There used to be a time when a “slow day” felt like failure.

If I wasn’t busy, I wasn’t productive.
If I wasn’t productive, I wasn’t valuable.

But that belief?
It nearly broke me.

Somewhere between work deadlines, motherhood, personal development books, and constantly trying to “get it right,” I lost the part of me that knew how to be still.

But I’ve found her again, on the quiet days.
The slow ones.
The days I once called “lazy,” now I call balanced. Purposeful. Empowering.

What Slow Days Do for the Brain

Slowness isn’t wasted time, it’s creative space.

When we slow down, we give our brains a chance to breathe.

Studies show that the default mode network (DMN)…a part of the brain activated during rest, is critical for creative thinking, introspection, and connecting ideas.

According to a study in Perspectives on Psychological Science, moments of rest and daydreaming can spark insights and solutions that busywork often blocks. (Immordino-Yang et al., 2012)

In my own experience, some of my most soul-aligned ideas…about parenting, business, and self…didn’t show up when I was doing.

They arrived when I was walking barefoot outside, sipping tea in silence, or lying on the floor with no agenda.

Creativity is less like a switch and more like a whisper.
You have to slow down long enough to hear it.
You have to be present enough to feel it, to harness it.

Slow Days Are Nervous System Medicine

We are not designed to be “on” all the time.

Our nervous system craves regulation.
And slowness…intentional, rhythmic, nourishing slowness is a form of medicine for the overworked mind and overstimulated body.

Whether it’s lighting a candle in the morning before the world wakes up,
breathing deeply in the middle of a chaotic day,
or unplugging in the afternoon for a 10-minute pause…these are not luxuries.
They are rituals that return us to ourselves.

As a woman in her 30s, trying to hold it all…career, kids, creativity, identity….
I’ve learned that slow moments aren’t distractions from my life. They are my life.

And they help me show up softer, stronger, and more grounded.

Burnout Doesn’t Always Look Like Collapse

Sometimes burnout looks like scrolling for hours. Snapping at your kids.
Saying “yes” with a smile when your soul is screaming “no.”
Crying in the car because no one sees how much you’re carrying.

Burnout is real. Not just from work, but from emotional labor, mental overload, and spiritual misalignment.

According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. But we know it goes beyond jobs…it seeps into our relationships and self-worth.

And the antidote isn’t another task or checklist.
It’s rest.
It’s rituals.
It’s remembering that you were never meant to earn rest.

You were meant to live from a place of wholeness.

What I Practice Now on Slow Days

I’m still unlearning the belief that slowness equals laziness. It’s a process for me, unraveling decades of conditioning and instilling my own misguided beliefs.

But here’s what I practice:

I only work 3 days per week (anyone can do this with planning, and a lifestyle change)
2 days are dedicated for me to play. Write. Explore Local Shops. Meditate.
These are “me” days where I get to do whatever it is on my heart that day. Absolutely anything creative, fun, inspiring, and experiential.
I leave my phone after 5 pm. Most days, I’m great at this. I’ve had to learn that the screens were just as harmful, addicting, and endless for me as they are for my kids. We wear yellow glasses to help filter some of the energizing blue light, and after 5pm my focus is on the family.
I allow days of self-wallowing. As a woman, my hormones play a massive role in how I show up each day. Some days, I just want to be lazy, undressed, and makeup-less. And I allow it. It feels so good to let every piece of the “must do” task list each day to be let go of. This also makes dressing up on my work days or “on” days more fun and enjoyable.

And these aren’t productivity hacks.
They’re lifelines.

An Invitation

If you’ve been waiting for permission to slow down, let this be it.
You’re allowed to rest before you’re depleted.
You’re allowed to listen to your breath instead of your inbox.
You’re allowed to create sacred space…not just for self-care, but for soul-care.

And when we’re rested,
…we’re kinder.
More open.
More creative.
More connected.

To ourselves.
To others.
To life.

Resource to Explore:

Immordino-Yang, M. H., Christodoulou, J. A., & Singh, V. (2012). Rest Is Not Idleness: Implications of the Brain's Default Mode for Human Development and Education. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(4), 352–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612455994