Rest as a Radical Act of Self-Preservation

We live in a culture that glorifies exhaustion. The longer your to-do list, the more “productive” you seem. The later you stay up working, the more committed you’re seen. Rest is treated like a luxury, something you earn after you’ve proven your worth.

But here’s the truth: rest is not a reward. Rest is a requirement.

For those of us navigating mental health challenges or chronic illness, rest is not optional. It’s survival. And choosing to prioritize it in a world that doesn’t understand? That’s radical.

The Physiology of Rest

When you rest, truly rest, not scrolling your phone or half-watching a show while worrying about tomorrow, your body does essential repair work. Your muscles recover. Your nervous system recalibrates. Your brain processes emotions and stores memories.

Without rest, your body remains in a low-grade stress response. Inflammation rises. Focus disappears. Mood swings worsen. For people with chronic illness, ignoring rest can trigger flares that take days or weeks to recover from.

Reframing Rest as Strength

Many people resist rest because they think it makes them weak. But ask yourself: who is more resilient? The person running on fumes, snapping at loved ones, and burning out, or the person who pauses, replenishes, and returns with energy?

Rest doesn’t mean you’re giving up. It means you’re honoring your limits so you can keep going.

A Rest Ritual

Try building a 15-minute ritual each evening to signal to your body that it’s safe to relax. Some ideas:

This practice trains your brain to detach from busyness and move into healing.

My Rest and Restore Workbook was created exactly for this, to help you reframe and structure rest so you stop seeing it as weakness and start seeing it as power.