Rest Is Not a Reward: Why Your Body Needs It for Healing and Resilience
Rest Is Not a Reward — It’s a Biological Necessity
In a culture that glorifies “pushing through,” rest often gets treated like a luxury or even a weakness. But especially when you’re navigating grief, fertility treatment, pregnancy after loss, or invisible emotional loads, rest isn’t indulgence. It’s repair.
As someone with both a PhD in reproductive biology and lived experience of pregnancy loss, I’ve seen first-hand how deeply the “push through it” mentality runs, particularly in high-achieving environments. Yet, when it comes to healing and wellbeing, rest really isn’t optional. It’s essential.
What the Science Says About Rest and Stress
Research suggests that chronic stress impacts both body and mind.
-Chronic stress and cortisol dysregulate ovulation, sleep, and immune function making it harder to conceive, to recover, and to stay healthy.
- High cortisol impairs emotional processing and cellular repair
- Without true rest, the body doesn’t recover. What does that mean? Well over time, if we don’t allow our bodies to recover, it can often lead to burnout, health issues, and deep emotional exhaustion.
In other words: exhaustion, lack of focus, and fragility are not failures. Our bodies are asking us to listen and take note that it needs repair.
Rest and the Nervous System: The Missing Link
From a nervous system perspective, rest isn’t just about sleep. It’s about shifting from survival states (fight, flight, freeze) into safety and repair. This is where practices like breathwork and nervous system regulation come in.
When you allow yourself to rest, you activate the ventral vagal state, which supports:
Emotional regulation
Hormonal balance
Cellular healing
A sense of grounded safety
Rest as Healing, Not Indulgence
“You don’t heal by pushing through. You heal by listening.”
Giving yourself permission to rest is an act of self-compassion, especially if you’ve been conditioned to equate worth with productivity. Rest is not passive, it’s active repair.
If you’re navigating fertility struggles, grief after pregnancy loss, or burnout, rest can be the most powerful medicine you allow yourself.
Gentle Resources to Support Your Rest
To help you begin, I’ve created two free audio resources:
A grounding meditation + breathwork cheat sheet to calm your nervous system
A grief and nervous system bundle for returning to your body with gentleness
If you’re supporting teams through loss, burnout, or fertility journeys, these resources can also be a grounding first step.
If you are exhausted, struggling to concentrate, or feeling emotionally fragile, just know it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. It might be simply that your body is asking you to listen to it….and REST. Will you answer the call?