PERMISSION TO PAUSE

This is your cue to slow down, sit a little longer and let yourself linger, to choose simplicity over stress and joy over urgency, writes Kellie Gillespie-Wright

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R est has been misbranded. We've come to treat it as a reward, something earned through exhaustion or squeezed in when we can find time. But from a biological point of view, rest isn't optional. It's a survival mechanism, hardwired into the way our bodies and brains stay balanced, focused, and well.

At the heart of this balance sits the autonomic nervous system, which quietly oversees essential processes like heart rate, digestion, hormone regulation and stress response. It operates on two branches: the sympathetic nervous system, which revs us into alertness and action ('fight or flight'), and the parasympathetic, which slows us down into recovery and repair, or 'rest and digest'.

We're designed to move fluidly between these states, and that rhythm – activation, rest, renewal – is how we stay resilient. But modern life has broken that flow. Constant stimulation, pressure to perform, and digital overwhelm keep us locked in sympathetic overdrive. We override fatigue. We treat anxiety as normal. We forget that rest is built in, not optional.

Over time, this imbalance quietly erodes us. Sleep quality slips, inflammation rises, memory falters, and immunity dips. 'We're not machines made for output,' says Geir Berthelsen, founder of the World Institute of Slowness. 'We're human beings made for rhythm. Nature rests. Even the heart rests between every beat. Why would we be the only system that believes we must run nonstop?'