I keep hearing it. On the mat, on the cushion, on the podcast. Yes, to take time for yourself to get away from the noise to do nothing but replenish yourself is to repudiate hustle culture to turn a deaf ear to engines of commerce to tell empire it can no longer occupy your every moment. Yet rest can also be resistance to what your eyes see to opening your heart to the pain around you to taking the action you know is needed. I need rest to be resourced to resist. So even my rest has work to do. Which work is it doing?
“Rest is resistance” comes from Tricia Hersey. Her book of that title and her work with The Nap Ministry are about something specific: Black rest as refusal of a grind culture with roots in slavery. Reparative, not just restorative. I’m not arguing with that. I’m interested in what wellness culture (and I) have made of it.
If this resonates, I’d love to hear from you. A comment, a share, or even just a like goes a long way. Writing into the silence is its own practice, but knowing the work lands makes it easier to keep showing up.