Oura – What Is Rest Rode? (EXPLAINED!)

While owning an Oura ring, you may have seen Rest Mode as one of the options listed in the Oura app menu. But what does this mean? In this article, we will explain all that you need to know about Oura’s Rest Mode so you can know how and when to take advantage of this feature.

Rest Mode is an Oura feature that users can manually switch on when their body and/or mind are in need of rest. A few days of rest and putting regular exercises on hold are necessary for recovery. When Oura is in Rest Mode, all activity-related functions are disabled and sleep is prioritized.

To learn more about how this Rest Mode on your Oura ring works and when to use it, continue reading.

Oura Rest Mode Explained

Oura’s Rest Mode is designed to help you get the rest you need when you need it, whether that be physical rest or mental rest after an injury or during an illness or mental health battle. Recovery is just as important as activity, and pushing through an injury or a time when rest is crucial by doing your regular exercises can only make things worse.

When Rest Mode is activated, and for as long as it is activated, all activity-related contributors, including your activity progress goal and activity score, will be disabled. Oftentimes, these notifications will distract you from what you’re meant to be doing during this time: resting. This will help you to focus on your rest so that you can get back to your healthy self before you know it, and then return to your regular workout and exercise schedule.

Rest Mode will also adjust the readiness and sleep insights so that your sleep and recovery during this time are prioritized. These insights will provide guidance on how you can better focus on your rest so that your recovery can be as beneficial as possible.

When You Should (and Shouldn’t) use Rest Mode

There are many health situations you may experience that may require you to take a break from your regular workout routines. You could be recovering from a common illness or a physical injury, or you may need to rest your body after an increase in the intensity of your workouts. You could also be recovering from jet lag or experiencing more stress or anxiety than usual because of a life event or mental shift.

All of these situations may call for an opportunity to get some extra rest so that you can be restored back to your regular self and get the energy needed to jump back into your regular exercise routine back.

You should keep in mind that while rest is an essential part of recovery from various ailments, you should follow your doctor’s advice when it comes to how you should rest and for how long. You should not rely on Oura Rest Mode as your only source of advice, and understand that this feature is not designed to cure or treat any health condition or injury.

Rest Mode is also not recommended for use while taking regular naps or lounging without the need for recovery, and it’s not the best to use while you’re meditating. Instead, Rest Mode is meant to be used when your body and your mind need to rest the most.

What Triggers a Rest Mode Prompt

A Rest Mode prompt may come up automatically. This means that your Oura ring sensed a significant increase in your body temperature, which is the biggest indicator of illness or physical strain. The prompt will ask if you want to use Rest Mode to help you recover from whatever caused that increase in body temperature, and you can choose to accept or decline the offer.

If you have your menstrual cycle synced up with Oura, this prompt won’t pop up during your menstrual cycle, which often leads to an increase in body temperature.

How to Enable Rest Mode

There are two different ways that you can enable Rest Mode, and both are done through the Oura mobile app. When you have it open, you can simply open the menu (the three lines in the upper left corner) in the home tab, tap Rest Mode, then tap “Turn on Rest Mode” when prompted.

The other option is to press “Turn on Rest Mode” when prompted on the Oura home tab, but this will only come up when your body experiences a significant rise in temperature due to strain. This will appear under the readiness notification card on the home tab. Oftentimes, this notification says “Pay attention, Take time to recover.”

After you’ve confirmed that you want to enter Rest Mode on the app, another notification bar will appear at the bottom of the app screen that will say “Rest Mode is on.”

How to Disable Rest Mode

Once you’ve felt you’ve had enough time to rest, you’ll need to let the Oura app know you’ve finished your recovery and are ready to disable Rest Mode. You can do this by opening the menu in the top left corner of the app. Once you have this open, tap Rest Mode to disable it.

If you accidentally turned on Rest Mode and need to turn it off right away, follow the above steps and then tap “turn off and delete tags” so that the time that Rest Mode was temporarily on doesn’t have an effect on your Oura data.

While Rest Mode is on, you’ll be able to select a few tags that fit your situation, and you can change or delete these tags or add more tags each day to track your recovery progress. You can also disable Rest Mode using the “Rest Mode is On” notification banner at the bottom of your home tab. Click on Options and then tap turn off Rest Mode.

After you’ve turned Rest Mode off, the Oura App along with the regular insights will slowly go back to normal during an easing period. This period will last as long as you had Rest Mode on but no longer than 7 days. During this time, your activity goals, activity scores, and other activity contributors will gradually appear to allow you to ease back into your regular exercise routines.