Ways to rest so as not to have to suffer pain.

When we think of strength, the thought of exercise and movement comes to mind. Most of the time, we forget the fact that the body needs rest to grow and develop strength.

When we consider strength, it ought not to mean just sleep. We can perhaps sit down somewhere and relax the tired parts of our body. Give them a break for that is what they need to stay strong and healthy.

Most of us have been told through books, trainers and teachers or even parents that sleep is the time when tired muscles recuperate, release the tension from the muscles and grow in size and power. We wake up the next morning refreshed, the aches gone and we are ready for work and play.

However, sleep is not the only time when we can give our overworked body and its muscles rest. Change of activity and movement also gives muscles and tendons of a certain part of our body the opportunity to relax as other parts get into the new movements required in the change of activities.

Let us take a hawker as an example. Hawkers sometimes have to stand for long hours at their jobs. As a result, they overstrain their leg muscles and tendons. The end up with pain in their legs. If they could shift to another activity in their jobs then it is possible to avoid such pain. For example, after serving customers by taking food to the tables and returning with used bowls for an hour, they could exchange jobs with their assistants and do some washing or cooking instead. This can prevent overworking a certain part of body, giving it a reprieve during the exchange of activity.

White-collar jobbers face the same problem. They sit slouched at their computers for too long, sometimes straining their neck in a particular angle resulting in pain to the neck and the back. Again it is over-straining of a certain part of the body. What they need is to get off their chairs away from their computer to take a walk and do some other task. If that proves to be difficult as most of the work needs to be on the computer, then get a chair with a moveable, adjustable back and arm-rest so that positions can be changed every now and then, as often as possible. Otherwise, pain will be the consequence.

So, rest may not necessarily be total rest but rather a change of position or action which involves another set of muscles and tendons, thus affording rest for certain parts of the body.