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I think about it in the following way; lifting weights is good for your body and strength but muscles grow during the recovery phase. If you don't add in recove

I think about it in the following way; lifting weights is good for your body and strength but muscles grow during the recovery phase. If you don't add in recovery days, your muscles will not be happy and injury is right around the corner. From a narrow point of view of lifting/exercising, recovery is a waste of time since you can only gain if you lift. But if you don't consider recovery as part of the training itself then you're not going to last long until your body forces you to slow down. Now consider the brain and the mind that doesn't shutdown even when you go to sleep and are supposedly physically resting. Applying the same process used for muscles is necessary. The term used if you don't do that isn't "mind injury" though, it is burn out and corresponding mental health issues("brain injury" is reserved to mean something else). You need a way to "rest", whatever that means for you. If it's a game of Civ, then great. Reading a good book, extra great. Unfortunately while TV used to be a source of entertainment, I don't believe it is serving that purpose anymore. Why give up Civ if you enjoy it? Limit the time if you think you have better things you'd like to do. For me, I've incorporated rest and downtime into my life after experiencing what happens when you don't. Having said that, it is still a battle some days if I'm not mindful because we're so used to being "productive" every waking second and actively discourage resting. I also strongly encourage you try some meditation. It is very simple to do but not easy.

impendia 1y ago
Thank you very much for your reply. This might sound like a strange question, and maybe not one I can reasonably ask of anyone else. That said -- how can I determine what "rest" genuinely means for me? As opposed to what I would like it to mean? I enjoy Civ, but that might be for the dopamine kick it delivers, so I'm not sure if it has the beneficial effects you describe. I also enjoy reading, but that feels more like lifting than recovery. And I've indeed tried meditation, and indeed not found it easy!
- scorpioxy 1y ago
  Interesting question. For me, resting was similar to exercising an antagonist muscle. Or oversimplifying it, do the opposite of what you were doing. So if your day is full of focus and concentration and sedentary then do something physical that doesn't require a lot of focus and concentration. Doing something physical all day? Then relax your body by reading a book on the couch. You'll probably need to experiment to see what works for you and come up with your own answer.

impendia 1y ago

Thank you very much for your reply. This might sound like a strange question, and maybe not one I can reasonably ask of anyone else. That said -- how can I determine what "rest" genuinely means for me? As opposed to what I would like it to mean? I enjoy Civ, but that might be for the dopamine kick it delivers, so I'm not sure if it has the beneficial effects you describe. I also enjoy reading, but that feels more like lifting than recovery. And I've indeed tried meditation, and indeed not found it easy!

scorpioxy 1y ago
Interesting question. For me, resting was similar to exercising an antagonist muscle. Or oversimplifying it, do the opposite of what you were doing. So if your day is full of focus and concentration and sedentary then do something physical that doesn't require a lot of focus and concentration. Doing something physical all day? Then relax your body by reading a book on the couch. You'll probably need to experiment to see what works for you and come up with your own answer.