Rest as Resistance

Rest as Resistance. Now that's not something you hear these days, amidst the incessant noise of the political chaos and confusion. For many people, resistance takes form as protest--literally putting their bodies onto our streets (usually with some very thought-provoking signage), calling their Congressional leaders, sending postcards, emails, and letters. Yet, what is most vital to those of us who are suffering from a history of developmental or relational trauma ruptures, is to practice radical self-care. This includes rest. Rest is Resistance and that is radical. Why? 

Because if you are someone who has yet to move through your transformational healing and recovery from trauma, grief, or any major life challenge, then it is imperative to rest to emotionally regulate yourself. To recall yourself. To reconnect with yourself. To reflect within yourself. We cannot give what we do not have. So rest is essential to practicing intentionality with our daily schedule and tasks. 

And, intentionality is necessary when attempting to resist systemic and structural powers that work against our public and private good. We must slow down, breathe, rest, and recollect ourselves, so as to strategically and smartly engage (eventually) in collective resistance. All the doing in the world is utterly worthless without our knowing how to fully embody our beingness!

Rest is the ground upon which we can build our internal resources for managing our anxieties (including unhealed child parts) and interpersonal skills (including learning how to engage in civil disobedience), so as to more effectively navigate the intensity and activating triggers within the political environment in which we find ourselves today. Rest allows us to offer ourselves in more compassionate, caring, and tangible ways out in the public sphere. 

Rest renews. 

Rest restores. 

Rest revitalizes. 

Rest empowers us!