Anthia Koullouros

The world moves at a million miles an hour, but your soul? It operates on a completely different timeline.

When you're going through a massive internal shift, your body still needs the basics. Eat real food, get some sun on your skin, walk on the grass, and look after your nervous system. Transformation takes serious physical energy.

Beneath the collapse, there is always a quiet truth waiting for you. Truth about what your body can no longer tolerate, and what your heart is actually crying out for. Listen closely.

Watch or listen to this weeks episode of This is How We Heal Podcast on YouTube, my Website, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:
https://youtu.be/VHYczqxP7bA

In a world where we’re always switched on and tuned in, rest has become a lost art, often neglected and underestimated. Yet, the practice of true rest is more essential now than ever before.

In this episode, we delve into the importance of rest, including
The unseen cultural forces that have reframed rest into something undesirable
The varied types of rest your body and mind genuinely need
Practical steps to reclaim rest as a radical and restorative act

The Misunderstanding of Rest

Rest is often misconstrued as laziness, a notion deeply ingrained in our culture of constant busyness.

Many of us feel compelled to declare ourselves "busy" when asked how we are, equating nonstop activity with success. But rest is not the absence of doing. It's a biological necessity and an act of healing.

Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith, a prominent physician and researcher, beautifully outlines seven distinct forms of rest: physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, and spiritual.

These categories go beyond mere sleep, illustrating how diverse and textured rest truly is. Most of us unconsciously focus on only a couple of these areas, often neglecting others and, consequently, our holistic well-being.

Biology Meets Rest

Physiologically, rest triggers the parasympathetic state where vital repair processes occur.

During rest, inflammatory markers decrease, cortisol drops, and cellular repair takes place, particularly during deep sleep. This biological renewal cannot happen alongside chronic stress, which keeps the body in a survival mode, suppressing restorative functions.

Our bodies, quite simply, cannot heal in a perpetual state of alertness. By consciously choosing rest - unapologetically and deliberately - we disrupt the cultural narrative that equates worth with productivity.

Cultivating Restful Practices

Rest is not an optimisation goal but a practice. It is a state of being that you must learn to trust and cultivate.

Start by observing your resistance to rest. Does anxiety, guilt, or a to-do list suddenly flood your mind when you try to slow down? These reactions are evidence of how deeply the productivity culture has infiltrated your nervous system.

Small, intentional acts can usher in the presence of rest:
Spend five minutes basking in sunlight without distraction.
Revere sleep as a sacred, rather than perfect, pursuit.
Give yourself permission to rest without justification or the need to "earn" it.

Redefining the Culture of Rest

Reimagining our relationship with rest is an act of self-respect. Rest needs to be rooted in daily practice, be it through mindful presence, engaging in creative activities, or simply allowing oneself to be without any external expectations.

I hope this conversation sparks something meaningful in your healing journey. Please feel free to reach out to me at apothecarybyanthea.com or on social media

Highlights

01:15 Why Rest Feels Hard
02:46 Seven Types of Rest
05:38 Rest and Body Repair
07:22 Stress, Cortisol, and Healing
08:27 Rest as Resistance
09:34 How to Practice Rest
11:08 Closing and Where to Connect

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith https://www.drdaltonsmith.com/

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Modern culture is great at celebrating beginnings: weddings, promotions, graduations, babies. But we arent great at honouring endings.

We have no rituals for identity collapse, midlife reckonings, or total spiritual confusion. Because there’s no cultural handbook for it, we end up feeling completely isolated, whispering, "I don’t even recognise my life anymore."

If you feel lost and nothing seems meaningful right now, you aren't broken. You’re just in the messy middle of becoming something new. Sit tight. You aren't alone in the dark.

Watch or listen to this weeks episode of This is How We Heal Podcast on YouTube, my Website, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:
https://youtu.be/VHYczqxP7bA

When we hit a massive existential crisis, our first instinct is to panic. We think something is deeply wrong with us, so we try to rush it, numb it, or medicate it just to get back to "normal."

But what if nothing is wrong? What if something new is actually trying to be born?
Some chapters in life aren’t an invitation to fix your old self. They’re a blunt demand to become someone else entirely. Stop trying to force yourself back into a mould that no longer fits you.

Watch or listen to this weeks episode of This is How We Heal Podcast on YouTube, my Website, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:
https://apothecabyanthia.com/blogs/podcasts/ep-18-the-dark-night-of-the-soul

You cannot hustle your way through a spiritual overhaul. You can’t tick "soul transformation" off your to-do list by 5 PM.

This kind of shift demands surrender, and that doesn't mean giving up. It means letting go of the outdated versions of you that you’ve outgrown. For decades, you might have built your worth around being the strong one, the helper, the achiever, or the people-pleaser. When those roles start to crumble, it feels like you're dying.

And in a way, psychologically, you are. Let the old version go so the new one can take a breath.

Watch or listen to this weeks episode of This is How We Heal Podcast on YouTube, my Website, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:
https://youtu.be/VHYczqxP7bA