The 15 Minute Morning Reset (Do This Today to Completely Recharge Your Mind and Body)
What’s something that really helps you feel energized in the morning?
Do you ever give yourself a moment to reset during the day?
Today, Jay shares a powerful reminder, rest isn’t something you need to earn, it’s something you absolutely need. If you’ve ever felt guilty for taking a break or felt like you had to justify a vacation, this conversation challenges that mindset and offers a refreshing shift. Rest is not a luxury, it's the fuel for everything we do. Just like your phone needs to recharge, your body, mind, and soul require consistent, intentional recovery.
Jay offers simple, practical habits you can start using right away to feel more rested and centered. From scheduling micro-breaks throughout your day, trying out the box breathing method, to practicing the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique to bring yourself back to the moment, these tools are small shifts that can make a big difference. You’ll also be encouraged to create tech-free spaces, embrace short daily walks in nature, and carve out intentional pauses in your schedule.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How to Schedule Micro-Breaks Every 60–90 Minutes
How to Redefine Rest as a Need, Not a Reward
How to Release Guilt and Shame Around Taking Breaks
How to Hydrate and Refocus During Short Breaks
How to Reframe Rest as a Tool for Productivity and Creativity
Making space to breathe, reflect, and recover won’t just help you feel better, it will help you show up better, think clearer, and live more purposefully.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
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What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
01:20 When Was The Last Time You Felt Truly Rested?
03:39 Regular Breaks Increase Productivity And Creativity
06:21 Rest Isn't Something You Earn, It’s Something You Need
07:53 #1: Set The Habit Of A Micro Break
11:15 #2: Practice Intentional Breathing Exercises
12:49 #3: Spend Time In A Mindfulness Practice
15:47 #4: Establish Tech-Free Zones in Your Home
18:55 Rest Is A Necessity, Not A Luxury
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Transcript
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The number one health and wellness podcast.
Jay Shetty.
Jay Shetty.
The one, the only Jay Shetty.
Hey, thank you so much for coming back to On purpose to listen, learn and grow.
Today's episode, as you know it, is all about finding that reset, finding that deep rest, that boost that we so need.
Let me start by asking you a question.
When was the last time you truly felt rested?
That you truly felt relaxed?
You truly felt free.
Not just sleep, but real, genuine rest.
That low heart rate, that calm, that deep breath naturally.
I want you to try and lock into it right now.
Inhale
and exhale.
We all need rest,
but in our hustle-centric culture, it's become harder and harder to find deep rest.
And in our stressful schedule, it can be so manic to try and find rest or a boost of energy even in the day.
It's become so hard that in the United States, a significant number of workers don't fully utilize their annual paid vacation time.
According to a 2024 study, 62% of Americans with paid time off did not use all their vacation days, with 5.5%
not taking any time off at all.
Access to paid vacation varies across different sectors.
In 2024, 88% of full-time employees had access to paid vacation, whereas only 40% of part-time employees had the same benefit.
But here's the interesting part.
The underutilization of vacation time is often attributed to workplace culture.
A Pew Research Center survey found that more than four in 10 U.S.
workers don't take all their paid time off, with reasons including concerns about falling behind at work or feeling guilty about co-workers taking on additional work.
And this trend obviously highlights the importance of encouraging a healthy work-life balance and promoting the use of earned vacation time to support employee well-being.
Now, here's the top line.
We all need vacations.
We all need breaks.
And I encourage you to take those.
And at the same time in this episode, I want to give you practical, actionable steps to find that break, find that relief in the everyday.
While you're building up and waiting for that vacation, it's so important to find that rest in your day.
We all know that there's a big impact and correlation between daily rest and productivity, mental health and physical health.
Harvard Business Review in 2019 found that regular breaks increase productivity and creativity by up to 40%.
Just think about that for a second.
If you were 40%
more productive and more creative, what could you achieve?
What would the difference be in your output?
What would the quality of your output be?
That's nearly half more productive and creative.
You could save half the time that you spend struggling, feeling overworked, feeling overwhelmed, feeling stressed to actually be more effective.
Right?
Think about that.
40% more productive and creative.
And according to the American Psychological Association, just 15 to 20 minutes of daily rest can reduce stress hormones significantly.
Just 15 to 20 minutes.
But as I said earlier, we're blocked by something.
We're blocked by the shame and guilt.
Do we deserve rest?
Have we earned it?
Have we done enough?
We're worried that our coworkers may take on more work.
And some of us are worried that when they travel, we take on more work.
So we're blocked by these ideas, these mindsets that we've created that we need to let go of, that we need to push away.
Because without rest, without recovery, it's extremely, extremely difficult to make a difference.
So imagine if 15 to 20 minutes a day could change everything.
