You come home from work,
“I’m a little tired, so I’ll sit down for a bit,”
you think, and settle onto the sofa.
Then you spend 30 minutes there, looking at your smartphone.
Many people probably rest this way.
On the other hand, on days when you are truly exhausted,
“I just want to lie down…”
you may feel.
So if your goal is simply to rest your body, which is better: sitting or lying down?
In short, if your priority is to rest while reducing the strain on your body, lying down and letting your body be supported is a better resting posture than staying seated.
Even when you’re sitting, your body isn’t fully at rest
Sitting in a chair or on a sofa feels easier than standing.
But even while you are sitting, your body is not doing nothing.
The muscles of the neck, back and core are working to support your head and upper body and to hold your posture.
People who do desk work, in particular, already spend long hours sitting just while working.
So with a routine like
Sit and work for 8 hours
↓
Sit on the sofa because you’re tired
the posture may change, but the basic state of “staying seated” does not change much.
Of course, simply leaning back on the sofa does reduce the strain, but if you really want to rest your body, there is a way to let it be supported one step further.
That is lying down.
Lying down makes it easier to reduce the work of supporting your body
A big advantage of lying down is that you can let a wide area of your body, including your head, back and pelvis, rest on a bed or sofa.
With more of your body supported, it becomes easier, compared with sitting, to reduce the muscle activity needed to hold your posture.
In a sense, the feeling of “wanting to lie down when tired” is quite natural.
What matters here, however, is that
“lying down = resting enough”
is not always true.
If you lie down while checking work emails or scrolling through social media and short videos one after another, your eyes and attention keep processing new information.
So another thing to keep in mind is closing your eyes.
Research on “resting quietly” without sleeping
In recent years, sleep research and cognitive science have studied a state called wakeful rest.
This is not sleeping, but a time of resting quietly, for example with your eyes closed, while taking in as little new stimulation as possible.
Research has advanced especially on its relationship with memory.
Several studies have reported that resting quietly after learning something new, instead of moving on to another task or processing other information, may help you retain what you have just learned.
This is not research showing that “lying down for 10 minutes restores X% of your energy.”
However, it is interesting research suggesting that, rather than filling your breaks with a steady stream of new information, making time to do nothing may also have value.
When you’re tired, “lie down for 10 minutes and do nothing”
So how should you actually rest?
If you are somewhere you can lie down, such as at home,
Put down your smartphone
↓
Lie down on the sofa or bed
↓
Close your eyes
↓
Do nothing for about 10 minutes
you might try this simple way of resting.
The key is “not to fill your break with other stimulation”.
Looking at your smartphone is not bad in itself.
But if your day goes
Look at a computer at work
↓
Look at your smartphone during breaks
↓
Look at the computer again
then there is almost no time in the whole day when you are away from a screen.
At least when you are tired, try taking not only your body but also your eyes away from information.
That alone can make your break feel different from usual.
When you feel like lying down, rest properly
Of course, you can’t lie down every time you get tired.
At work, stepping away from your desk for a few minutes or moving your body lightly is more realistic.
But if you are at home and your aim is “I want to rest my body today,”there is no need to force yourself to stay seated.
Let your body rest on the sofa or bed, close your eyes and spend some quiet time.
At La HEAD, too, you can let your body sink into a reclining chair in a fully private room and, with your eyes closed, receive slow, careful care not only for the head but also for the neck, shoulders and arms.
In daily life, with work, housework and smartphones, both body and mind spend most of their time “doing something.”
That is exactly why, when you are tired,
instead of doing something while sitting, lie down and do nothing.
When you decide it is time to rest, let your body be fully supported.
Why not try this simple way of resting?