Why Don't You Rest (is it one of these 12 reasons)?

A Life in Progress: Rebranding Middle Age

In a culture that idolizes productivity, it can feel countercultural to make rest an essential part of our life and goals. But when we prioritize rest, we cultivate creativity, increase productivity, and we live more joyfully.

In REST: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang writes "Discoveries in sleep research, psychology, neuroscience, organizational behavior, sports medicine, sociology, and other fields have given us a wealth of insight into the unsung but critical role that rest plays in strengthening the brain, enhancing learning, enabling inspiration, and making innovation sustainable."

I would also argue that we have a right to rest simply because it’s a human need and we matter, not only as a means to any end goal. Yoga Nidra teacher and author of Daring of Rest, Karen Brody writes “We take rest like a pill for productivity. Let us rest without an agenda.” This can feel difficult because of the cultural conditioning and story that our worth is tied to our level of productivity.

SHOW NOTES: WHY DON'T YOU REST?

In part one of this conversation I talk about the Why and What of rest using my handcrafting a life vision worksheet (below) as a guide. Do you see yourself in one of these 12 reasons that (collective) we don't rest?

1. Guilt, shame, judgment - ex. "It's lazy to rest / I'm lazy"
2. Conditioning that tells us our value is tied to (constant) productivity or being immersed in 'more-and-faster-is-better' or hustle-culture
3. Comparison - ex. "other people have it worse / can't rest so I shouldn't"
4. You're in an extremely hard season, hard circumstances, and you're doing your best to survive or pay the bills
5. Trauma - it doesn't feel safe to rest... (head to episode page for the full list!)

LINKS/RESOURCES

• Find Krista on FB: A Life in Progress and also Rebranding Middle Age. Find her on IG.
• Join the Monday Morning Hope Map: Sign Up For The Monday Morning Hope Map | A Life In Progress.
• Learn more about my Life Visioning Process.
• Learn how to work 1:1 with Krista - learn more here.
• Permission To Rest, Recalibrate and get resourced | A Life In Progress
• Get on my email list to get free access to the new Joy Workshop coming early March. You can buy part one here. Registration for the new workshop runs Feb 19-March 1.
• Support the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/alifeinprogress