Rest.
We repair, recover, and recharge when we are at rest whether it is our body, heart, or brain.
From sleeping to eating, rest is a prerequisite for healthy growth and well-being. Caring relationships and emotional safety are prerequisites when it comes to rest and to flourishing as a separate, social, and adaptive being. Adults are key in helping to create these conditions for a child or teen. There is time to rest and play – and a time for work.
Articles About Rest
Four Irreducible Needs for Healthy Development
One of our greatest responsibilities is to create the conditions that allow our children and adolescents to develop and flourish. There are four irreducible needs that must be met if our kids are to reach their full human potential: to attach, to feel, to rest, and to play. Using developmental and relational science, we will chart a course towards providing for these needs.
To attach requires us to develop deep relationships that anchor our children to us. Through attachment, we create a  psychological womb for maturation to occur. It isn’t enough that we love our kids but that they give their hearts to us for safe keeping.
To feel means we support a child or teen with their emotions so they grow to be caring, socially responsible individuals. We know soft hearts are needed to grow well, overcome adversity, and to become resilient and resourceful.Â
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To foster rest means we answer our kid’s hunger for connection and need for emotional expression, Â whether we are supporting their sleep, feeding them, or helping them learn. Rest is vital to caring for their body, heart, and mind.
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Creating the conditions for play helps to preserve emotional health and support the development of selfhood. Play is a natural context for deepening relationships and for learning too.Â
Resources
Infographics
Helpful infographics to make sense of kids through developmental science.
