Introduction
There is something otherworldly about the quiet moments we often overlook. The stillness of a deep conversation, watching the sunrise or sunset or even a simple deep exhale. They offer us some form of escape from the mundane and the business that is life. With deadlines, family obligations, and a culture that prioritizes hustle, rest can feel like an unaffordable luxury. We are constantly on the go and doing something without realising that we need to constantly reset.
What if rest is more than just a break? What if it isn’t something that must be hard-earned but instead is a radical practice of living well? Rest is an intentional practice that makes our lives richer, more spacious and consequently more ours. When practised with intentionality and care, rest goes beyond recovery. It becomes a tool to reclaim our time, our bodies and our space in a culture that makes these feel unattainable.
Within the context of women’s lives, rest can feel irrelevant given the dual obligations women have in both the public and the private or domestic domain. Women often have to navigate a variety of responsibilities, including physical and emotional labour. This is usually at the cost of their well-being. Then it is at this point that reclaiming rest as a powerful feminist act of resistance comes to play. Rest is essentially a creative and intentional practice that can reshape our lives.
Why Rest Feels So Out of Reach
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Unfortunately, we live in a world that rewards and exhaults exhaustion. Whether it is with family, friends or an employer, the more we give, the more we get from them. This goes for our time, energy and even emotions. Productivity culture has convinced us that our worth and value are measured by what we can do or produce.
As discussed earlier, for women, the expectation is doubled. Many women are holding down demanding jobs while managing households, caring for children or ageing parents, and supporting friends. At the same time, there is the performance of invisible labour, such as remembering birthdays and keeping our relationships steady. All in all, it is a heavy and unrealistic burden of work, yet it is the reality for many women.
At the same time, rest has been made inaccessible with its commodification. Acts such as ‘self-care’ have been co-opted to mean expensive skin care routines, specialised yoga with the right outfits and mastery and expensive vacations. Rest, as an unstructured art that is unhurried and deeply personal, is almost erased.
We have been conditioned to see rest as something that must be earned. This explains the emotional guilt of feeling unproductive and discomfort with stillness. These feelings are not personal failings but reflections of systemic conditioning. This conditioning is why resting because we want to and not because of burnout is an act of rebellion. It feels very foreign and dangerous. Sort of like throwing caution to the wind and choosing ourselves. The radical strength of rest comes into play and pushes us to tap into that which seems out of reach.
The Feminist Roots of Radical Rest
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Audre Lorde’s words carry weight even today. Rest is not a new concept to feminist thought. It can be considered one of the foundational elements of feminism. When we choose rest, we defy the patriarchal obligation to serve others or the expectation that our value is in what we produce. Choosing rest is also refusing the capitalist notion that we should always be available to produce in the cycling production of labour. By prioritizing rest, we reclaim one of our most fundamental resources: our time.
The Nap Ministry's founder, Tricia Hersey, refers to rest as "a form of resistance." Rest is not passive to her and many others. It's a deliberate act of rebellion against a system that feeds off our exhaustion. At the same time, rest is generative, contrary to popular belief that it is passive. It allows us to connect with ourselves and others in deep and meaningful ways. This kind of connecting cannot be achieved when we are rushing from one task to another. Rest, through reconnecting with ourselves, opens up a world of creativity and clarity and joy. Through this, rest as a form of resistance is more than a means of dismantling harmful systems. It is a path to building our inner world and, consequently, the world we live in.
Practising the Art: Rest as Ritual
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As an art form, rest does not require expensive retreats and routines. Instead, it requires intention and practice. It is possible to refine rest and make it your own. Understanding rest as an art allows us to gain its benefits the most. It brings us to an understanding that rest is not about perfection but about the small moments. Different types of rest can be leveraged and practised.
Ritual rest
This kind of rest is about letting your mind register that it is a time for rest. It may seem like a simple practice, such as mindful breathing or lighting a candle before a nap.
Creative rest
Creative rest focuses on creativity for pleasure, rather than productivity. It can be reading for pleasure, journaling slowly, wandering without an agenda, or even doodling.
Nature rest
Rest through nature is about connecting with nature and being one with our environment. Some examples of this can be walking barefoot on grass or watching the sky shift colours.
Boundary rest
Perhaps the most challenging of them all, boundary rest is about establishing clear boundaries for your time and energy. It may look like turning off devices or protecting “white space” in the calendar.
From Personal to Collective Liberation
In the larger scheme of things, practising rest impacts others. It models healthier rhythms for relationships with friends, children and colleagues. The beauty of rest is that it shows others the wisdom in slowing down. It passes the message that rest is not a weakness but a necessity for thriving.
Within the context of activism, rest supports sustainability as activism works when people are not depleted and burning out. Resting allows the weight of activism to be shared and unburdens people as they fight for justice. It is, in a sense, a tool of activism too. In this way, rest becomes a radical tool to change culture. Every time we choose rest and stillness, we defy the myth that hustle is the most esteemed virtue. We make space for more humane, more liberated ways of living.
Conclusion
Practising rest is a personal and evolving journey. It is a journey of unlearning a culture of exploitation and overburdening until the point of burnout. Embracing rest gives more meaning and value to humanity, where one's value is not determined by their productivity. Choosing rest is choosing oneself, and that is radical and revolutionary on its own.
