To rest.

by Deva Shantay

To rest. To be still. To not do, but to be. Why is rest not welcomed? Why is it something we often force upon ourselves?

For me, leaning into rest, is to lean into discomfort. Feelings of not being enough, not doing enough, flood my mind.

An 11-hour flight showed me just how much I needed rest. It was a welcomed pause. A time for nothing but stillness. Now, with the flight completed, I feel the urge to move—to do, but maybe I can respond with the qualities I’ve learned from rest, rather than from depletion.

What is rest? To me, it’s a deep breath, stillness in the body, and fullness in the mind. Solitude in thought and spaciousness in being. I feel peaceful, whole—healing moved through me. I’ve often pushed too hard, thriving off depletion, running on empty.

But what if I could run on full? What would that bring? This is my question and my goal.