest.

As I thumbed through the book , I found much more. I found a new depth to the concept of “rest.” Before reading this book, I felt rest dealt mainly with the physical and spiritual.  I did not equate it with the so many dimensions of ourselves that Saundra revealed in her book.

This book is not a quick, nor restful read. It is a study about “rest” and the many facets involved in providing one a true sense of rest in their beings.

Saundra delves into different types of “tired” we all can experience in our lives. She asks us “what kind of tired are we?” We can experience tiredness in many realms including: physical; mental, emotional, spiritual, social, sensory, and creative.

She also unveils the REST Method: Recognizing your risk; Evaluating you Current Position, Using Science and Research, and today’s application.

She also provides personalized accounts of how real people experience a lack of rest in each of the categories and then gives practical solutions to finding the rest we all need to make us healthy and whole.

I highly recommend this book because I identified with the types of rest and saw that at certain points in my life I have experienced all types of rest deprivation. When I am not rested, I cannot be my best self or the best wife I can be to my husband.

Finding rest is not simple, but with Sandra’s book as as tool you can delve in and discover rest and all its wonderful benefit. You will also find practical tips to finding rest in each of the seven areas.

Note: I received a copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review.)

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.

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.

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