The Healing Power of Rest: Why Relaxation is Productive
The Healing Power of Rest: Why Relaxation is Productive
In a world that glorifies constant motion, relentless productivity, and busyness as a badge of honor, resting can feel almost rebellious. And yet, rest is not laziness — it is radical, revolutionary, and profoundly restorative. As Jim Carrey wisely said, “If you’re depressed, you need DEEP REST, not just a few hours of sleep. Your body and mind need to come home to themselves.” Rest is not indulgence; it is medicine.
Rest as a Radical Act
Organizations like the Nap Ministry remind us that rest is a radical act of self-preservation and resistance. In a culture that prizes output over well-being, simply giving yourself permission to pause, to breathe, to close your eyes and listen to the body is transformative. Rest allows your nervous system to regulate, your hormones to balance, and your mind to reset. It is an act of rebellion against a world that wants you depleted.
Yoga Nidrā: The Science and Soul of Deep Relaxation
One of the most powerful tools for restorative rest is Yoga Nidrā, often called “yogic sleep.” This practice is an authentic tantric method that goes far beyond simple relaxation. Through guided awareness, body scanning, breath work, visualization, and the setting of a personal intention (sankalpa), Yoga Nidrā dissolves tension at the physical, emotional, and energetic levels.
It is a liminal state, you are neither fully asleep nor fully awake. The space between. Your parasympathetic nervous system is fully engaged, releasing cortisol and stress hormones, regulating the endocrine system, and allowing deep cellular regeneration. Research shows Yoga Nidrā can reduce anxiety and depression, improve sleep quality, enhance focus, and even support immune function.
Restorative Rest as Practice
Rest is not just a pause from doing — it is a return to being. In restorative practices like Yoga Nidrā, supported postures, or even lying quietly on the earth, we reconnect to our natural state. A state of sukha (ease), spaciousness, and deep ānanda (bliss). Over time, these moments of deep rest can lead to profound shifts in consciousness. The body learns that stillness is safe, the mind softens its grip on worry, and the subtle layers of tension and trauma begin to dissolve.
Yoga Nidrā is a tantrik practice, working with prāṇa-śakti, the life-force energy, awakening awareness within the subtle body. It also cultivates pratyāhāra, the withdrawal of senses, allowing consciousness to settle into its natural, unbounded state. With repeated practice, you begin to rest not only physically but existentially, inhabiting your most natural, awakened state; the spacious, present, and whole essence of being. This is where fundamental transformation occurs: a deepening of self-trust, a sense of inherent safety, and alignment with the intelligence of the body and consciousness. This is avaiable to everyone (even your beloved dog or pet)!
Engaging the Pañcamaya Kośas: Five Bodies of Being
Yoga Nidrā and restorative rest touch all five layers of our existence — the pañcamaya koshas:
Annamaya Kosha (Physical Body) – Through supported postures and relaxation, the body releases tension, rejuvenates tissues, and restores energy.
Prāṇamaya Kosha (Energy Body) – Breath awareness and subtle energy guidance move prāṇa throughout the nadis, harmonizing the energetic body.
Manomaya Kosha (Mental/Emotional Body) – The practice gently observes thoughts and emotions, fostering emotional regulation, calm, and clarity.
Vijñānamaya Kosha (Wisdom/Intellect Body) – Guided visualization and sankalpa practice deepen intuition, inner insight, and alignment with higher awareness.
Ānandamaya Kosha (Bliss Body) – Rest in deep relaxation opens access to ānanda, the blissful state of pure being beyond thought, where presence itself is restorative and transformative.
By nurturing all five bodies, restorative rest and Yoga Nidrā create profound integration, aligning body, mind, energy, and consciousness, allowing the practitioner to inhabit their fullest, most natural state of awakened being.
Embodied Practices for Rest
Rest need not be ceremonial or complex. Even small gestures; a midday pause, a cup of tea savored in silence, barefoot time in nature, help signal to your nervous system that you are safe. Supporting these micro-rituals with Yoga Nidrā, even for 20–30 minutes a day, allows cumulative, lasting effects: reduced stress, balanced hormones, emotional clarity, and the feeling of returning home to yourself. Each pause becomes a ritual cultivating clarity, harmony, and luminous awareness.
The Invitation
Perhaps let rest be your radical act today. Lie down, breathe, close your eyes, and explore Yoga Nidrā. Allow yourself to sink into the natural, awakened state that is your essence nature. In a culture that constantly demands, rest is revolutionary, and in it, you discover the deepest alignment with yourself, the intelligence of your body, and the expansive clarity of your awakened being. Rest is not absence. It is presence, śānti (peace), and ānanda(bliss), the living medicine of your soul. Follow for deeper dives into Yoga Nidrā, cultivating luminous awareness and healing.
*Side note: In an adorable way the font I’m using on the blog doesn’t have proper Sanskrit dialectics so some of the letters appear tiny. I enjoy the spanda of this and will leave it as is. Another thing to note is I’m speaking about the Vedantic form of Yoga Nidra, there are other authetic ways to practice including the Non Dual version which uses layers of the Self as the five Koshas. I’ve spelt Kosha in two different ways on this page to provide ease for search results for those seeking.
