There’s something ironic — and maybe a little uncomfortable — about writing an article on rest when I’m running on very little of it. It’s late. My eyes are tired. My thoughts are scattered. I’m not someone who typically burns the midnight oil, but this season has demanded more than usual. And so, I write — not from a perfectly rested, peaceful place, but from the honest middle of it. The same place many of us live in quietly: stretched thin, showing up, pushing through.

So, let me be clear. This isn’t a piece written from mastery. It’s written with compassion — for me, and for you. For all of us trying to live well in a world that never stops moving. Because the truth is, we’re not just tired — we’re running on empty. And what we’re missing, often, isn’t motivation or discipline or ambition. What we’re missing is rest.

A Culture Addicted to Doing

Somewhere along the way, we normalized the idea that to be worthy, we must be busy. Rest got rebranded as laziness. Productivity became the new virtue. The more you do, the more you’re applauded — until the applause quiets, and all you’re left with is exhaustion.

We glorify hustle. We stack our calendars, multitask through meals, and respond to emails at red lights. We sleep with our phones, wake up to noise, and never quiet land in stillness. We’re always in motion, always connected, always available — and yet, increasingly disconnected from ourselves.

But here’s what’s real: the cost of constant doing is showing up everywhere. Our bodies ache from tension we never release. Our minds are overstimulated and foggy. Our emotions become shallow because we haven’t given ourselves the time to process or feel. Our relationships strain because we’re not really present.  And our souls? They carry a kind of weariness that no amount of sleep can fully fix — a deeper exhaustion that points to something more fundamental.

That kind of fatigue, the kind that lingers even after a weekend off or a good night’s sleep, is often a sign of something deeper: burnout. And burnout isn’t just a result of doing too much — it’s a result of not resting enough. It’s not a badge of honour. It’s a red flag. And more often than not, at its root is the neglect of rest.

But What Is Rest, Really?

Rest is more than sleep. Rest is a rhythm. It’s the pause between notes in a song — the space that allows the melody to breathe. It is not passive. It is intentional recovery — a choice to slow down, to honor the body’s signals, and to create margin in a life that’s often bursting at the seams.

Science backs it up. Rest regulates cortisol (our stress hormone), supports immune function, sharpens focus, balances hormones, and boosts emotional resilience. Our bodies are wired for rest. We were designed to move in rhythms — just like nature.

From the beginning, creation had a rhythm. Light and dark. Work and rest. The sun rises and sets. The moon waxes and wanes. The seasons turn in order — planting, growing, harvesting, and resting.

Our bodies follow suit. The circadian rhythm — our internal 24-hour clock — governs everything from sleep to hormone release, appetite, and energy levels. When we override it with blue light (from the gadgets we endlessly stare into), endless stimulation of our bodies, minds, souls and spirits, and add on the stress, our systems begin to fray.

Ignoring our natural rhythm is not just unsustainable — it’s unnatural.

So, How Do We Start to Rest?

Rest isn’t always easy. Not because we don’t need it, but because we don’t know how to give ourselves permission. The world doesn’t slow down, so we have to choose to.

Personally, I’ve been learning this slowly. One of the most helpful decisions I’ve made is to set aside Sundays as a non-working day— not to catch up or get ahead, but to pause, breathe, and just be. It’s not always perfect, but it’s a start. I’ve also been practicing having quiet time every morning, even if it’s just 10–15 minutes before the day picks up pace. Sometimes it’s journaling, sometimes silence, sometimes prayer. But it’s a space to check in with myself before the world makes its demands.

There are days I say no to meetings — not because I don’t care, but because I do. About my peace, my energy, and the quality of my yeses. I’ve realized rest isn’t a luxury. It’s how I stay aligned.

We start resting by choosing margin — by building pause into our lives, not waiting until we crash to recover. We learn to rest by being okay with quiet. With stillness. With stepping back. One day, one practice at a time.

Rest and Recovery in Movement

Rest is often misunderstood — especially in the world of fitness and performance. Whether you’re lifting weights, training for a marathon, cycling, dancing, or practicing yoga, one thing remains true: your body doesn’t grow stronger during the workout — it grows in the recovery that follows.

In strength training, each lift causes tiny tears in your muscle fibers. In endurance sports, your joints, ligaments, and cardiovascular system are pushed to adapt under pressure. Even in lower-impact practices like yoga or Pilates, your nervous system and muscles are being stretched and activated in ways that require integration afterward. Without proper recovery, none of these benefits take full form.

Physiologically, skipping rest doesn’t speed up results — it disrupts them. Chronic overtraining elevates cortisol levels, compromises immune function, lowers sleep quality, increases the risk of injury and worse still, destroys the muscle we worked so hard to build. Over time, it wears down your motivation, dulls your mental clarity, and chips away at the joy that movement can bring.

That’s why smart training involves more than just intensity — it includes intentional rest. Not just full days off (which are necessary too), but active recovery: gentle walks, mobility work, stretching, deep breathing, and sleep that’s actually restorative.

Recovery isn’t a pause from progress — it’s where progress is made. It’s not weakness or laziness, but part of the body’s intelligent design. It’s the quiet, invisible process that allows strength, endurance, and clarity to surface. The more we learn to honour what our bodies are telling us, the more our training becomes not just effective, but nourishing, sustainable, and life-giving. So, the next time we train, let’s also ask ourselves: where is rest built into this rhythm? Because true strength isn’t just in how we push — it’s in how we recover.

Rest as Nourishment

At Lily’s Smoothy, we talk about nourishment all the time. And yes, it shows up in what we serve — in smoothies made with intention, in the clean eating education we share, in the holistic wellness support we offer. But nourishment also lives in the pace we choose, the moments we protect, and the permission we give ourselves to just slow down.

We believe wellness is a rhythm. It’s found in the balance between movement and stillness, noise and quiet, doing and being. Rest is the space where your body, mind, soul and spirit return to center. It’s not a reward for exhaustion — it’s how we avoid it.

So let this be your gentle reminder: you don’t have to earn rest. You were made to live in rhythm. And sometimes, the most productive thing you can do is pause. Because rest isn’t what happens when the work is done. It’s what makes the work matter.

It’s the missing piece. The sacred pause. The reset you didn’t know you needed — but deeply deserve.

Written by Lily M. Lemma

Nutrition and Wellness Coach, 

Founder of Lily’s Smoothy