What If You Didn’t Have to Earn Rest?

Recently, someone asked me, “What does rest look like to you?”

My response was this:

“Rest isn’t just about doing nothing. It’s about being in a space, both physically and emotionally, where my nervous system feels regulated. True rest happens when my mind is calm, not cluttered with to-do lists or weighed down with stress. If your body is still but your thoughts are spiraling, that’s not rest; that’s just being still while feeling overwhelmed.”

For much of my life, I didn’t understand that.

When I Thought Rest Was Laziness

It wasn’t until the past year that I finally realized rest is not laziness but a lifeline. Growing up, my father made sure my sister and I were always up early, beds made, and doing something “constructive.” The only time we were allowed to be still was if we were sick.

So when I got married and my husband would nap in the middle of the day or sleep in on weekends, it infuriated me. To me naps and doing nothing meant laziness. I didn’t realize at the time that this belief was rooted in childhood conditioning which is a subtle kind of trauma that wrongfully taught me my worth was tied to productivity.

We don’t always have to be in motion. In fact, we were never meant to be.

Listening to the Body Before It Breaks

Lately, I’ve been practicing embodiment which is the process of connecting mind and body and noticing how my body feels and reacts in different situations. Since starting this practice, I’ve gotten better at slowing down when I need to.

The body always gives small signals when it needs rest: heavy eyelids, tension in the shoulders, irritability, brain fog. When we ignore those whispers, they turn into extreme exhaustion, burnout, or illness.

I’m grateful that my work allows me the flexibility to rest when I need to. I know that not every woman has that option. Still, I believe it’s important to honor our natural rhythms. Women are cyclical beings. Our menstrual cycles influence our energy, creativity, and focus. We were not designed to “go, go, go” without pause. When we align our work and energy with the phases of our cycle, we begin to move with our bodies instead of against them.

How Rest Has Changed Me

Rest has reshaped the way I mother, love, and create.

When I care for my nervous system in a way that allows me to truly rest, I’m a better mother and wife. I’m more patient, present, and compassionate. The old saying is true. You can’t pour from an empty cup. If I’m depleted, there’s nothing left to give my family.

Rest also fuels my creativity. Some of my best business ideas arrive in the quiet moments when I’m not trying to make something happen. Stillness creates space for inspiration. If you sit and look at anything long enough, a sense of awe can be found.

Rest as Worthiness. Rest as Rebellion.

What if rest wasn’t something you had to earn, but something you were inherently worthy of?

What if sacred rest was an act of rebellion in a world addicted to urgency?

We live in a culture bound by time, obsessed with speed and achievement. The internet and social media have only deepened this addiction to urgency. We’ve been taught that if we’re not constantly doing, producing, and striving, then we’re not doing enough.

Sacred rest says otherwise. It says you are enough, even in stillness. You are valuable, even in pause. You are whole, even when you are not producing.

Choosing rest is not weakness. It’s a reclaiming of your body, energy, and life.