Recover Your Life. Renew Your Energy. Restore Your Sanity
ISBN: 9781478921677
Publisher: FaithWords/Center Street
Publication Date: 12/19/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (ARC) SACRED REST gives a unique look into the physical and spiritual sides of rest.
Sanctuary isn't simply a place; it's a state of being. Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith contends that our 21st century lives reek of exhaustion. We now live longer than our ancestors but spend less time living life, and more time fighting death. They died quickly from wearing out their bodies; we die slowly from wearing out our minds. We are busy doing, being, and becoming with little regard to the people we ignore and the moments we miss. There is value in work, and there is value in rest; both are vital for a life well lived.
In SACRED REST, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a board-certified internal medicine doctor and Bible teacher, reveals why rest can no longer remain optional for those desiring their best life. Written for those who go to bed tired and wake up still exhausted, SACRED REST helps the overwhelmed identify what kind of rest they have been missing. Dr. Dalton-Smith shares seven unique types of rest she has found lacking in the lives of those she encounters in her clinical practice and research - physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, sensory, social, creative - and why a deficiency in any one of these types of rest can have unfavorable effects on your happiness, relationships, creativity, and productivity. These types of rest have never before been shared in this context, combining the science of rest, the spirituality of rest, the gifts of rest, and the resulting fruit of rest. It shows rest as something sacred, valuable, and worthy of our respect.
By combining scientific research with personal stories, spiritual insight, and practical next steps, SACRED REST gives the weary permission to embrace no, set boundaries, and seek sanctuary without any guilt, shame, or fear.
Praise
“In SACRED REST, Dr. Dalton-Smith takes readers on a restorative journey. It’s a roadmap to healing that you never knew you needed … and a pathway to the serenity you’ve been longing for.”
— Marsha DuCille, Editorial Director, CALLED Magazine
“Once you get a taste of a well-rested life, nothing else will satisfy.” That quote is a nibble of the masterpiece you will feast on in Saundra-Dalton Smith’s book SACRED REST. Through a well-balanced weaving of her life’s stories, substantiated research, and inspired selection of Scriptures, Saundra has created a perfect mix for challenging each reader to find their place of rest. I highly recommend this book as it’s chock full of practical tips and you’ll want to buy ten more for your family and friends, or use it for a book club or Bible Study.”
—Heidi McLaughlin, international speaker and author of Restless for More, Sand to Pearls, and Beauty Unleashed
The fusion of eternal truth and the latest research yields a book that will reset your understanding of what it really means to rest. Dr. Saundra communicates with depth and clarity to challenge and encourage readers to find sacred rest.
— Jennifer Kennedy Dean, Executive Director of The Praying Life Foundation; author of Live a Praying Life(r) and numerous books and Bible studies
“I couldn’t be more proud of Dr. Dalton-Smith, a member of my Guild. But even more impressive than Saundra’s writing accomplishment is the content of SACRED REST. Everybody I know seems to be busier than ever, sleep-deprived, and in desperate need of rest. I’m guilty too. But Saundra takes a unique approach to the problem, offering eye-opening areas of our lives that need as much rest as our bodies and minds. I learned a ton from it, and you will too.”
—Jerry Jenkins, New York Times bestselling novelist, biographer, and owner of The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild
“Dr. Dalton-Smith has redefined the word REST! In a world with constant “Cerebral Background Noise” you need this book to learn how to set up rest boundaries for you and your family. I love her assessments for the reader to see where there might be a need for more rest, not just in sleep, but in the area of mental, spiritual and CREATIVE rest! I learned so much in this book, I look forward to sharing it with ALL my patients.”
—Dr. Angie Welikala, CEO, Founder of Healing Agents International. HealingAgents.org
“As a board certified clinical neuropsychologist, not a day goes by that I don’t have to address the importance of rest with my patients struggling from medical and mental health disorders ranging from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to post-concussion syndrome. As a society that is now driven by better and faster technology, rest has become a lost art, but no less fundamentally important to our physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual well-being. God granted us both time and the model of rest for our good, yet we’ve come to treat it as a weakness or a punishment. Dr. Dalton-Smith empathizes with the reader’s struggle to maintain a lifestyle that includes rest, educates regarding the different types of rest-deficit, and passionately shares the gifts and benefits of rest. She weaves her own story and the struggles of others throughout SACRED REST so the reader can relate with the real-life challenge to balance doing with being. SACRED REST should be a mainstay in every clinician’s library, and a gift for every friend you care about.”
—Dr. Michelle L. Bengtson, board certified clinical neuropsychologist, and author of Hope Prevails: Insights From a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression
“Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith exhibits the rare combination of physician-inspired medical insights with her faith-driven love for people which she uses to impart life-enhancing principles and suggestions for living intentionally. Dr. Saundra’s passion for seeing women at peace from the inside out is contagious and Christ followers will discover fresh insights into transforming themselves from mere survivors into women who thrive. Women, whether young or middle-aged or in their senior years will find lots of encouragement and sustenance for their souls.”
—Michele Howe, author of 19 books for women including, Empty Nest, What’s Next? and Caring for Our Aging Parents
I found myself pausing to breathe deeply just reading through the Table of Contents for Sacred Rest. The pages that followed offered the “why” and “how” we can slow down. Dr. Saundra helps us to see rest as the gift it is intended to be. I will find myself coming back to her words again and again.
—Esther Fleece, speaker and author of No More Faking Fine
About the Author
Saundra Dalton-Smith is the founder of I Choose My Best Life. She is a practicing Internal Medicine physician, speaker, and author. Her books include Set Free to Live Free Breaking Through the 7 Lies Women Tell Themselves (Revell 2011).
Saundra is a contributing writer at Hope Magazine and has been featured on CBS.com, MSN.com, NPR, Women’s Day, and First For Women Magazine. You can learn more about Saundra at www.DrDaltonSmith.com Read More
