Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto

by Tricia Hersey

Rest must be practiced daily until it becomes our foundation. Resting can look like: Closing your eyes for ten minutes. A longer shower in silence. Meditating on the couch for twenty minutes. Daydreaming by staring out of a window. Sipping warm tea before bed in the dark. Slow dancing with yourself to slow music. Experiencing a Sound Bath or other sound healing. A Sun Salutation. A twenty-minute timed nap. Praying. Crafting a small altar for your home. A long, warm bath. Taking regular breaks from social media. Not immediately responding to texts and emails. Deep listening to a full music album. A meditative walk in nature. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, and quilting. Playing a musical instrument. Deep eye contact. Laughing intensely.

There has been no space for any of us to dream of anything outside of what we have been born into. To hear the simple and bold proclamation “You are doing too much. You can rest. You can just be. You can be” is revolutionary. To believe it and continue to dream up ways to feel and find rest, care, and healing is liberation.

Our entire culture is addicted to social media and technology. This is leading us down the path to exhaustion. If you are not very intentional about detoxing regularly from it, I believe deep and connected rest will be impossible.