I’m taking a break, all.
I make this suggestion to clients all the time, but- if you’re like me- it’s hard to take your own advice. This is especially timely in our current political and social climate. So many of us are trying to figure out how we can get involved, effect change, and demonstrate our resistance against perfectionism, capitalism and the expectation of constant productivity.
In a culture that glorifies grind and hustle, taking a break can feel like a waste of time. It has certainly become a luxury. Rest gets framed as something we have to earn, quite literally- most companies that offer leave time require employees to accrue it in exchange for hours worked, and there is usually a limit.
But rest isn’t a reward for being “good enough.” It is a basic human need. And it is actually a very active state. Our bodies are always hard at work: replenishing our sacred resources so we can keep going, protecting us from illness, sending messages about what we need, and pushing us to take care of ourselves, even when we don’t listen.
We live in a system that equates our worth with how much we produce, how well we perform, and how little we need. These same systems tell us that rest is lazy, that slowing down is failure, and that we must push through no matter the cost. It is the same system that tells us our bodies need to be controlled, fixed, or punished.
But laziness is a myth. We are not broken. We are not behind. We are living, breathing bodies in a world that demands too much.
If you're a fellow parent, you know the pressure is relentless. We’re expected to show up perfectly, tirelessly, and without pause, all while raising children who somehow grow up rested, regulated, and resilient. But many of us grew up learning that rest was not valued and that the body was something to conquer, not listen to.
Here’s the truth, though: children don’t need perfect parents, they need present, rested ones. Modeling rest is one of the most radical and healing gifts we can offer our kids- you know, the whole oxygen mask on an airplane routine (it’s cliché for a reason). When we choose rest, reject perfectionism, and honor our bodies’ needs, we're not just healing ourselves, we're offering our children a different legacy. One where bodies are trusted and rest is normal, not negotiable. This is generational healing in action.
When we align with Body Trust®, we honor the body’s wisdom. We listen when it says enough. We notice when it tells us to slow down and rest. And we recognize that resting is a radical disruption of a culture that wants us exhausted, disconnected, and compliant.
I wonder: What would happen if you rested without guilt? What would it mean to trust your body’s call to slow down? What kind of world could we build if we tied our value to being rather than constant doing?
You don’t need permission to rest- but if it helps, here it is:
You are allowed to pause.
You are allowed to do less.
You are allowed to be a body in need.
Whether it looks like canceling plans, spending the day in bed, stepping away from diet culture noise, or simply doing nothing, know that rest is productive. Not in the capitalist sense, but in the human one- the body-trusting, life-sustaining, revolutionary one.
Rest is not just self-care, it’s a refusal to abandon yourself. Rest is radical. Rest is Resistance. Rest is coming home to your body. See you there.
