Why Rest is Best: 5 Reasons Grind Culture Destroys Health & Life Goals
This is the case for convalescence as a lifestyle habit for natural wellness. Let’s begin by defining what is convalescence and why am I pushing for it as a grand cause.
con·va·les·cence | \ -ˈles-ᵊn(t)s \
Medical Definition of convalescence
1: gradual recovery of health and strength after disease.
Example: a patient well advanced in convalescence
2: the time between the subsidence of a disease and complete restoration to health.
Example: quiet and rest during convalescence
~Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The word, convalescence, first appeared in the British dictionary as far back as the mid-1600s. However, the practice of long recovery and rest for healing the body dates back several millennia.
Humans have always been exposed to maladies such as plagues, viruses, and many other infectious illnesses. Our bodies are designed to fight it all, as evidenced by us being the descendants of survivors who lived and birthed through very challenging times in human history.
With the advent of modern medicine, wealthy capitalists primarily invested in the expansion of allopathic medicine (i.e. medical doctors, hospitals) and pharmaceuticals (i.e. synthetics substances derived from nature and reclassified as drugs). Physicians began to witness expedited healing and recovery using substances such as antibiotics (i.e. penicillin) for infections and steroid drugs (i.e. prednisone and cortisone) for controlling inflammation.
Although these modernized tools could rapidly decrease the severity of symptoms within minutes and hours, the root causes of disease were often not fully addressed by these conventional medical interventions. The failure of drugs and surgery to fully heal patients is proven by the many cases of people suffering from long-term dengue fatigue, long-term chikungunya pains, and now long-term symptoms after having Covid-19 called Post-Covid or Long -Haulers syndrome.
Current hospital and clinic practices have strict policies that support releasing patients as soon as drugs and surgery have stabilized their condition. However, health-vulnerable people should not be deprived from necessary medical care and pushed back into their own homes and jobs without compassionate support.
Many long haulers and medically burntout people require weeks to months of rest and recovery support to normalize their energy levels, become pain-free, and restore adequate mental wellness. It’s important to recognize that within this population group, their bodies survived an epic inflammation storm with tissue and cellular damage caused by infectious and lifestyle illnesses. This type of injury requires time to fully heal and recover. Convalescence is emerging as a life-saving option to embrace for addressing the current healing crisis.
So how come we no longer have the culture of convalescence and providing wellness recovery homes like we once did in much of 19th century western Europe and America?
The shift into grind culture (aka American hustle) is not only a primary culprit but when interlaced with capitalism’s greed obsession, there was politically-driven erasure of convalescent homes and facilities by the mid-20th century. Additionally, systemic classism and racism force the working class and impoverished populations to suffer the most from lack of rest due to toxic social cultures and large wealth gaps. In America, workers are expected to work longer hours on either a stagnant salary or low hourly wages, with very little opportunity for true retirement and multi-generational wealth.
In the last century, rest has been for the wealthy and privileged. Specifically for Black people, rest has been systematically deprived for centuries. Now it’s time to reclaim our time back for health. Grind culture is toxic and abusive to our bodies, spirits and minds. We need to return to ancient practices of giving ourselves more time to rest, recover and heal.
~Dr. Ray
With that said, here are several ways rest will combat the horrible effects of grind-living to transform your health and life goals for the better:
Rest helps restore healthy cells and tissues.
Numerous research studies and anecdotal reports suggest daily restful behaviors, combined with sleep, help repair ongoing cellular and tissue damage. Pacing one’s recovery after an illness or traumatic event has been demonstrated to improve long-term patient outcomes and resiliency against disease.
Rest improves attention, focus, and memory.
A recent study noted the beneficial effects on memory and attention when participants had time to reflect and relax between mental exercises. In general, carving more time to rest with leisure, meditation, creative arts, therapy, and more, all help the nervous system to improve neural connections for healthy brain function.
Rest increases productivity.
One of the worst myths praised in grind culture is the belief working harder and longer increases productivity and profits. This is bullsh**t and not true. In fact, multiple Scandinavian and Silicon Valley companies have already piloted 3 and 4-day workweeks; and as a result, experienced a significant improvement in their employees' productivity and quality of work. The office morale was better too. The fact is our energy stores are not unlimited, and without proper rest, you will almost always end up in a form of burnout.
Rest promotes creativity.
It should come as no surprise that when you have less time to rest and recover, your creative juices tend to run low or nonexistent. Creativity requires time to reflect on and observe your life, as well as, everything around you for inspiration. We all need opportunity and freedom to experience and live without always laboring or grinding. Thus, some of the best creative works are usually created during times of restful solitude and/or quiet retreat.
Rest reconnects us to nature and our inner wisdom.
Our pre-modern ancestors spent most of their time in nature. Most of their daily lifestyle was outdoors and included working, farming, hunting, cooking, and communing together. This was a powerful wellness practice that gave them resiliency and fortitude during difficult times. They had moments to be present and connect within.
Today, we spend most of our time indoors and are distracted by everything else but our own feelings and deepest thoughts. Some of us even try to escape time alone, but that is a grave mistake. It is during the quiet moments of active rest and reflection that we evolve into our highest selves.
What’s the bottom line?
We as a collective need to embrace more down-time, convalescence leave, and sabbaticals in our global culture for wellness. The current conventions of modern healthcare and capitalism have stolen an important health-promoting practice our ancestors once revered. We need to release the notion that anything that is not instantaneous or new is inferior and ineffective. Many ancient traditions permeate much of our modern lifestyle today. It’s time you start giving yourself more permission and privilege to rest for true wellness and self-transformation. I rest my case.
Disclaimer: Dr. Ray's content/articles are for informational purposes only and do not offer medical advice.
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