Rest as part of the deep life
Summary
As modern corporate workers, we see rest as a means to recharge for our ultimate purpose — work. Work, however significant, is only a part of our lives. Rest has a profound impact on all those parts and has value in and of itself.
When it's summer down in the Deccan Peninsula, the High Himalayas are still cold. A few years back, we drove up to Ladakh during my son’s summer vacation. Unlike the months between June and September, when tourists flock to these high-altitude deserts, in May, we had some places all to ourselves. During this time, we spent a few nights by the edge of the bitterly cold lake, Pangong.
I’m a photographer who earns his living from tech, and chasing light is the best part of my time outdoors. After a cold and windy night that left our tent rattling, I got up well before first light to catch sunrise on the lakeshore. At about 4:20, the first bit of light was visible on the eastern mountain crest. Up there, cellular signals are non existent. The phone is a powerful computer in your pocket, with only one attractive feature – the camera. But I was already carrying a dedicated camera and tripod, so there was little need to reach for a computing device.
Spangmik village from that morning at Pangong
It’s incredible how much you notice when you look closely, without the encumbrance of the next task, a new notification or the obligations you’re running behind on. That morning, as the sun slowly emerged over the Kangju Kangri mountain crests, I had the mental space to take in all the sights and sounds around me.
Brown-headed gulls, ruddy shelducks and bar-headed geese broke the silence of the lake’s turquoise blue waters, with their honks and quacks. In the distance, the Spangmik village looked a pretty picture, nestled beneath massive Himalayan peaks that stood tall like sentinels. As I walked around, my gaze went to the smooth pebbles on the lakeshore. I picked one up and attempted to throw it parallel to the lake’s surface, so I could see how far it went, skimming the water. I overestimated the strength of my stiff shoulder, and the rock sank after a couple of skims – a royal failure, but one that made me smile.
I often ignore vegetation like I ignore the furniture at home, but that morning, even the short scrubs by the lakeside caught my attention. There was time to admire their dried-out orange colours, as they awaited the glacial melt that freshens them up each year. I walked and walked and walked. As it turns out, I wasn’t even wearing a watch. Time didn’t seem to matter.
By the time I got back to the camp, it was quarter to ten. I’d walked by myself for five hours! Those five hours were some of the best I’ve had in a long time. The memories are vivid even today. Those memories always remind me of how I like to rest and relax.
Amongst us corporate types, we look at rest as a way to recharge ourselves for our ultimate purpose – work. Well, let’s not be too harsh on ourselves. Even sportspersons swear by the benefits of rest. In test cricket, coaches often swear by how fast bowlers make the ball talk in the morning, if they’ve had a good rest the day before. But we rarely talk about the value of deep, unadulterated, uninterrupted rest, in and of itself.
To me, rest is the time I spend with my friends at lunch, with my phone put away in a corner. The value is in the banter at the lunch table, the stories we share and the plans we make for the next time we’ll meet.
Rest is in reading for pleasure, with a warm cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other. Even fifteen minutes each morning will do to make me feel whole.
I find rest in rucking with my wife. I don’t need a phone for company when my best friend is with me. Talking to her and losing sense of time reminds me why we fell in love in the first place.
There’s a timeless beauty in watching the sun rise and set in a beautiful place. What I wouldn’t give to enjoy restful hours watching the play of light in these magical spells of time!
Our family even finds rest and recreation in movies. But on-demand, web-based entertainment is nothing like being in a theatre for hours at a stretch. It seems convenient to pause the TV whenever we like. It’s easy to seek a dopamine hit to check the phone midway. Resisting these interruptions, however, helps us immerse ourselves in the world that the movie makers created for us. Losing ourselves for a short while in a high-quality entertainment experience is also relaxing.
To measure the value of rest by its impact on work is myopic. We’ll all stop working someday, but life will continue. A 40-hour workweek occupies a sixth of our lives. Rest surely matters for that one part which is work, but it matters more for the other five parts. It impacts our relationships, mental well-being, the beauty we experience, and even the way we savour life. Deep rest is an integral part of the deep life. In 2026, I resolve to give it the importance it deserves, and I hope you do too!