Real rest is different from just flopping on the sofa or stopping work for a bit. Rest here isn’t just lying down, it’s giving yourself permission to stop proving your worth all the time.
We all have that inner voice- the one that’s constantly counting emails, tasks, and ‘wins’, and then whispering “you haven’t done enough yet”. No wonder proper rest feels awkward, guilty, or even a bit scary when you’re used to measuring your value by how much you get done. Especially in today’s society where we seem have made productivity a competitive sport (we’ve all felt inadequate at times when we encounter those people whose list of achievements seems never-ending and you wonder how they even have time to sleep!)
I listened to a great podcast recently on Taoist Philosophy. The speaker referenced the great Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu, who said that if you pull a bowstring too tight, it snaps; or if you force water through too small a gap, it loses it’s calm. In the same way, always pushing yourself doesn’t mean you’re thriving—it just means something has to give. And the thing that usually gives is the very thing we need if we want our productivity to be remotely sustainable.
Combined with the constant distractions of modern society (whereby any downtime we have is spent scrolling or watching screens), the cultural idea that you only matter if you’re “useful” and visibly productive is only compounding this unnatural resistance to real rest.
It would serve us well to remember that a lot of the most vital processes that occur in nature —like seeds sprouting underground or wounds quietly healing—happen where no one can see. In those moments where we don’t appear to be ‘doing’ anything, some of the most essential processes are taking place.
One of my favourite quotes is ‘don’t just do something, sit there’ (a play on the phrase ‘don’t just sit there, do something’)
Rest is described as time with no goal attached: no output, no optimisation, no “I’ll be better at work if I do this.” It’s simply what keeps your body, mind, and heart in one piece so you can show up as a human being, not just a machine checking off tasks.
So this month, I want to set you all a challenge: try doing absolutely nothing for ten minutes. Don’t turn it into a neat little meditation, don’t try to “use” the time—just let your mind wander and see what comes up. When the loud inner critic pipes up with, “You should be doing something more important,” listen for the softer voice underneath it saying, “You’re allowed to just be here. You don’t have to earn your right to rest or exist.”