And imagine if you had 40% more creativity and productivity, what could you achieve?
But where does that pressure come from?
The fact that we think we need to achieve rest is the challenge.
That's the problem.
The fact that we believe we need to earn rest.
Rest is not something you earn.
It's something you need.
It's something you actually need.
It's almost like saying, does your phone get charged when it's earned the charge?
No, it's used energy and therefore it needs to charge.
You don't look at your phone and say, you've earned a recharge today.
You've deserved a refuel today.
You've worked for it, right?
You've worked so hard today.
I'm going to put you on charge.
No, we know that our phone needs charging.
We're aware that our phone needs recovery.
We're aware that our phone needs an update or a refuel or whatever it may be.
But so many of us will spend so much time and energy feeling shameful and guilty for giving ourselves a break, for giving ourselves a moment of rest or recovery.
I want you to remove that guilt.
I want you to remove that shame.
You don't deserve rest.
You didn't earn it.
You need it.
Your body physically needs it.
Your mind mentally needs it.
Your soul spiritually needs it.
Your emotions need it, right?
We actually need it.
So I want to start there.
And I want you to almost repeat after me, rest is something I need,
not something I need to earn.
Rest is something I need, not something I need to earn.
Rest is something my body needs.
Not something I need to earn.
We need to get really, really clear on that.
Because when we get clear on that, we don't cancel our vacations, we don't skip rest, we don't compromise on sleep because we realize our body and mind need it.
Now, what I want to share with you are some practical tips as to how you can do that in your day-to-day.
As you're building up towards a vacation, as you're looking forward to something in the summer, what do you do on a weekly and daily basis?
Here's one that's really important: I want you to set a habit of a micro break.
Think about your calendar.
In your calendar, you're constantly putting in meetings.
And if your calendar looks anything like mine, it's meeting after meeting after meeting.
Here's an actionable tip.
Every 60 to 90 minutes, take a two to five minute break and put it in your schedule.
Literally put a scheduled five minute break in your calendar every 60 to 90 minutes.
And in this break, you're going to walk, look out of a window, and you're gonna drink some water.
You're gonna get hydrated, you're gonna look out into the distance, not look at your phone, look outside of a screen, and you're gonna walk, you're gonna move.
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University of Illinois found that brief breaks dramatically boost focus.
A lot of us say to ourselves, okay, I will wait till the end of the week.
I'll wait till the end of the month.
I'll wait till the end of the quarter.
And sometimes you can be waiting forever.
We have to train ourselves to create regular breaks.
And I would even argue that when you're planning your year out, you need to schedule your vacation time.
Even if it's a long weekend, even if it's just a day break, whatever it's going to be for you, we need to schedule it out.
You need it every quarter to take a small break.
You need that vacation once a year, right?
To be totally switched off.
It makes a huge difference.
The second one that's been huge for me is intentional breathing exercises.
One of my favorite actionable tips is the box breathing technique.
where you inhale for four seconds, you hold for four seconds, you exhale for four seconds, and you hold for four seconds.
Let's try it out together.
Inhale, two,
three,
four,
hold, two,
three,
four,
out,
two,
three,
four,
hold, two,
three,
four.
A simple exercise like that, the NIH research shows it immediately reduces cortisol.
Sometimes what's really interesting about our overwork and not taking a break is our cortisol levels are going through the roof.
The reason we're struggling with weight loss or weight control, the reason we're struggling with the tension in our body, so much of it comes down to stress.
And a few simple breaths can begin to relieve you of that stress, to relieve you of that pressure, to relieve you of that tension.
And I would encourage you to try it out simply when you're feeling stressed.
You know you can't take a long break right now.
Just try box breathing.
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Now, one of my favorite personal techniques when it comes to this is to spend time in a mindfulness practice.
And my favorite, favorite, favorite technique is called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique.
In this technique, when you're feeling stressed and your head is spinning, try this out.
Five things you can see.
Observe the colors, the shapes, the sizes, the shades.
Look around at five things you can see.
What are four things you can touch?
Notice the textures.
Is something harsh or is it soft?
Is it rough?
Or is it seamless?
And at the same time,
is it cool?
Is it warm?
Allow the sense of touch to bring you into the present moment.
What are three things you can hear right now?
What are two things you can smell?
And what's one thing you can taste?
What's so important about this is you can bring yourself back to the present moment with the simple 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique.
And why is this even more powerful when it comes to rest?
You automatically feel
like you've taken a little break.
You've made yourself aware of your surroundings and brought yourself into the moment.
Try it out.
Because all the studies show that mindfulness reduces anxiety by up to 58%.
The Journal of Psychology in 2020 found that mindfulness reduces anxiety by up to 58%.
Imagine if you were 58%
less anxious.
