The Sacred Art of Rest Part 1: Individual to Collective Liberation

The Rise of Rest: From Individual to Collective Liberation

In a world that chronically undervalues Black women's labour while demanding boundaryless access, cultural entitlement to our every movement, and the endless demand for our productivity, rest isn't merely a luxury—it's a revolutionary act of cultural preservation, self-preservation and community care.

As bell hooks remind us, "Community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world."

I've often blamed my "sensitive" nature for not rushing to join women's groups or assuming that my proximity to a women's group meant that I was in a practice of sisterhood

Over the years, I've learned that women don't wake up and plot to betray another; many cultural narratives and rewards fuel intrapersonal and interpersonal layers of self-betrayal, often masked as self-preservation and self-care.

The lack of cultural narratives that expand beyond the white gaze reminded me that culture also drives rest and that rest isn't one-dimensional. When I was in the safety of my home, my body still clenched, I realized how the cultural narratives I carried with me impacted me wherever I went.

Much of the colonial narrative of rest and communal practice lacked the cultural interrogations of which cultural knowledge system and what practices and traditions constitute rest. I've been in communities where I thought I could discuss these narratives, but didn't provide cultural safety, leaving me feeling entirely erased and psychologically unsafe on so many levels.

So, where do I go to talk about how systemic distrust subtly shows up via self-betrayal? Where can I practice those conversations that matter?

Today's wellness trends may have recently discovered the power of rest. Still, Black women's ancestors have long understood its sacred dimensions: rest as resistance, rest as communion, and rest as a portal to our most profound creativity.

I found embodied rest in the practice of sisterhood. Here's what I learned: hosting, facilitating, and curating multiple series of conversations, learnings, and ancestral intelligence through Sistertalk Group over the past fifteen years.

The Rise of Rest: From Individual to Collective Liberation

"When we women learn to love & accept ourselves, then we will know how to love & support each other."

— Karlyn Percil, 2016 Sistertalk Mentor EBook - The Friendship Edition

We are witnessing a powerful resurgence of cultural narratives around rest. Tricia Hersey's revolutionary Nap Ministry has reframed rest as "a spiritual practice, a spiritual portal, a liberatory practice" that directly confronts capitalism and white supremacy. As Hersey powerfully states, "Rest is resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy." From her Nap Ministry to the proliferation of self-care apps and women's retreats, rest is increasingly recognized as essential rather than indulgent.

This rest revolution extends beyond Hersey's work. Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith has pioneered the concept of seven types of rest beyond physical sleep, arguing that our rest deficit requires a multidimensional approach. Dr. Dalton-Smith reminds us seven types of rest that humans need:

Physical rest (both passive and active), Mental rest, Emotional rest. Social rest. Sensory rest, Creative rest and Spiritual rest. While I have found these forms of rest in many different settings, especially when I am in nature, experiencing these types of rest within the practice of sisterhood is life-changing.

Researcher Dr. Emily Nagoski has documented how "completing the stress cycle" through collective rest practices creates neurobiological safety that individual relaxation cannot achieve.

But what if we women also prioritized receiving as a form of trust within the practice of sisterhood? Receiving within the community offers a dimension of restoration that solitary rest cannot provide.

When we expand our understanding of rest to include the sacred exchange of knowledge from our navigational, linguistic, and aspirational capital, we position cultural wisdom and knowledge as prioritized framing for decision-making and purpose making. This 'receiving' is not just about accepting help or support, but about actively seeking and valuing the contributions of others, thereby creating a more powerful and restorative form of sisterhood.

When we allow the integration of aligned practices as important parts of receiving, we create multi-layered pathways to psychological capital that support, reward and fuel our collective imagination, creativity and cultural liberation rather than merely individual rejuvenation.

We create reservoirs of cultural moments of belonging that connects on multiple levels, far beyond the borders of ethnicity.

Your Permission Slip

If you're reading this and recognizing yourself in these words, consider this your permission slip. Permission to rest without guilt. Permission to value your being as much as your doing. Permission to trust that your brilliance doesn't diminish when you pause—it deepens.

The world needs your full brilliance, yes—but it needs it flowing from a well that's been allowed to refill, from a woman who has remembered that her worth was never up for negotiation in the first place.

Do you want to experience this permission in community?

Our Pleasure of Presence Retreat is designed for women ready to reclaim rest as a sacred practice. Together, we'll explore what it means to honor your full brilliance—including your need for stillness, your right to presence, and your inherent worth beyond achievement.

Because your brilliance deserves to be sustainable, and your rest deserves to be sacred.