Letters from a Therapist - Reflection Four

What I’ve Learned About Rest and Slowing Down

We live in a world that glorifies doing.

More. Faster. Sooner. Again, but over the years, both in my own life and in the quiet, sacred moments with clients, I’ve come to realise something deeply true: Healing doesn’t rush and neither should you.

Rest Isn’t Laziness. It’s Wisdom.

So many of us have been taught to associate rest with guilt.

As if stopping means we’re weak. As if slowing down means we’re falling behind.

But what if rest is not a pause from healing, what if it’s part of it?

Some of the bravest work I’ve witnessed in therapy happens when a client says:

• “I’ve stopped pushing myself past breaking.”

• “I gave myself permission to rest without earning it.”

• “I’m learning to listen to my body.”

Slowing down is not giving up. It’s tuning in.

What My Clients Have Taught Me

I’ve sat with people who are tired in a way that sleep alone can’t fix.

Burnout. Over-giving. Grief that never got a chance to breathe.

In those sessions, we don’t talk about how to “be more productive.”

We talk about what it means to be gentle with ourselves.

Here’s what I’ve learned from those conversations:

• Sometimes rest is taking a nap.

• Sometimes it’s saying no without explaining.

• Sometimes it’s being still long enough to hear what your heart has been whispering.

• Sometimes it’s doing nothing and trusting that you’re still enough.

  
  

Rest is not the reward. It’s the medicine.

A New Way to Measure Progress

Healing doesn’t always look like forward motion.

Sometimes it looks like sitting with your feelings instead of running from them.

Sometimes it looks like cancelling plans.

Sometimes it looks like breathing and that counts.

You don’t have to prove your worth by burning yourself out.

You don’t have to hustle your way to healing.

You are allowed to rest.

A Final Whisper to Your Heart

If your body is tired, listen. If your spirit is heavy, soften.

If your heart says “slow down,” trust it. This season might not be about pushing ahead.

It might be about coming home to self. One quiet moment at a time.

You are not behind. You are exactly where you need to be.

With softness,

Paula | Your Heart Therapist