The Medicine of Rest: Why Pausing Is the Truest Luxury
When we hear luxury, the first images are often designer bags, spa days, or expensive vacations. I used to think the same way. But through my own healing, I’ve learned that true luxury isn’t always something you purchase — sometimes, it’s the curated experiences we have, or simply giving yourself permission to stop.
🛡 Rest Is a Medical Necessity
In a world that glorifies busyness, people are praised for running themselves into the ground, rarely for slowing down. But here’s the truth: rest is not indulgence — it’s medicine.
With MCAS, a sensitive body, and an ADHD rhythm, I’m built differently. My nervous system burns bright and fast — I can be hyper, strong, and active in one moment, then crash hard when my reserves run out. I enjoy going to the mall tremendously because of the sights, the people, the experience of walking with my son hand in hand, and the new things I see each time I go there. However, even simple things like a 5-minute drive and taking my son to piano lessons can deplete me, because my system is always working overtime to process stimulation.
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| Oxytocin in action 💚 Holding hands may seem simple, but it’s actually powerful medicine. Touch releases oxytocin — the bonding hormone — which lowers stress, calms the nervous system, and even supports healing. For me, every small hand squeeze from my son is both comfort and cure. |
That’s why rest isn’t optional for me. It’s how my body resets, clears inflammation, and steadies my energy. To ignore that would only trigger bigger crashes. Listening to my body instead became the most luxurious prescription I could follow.
🌙 Rest Isn’t the Absence of Living
People often think rest means lying in bed, doing nothing. For me, it’s more complex. With my sensitive nervous system, rest is any choice that helps me come back to balance.
Sometimes that’s sleep — long naps that allow my body to reset after overstimulation. Other times, it’s very light, sensory-soft activities that calm me down without draining me: listening to music, journaling, or letting a gentle show play in the background while I sip cold water. Sometimes, it's doing chores or cooking for long hours in the kitchen! (I'll explain more about that in a future post.)
Rest is also about not fighting my body. If she says “pause,” I pause. If she says “stretch,” I stretch. If she says “cuddle with my son and watch a "crappy creature movie" (our term for B-movies 😆),” that too is rest.
Sometimes it's eating healthy:
Sometimes it's giving in to the cravings:
The point is: rest is dynamic. It’s not nothingness, it’s recalibration. It’s choosing what helps my system quiet down and rebuild. Science agrees: rest resets cortisol levels, regulates hormones, and strengthens immunity. It’s active work in the body, even if from the outside it looks like stillness.
Rest is dynamic, not passive. It’s the conscious choice to recharge in ways that heal.
💎 My Luxury
Luxury doesn’t need to mean high-end vacations or bags with gold labels.
My luxury is honoring my limits.
My luxury is resting without guilt.
My luxury is healing in stillness.
So I’ll leave you with this, Glow Girl: ✨
How will you prescribe yourself rest today — and treat it as the ultimate luxury?
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