What could you achieve?
What could you do?
Who would you be?
A simple 54321 technique can bring you back into your body and make your mind feel rested.
What I'm sharing here are really simple, actionable, practical techniques that you can start doing right now.
These are simple practices that any and all of us can easily experience today.
One of my favorites, the next one, is
tech-free zones.
This is something I recommend to parents with young kids, and it's even something I recommend to couples.
Study by Sleep Health in 2018 found on improved sleep and reduced anxiety with less screen exposure.
Establish one hour per day as tech-free and one zone in your home as tech-free.
So let's say the kitchen table, the dining table is always tech-free.
That is your tech-free hour to sit, connect, talk to your partner, eat, digest your food, spend time with your family.
And make it meaningful too.
Don't just make it a negative, i.e.
we can't use technology here.
Make it a positive.
Maybe you're going to discuss the funniest TikTok you saw today and you have to describe it to each other without showing it.
Maybe you're going to talk about something that happened as a highlight.
in each of your days today.
Maybe you're going to take this opportunity to share something you really appreciate about each other.
This habit boosts energy and makes us feel rested in the most incredible ways.
We are overwhelmed, we are overconsuming, we are oversubscribed, and therefore we are exhausted.
If you had one hour of your day that was tech-free and one zone in your home that was tech-free, you would feel so much more rested on a daily basis.
You would find a whole new influx of energy that you never knew existed before.
And so many of us are missing out on this.
So many of us don't realize the value of this because we can't remember the last time we were without our phones for an hour.
Just an hour into the day.
It could be in the morning, it could be in the evening, whatever works for you, but it will give you such a break.
Give it a go.
And for those of you, who really want to take it to the next level, nature exposure.
A Stanford University study in 2015 found that nature walks significantly lower anxiety and depression.
Last night, me and Radhi went on a one-hour walk in the evening.
And I can truly say that it was so beautiful.
I rested better, felt calmer.
It was a great end to the day.
And hey, I can't do that every single day.
I can't do an hour walk every single day.
But an actionable tip is a 10 minute walk outside daily.
A 10 minutes walk outside will relax you more.
Movement can actually help you rest if it's outdoors and you're allowing yourself to just experience nature, whether it's looking at trees, admiring the birds, whatever it may be.
These are simple habits to find rest and refuel throughout the day.
As you're waiting and looking forward to that vacation, as you can't be more than excited about it, this is a really, really simple step.
Now we've talked about the practical habits, but let's talk about the shame and guilt of rest again.
Maybe your parents never rested.
Maybe they were always working.
Maybe they put pressure on you to do the same.
Maybe you're scared of falling behind.
Well, whatever it is, here's the reality.
You're more likely to fall behind if you never rest.
You're more likely to lose focus
if you never take a break.
You're more likely to be less productive and efficient if you don't refuel.
Recovery is part of an athlete's strategy.
Recovery is part of an athlete's ability.
You've got to be good at recovery in order to be good to play.
So for those of you that want to win, that want to hustle, that want to achieve more than everyone else, imagine what you could do with rest.
Not overindulgent rest, not laziness, but the ability to refuel, refine, and renew will actually make you more successful and effective.
Now, for those of you that feel you have to earn it, that feel that you don't deserve it, that feel that there's shame and guilt attached to it, ask yourself, where does that come from?
Did you always feel that if you didn't work hard, you were lazy?
Did you feel that people who take breaks are less effective and productive?
What was it for you?
Get to the root of it.
And as I was saying, for a lot of us, it's just shame and guilt of I haven't earned it.
I don't need it.
I've got to do something for everyone else.
So many of us are good at solving everyone else's problems, but not paying attention to our own.
So this is a way and this is your reminder.
It's just something your body needs.
Think about your laptop when it's on low battery again.
It will remind you to never compromise on rest.
Rest
is productive.
Rest
is effective.
Rest is a necessity, not a luxury.
When you compromise your rest, you compromise everything else.
You can't bring your best to everything.
if you didn't make time to rest.
I want you to remember that.
I hope that helps you.
I hope it serves you.
And I hope it makes a difference in your life.
And I'm so grateful that we got to spend this time together today.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you so much for listening to this conversation.
If you enjoyed it, you'll love my chat with Adam Grant on why discomfort is the key to growth and the strategies for unlocking your hidden potential.
If you know you want to be more and achieve more this year, go check it out right now.
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Hi, I'm Erica Cruz-Guevara, host of KQED's podcast, The Bay.
When something important is happening in the Bay Area, I want to know what it actually means for the people who live here.
In every episode of The Bay, we ask deeper questions, cut through the noise, and keep you connected to the community that you and I love.
Buy new episodes of KQED's The Bay every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, wherever you get your podcasts.
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