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July 27, 2025 20 mins

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We explore the counterintuitive power of rest and the science behind why doing nothing might be exactly what you need for greater creativity, healing, and productivity. Rest is your superpower. Stillness isn't laziness—it's essential internal maintenance.

• The science of stillness: rest activates our default mode network linked to insight, self-reflection and problem-solving
• Neuroscience shows rest helps consolidate learning and strengthens neuroplasticity
• Our society has a cortisol addiction that makes stillness feel uncomfortable or unsafe
• Cultural conditioning ties our value to productivity, making rest feel like weakness
• Inspiration from Einstein, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Seinfeld—all created brilliance through periods of rest
• Rest isn't indulgent—it's revolutionary and aligned with natural rhythms
• Simple affirmations and practices to help you reclaim the power of doing nothing

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, welcome back to Transform your Life.
Just Count Me In.
I'm Sari, and today's episodemight sound a little
counterintuitive, especiallyunder this new Leo moon, a time
where, astrologically, we shouldbe playing.
It's known for boldness andexpression, but to be honest
with you, right now I don't feellike doing anything and I'm

(00:25):
realizing.
Maybe that's not only okay,maybe it's exactly what I need.
So if you've ever felt the tugto rest, but also the guilt that
tags along with it, thisepisode is for you.
If you've ever felt the pull ofambition and its created

(00:48):
exhaustion, I would say you'reprobably going to get something
out of this.
So let's take a look.
In this episode we're going toexplore the beauty, the
resistance you may have to itand the science of rest, why
it's essential and how itactually may be the portal to
your next level of creativityand healing.
So there is a science ofstillness.

(01:12):
When we rest, the brainactivates the default mode
network, the DMN, and that areain our brain is linked to
insight.
It's linked to self-reflection,emotional processing,
regulation of emotions andproblem solving.
Neuroscientists I know DrAndrew Huberman is famous for

(01:33):
this now explains that resthelps consolidate learning and
strengthens neuroplasticity andthat, in short, allows your
brain to integrate newinformation and make some new
connections.
I know as a teacher, we toldthe kids, you know, study right
before you go to bed and yourbrain is going to be resting for
a while, or study and then dowhat you'd go for a run do your

(01:57):
activity for a while, don'tthink about it, just move your
body, because it actually helpsto lock information in.
Rest also activates theparasympathetic nervous system,
the healing rest and digeststate, and this shift improves
heart health, immune function,hormonal regulation and

(02:20):
emotional balance.
Doing nothing isn't laziness,it's deep internal maintenance.
So let's be honest, doingnothing might sound good in
theory, but today, when I choseto just go and sit at the beach
and just be where I was and restwhen I really had quite a list

(02:42):
of things I wanted to get doneand would normally get done on a
Friday it was a little hard.
I felt initially good and thenI started to feel a little bit
restless.
So doing nothing is good intheory, but in practice many of
us get restless, anxious, someof us feel guilty.
So why is that?
Why is that?

(03:04):
First of all, there's a cortisoladdiction in our society which
you've probably been hearing alot about and in a world that
praises productivity, our brainsget hooked on the buzz of
cortisol.
We move fast, check off listsand live in a state of mild
fight or flight.
Over time this becomes familiarand when we stop, the body

(03:28):
experiences almost a kind ofwithdrawal.
We confuse it's boredom ordanger.
We aren't actually wired forstillness.

(03:50):
We have to practice it to getgood at it.
So our nervous systems mightnot actually trust stillness and
I can't think of a person whodidn't grow up around some type
of chaos, some type ofunpredictability or pressure to
achieve.
If you know anybody like that,send them to me because I would

(04:13):
like to interview them on thispodcast.
But if you grew up around anyof that or live through the
COVID period, your system maynot see rest as safe.
Instead, rest can kind oftrigger an unconscious fear
response, like if I'm not doing,I'm not enough or if I'm not
doing, what's going to happen.
And here's the truth.

(04:34):
Stillness is actually safetyand stillness can be relearned.
Rest isn't weakness, it's like asacred reset button.
We have a lot of cultural andcapitalist conditioning, and not

(04:55):
to disrespect either of those.
Just part of these don't work.
So work first and rest later isone of them.
So work first and rest later isone of them.
And then there's fear ofmissing out, which we've all had
.
Our value is so often tied tooutput, and so what do you ask
people?
What have you been doing right?
What have you been doing?

(05:15):
Not, how have you been?
Wouldn't it sound a littledifferent if you're like?
What have you been being?
We celebrate hustle and treatburnout just like it's a big
badge of honor.
There are people that actuallycompete in some other countries
about needing less sleep, and Imean some of them.

(05:36):
There's an epidemic.
Some of these men in Japan aredying on trains from sheer
exhaustion, and it's a sign ofthem taking care of things and
them working hard.
And it's almost a sign of wealmost give respect for people
who are stressed and burnt outand on their phones constantly.

(05:58):
And I don't go that way anymore.
It just wasn't working for methat way anymore.
It just wasn't working for me.
Rest isn't indulgent, it'sreclaiming our own rhythm.
Rest is return to yourself.
This new moon in Leo may beinviting you to shine inward and
come back to your heart'srhythm and get off your calendar

(06:20):
a little bit.
Leo rules the heart calendar alittle bit.
Leo rules the heart, but whenyou think about it, and what
does the heart do?
It beats and it rests.
Both are essential.
We even track our resting heartrate now, which I didn't even
know what that was when I wasgrowing up.
So maybe your playfulness inthis moon might not be about

(06:43):
performance, it might just beabout presence.
I coach a lot of young peopleand varying from third grade all
the way up through college andthen some of their parents.
There has not been one of themthat we haven't had at least one

(07:05):
session about this, about thefeeling of stopping or this mild
anxiety that they get when theyhave to stop and it's not
happening for them anymore.
They're really comfortable justsaying, not even making up a
story or making up an excuse, no, I need to just chill out today
.
I need some time to myselftoday or I'm not going to do

(07:28):
that today.
If they can have that choiceand they've proven time and time
again that the more we do this,the funny thing about this is
the day that I wrote thispodcast.
I went to the beach and didnothing and literally just was
totally present with where I was, didn't really interact with

(07:49):
anybody for two and a half hoursand just fed that part of me
that needed to just float, swimand lay in the sun after that.
Remarkably, all of a sudden Igot motivated to do all kinds of
things when I got home and I'mstill very motivated today.
So it can happen that when wereplenish ourselves and we give

(08:11):
into what we, what we'reactually feeling, it fills us up
and the other side of it is, wethen rediscover energy for new
things because we've conserved.
Rest is a sign of power, notweakness.
So I looked up some stories ofinspiration from rest and I know

(08:32):
that Doing Nothing Seinfeld hewrote his whole, the whole
scripts for his show were.
It was a show about nothing, andthat just cracks me up.
He does have a meditationpractice, by the way.
He does nothing.
A couple times a day hemeditates for like an hour and
but his show was about nothing.

(08:53):
Nothing in particular, and lookat how well it did.
Albert Einstein, known for hisbrilliant, often created his
insights doing nothing, takinglong walks, sailing, just
thinking.
Lin-manuel Miranda got the ideafor Hamilton while he was on

(09:17):
vacation, reading a biography,just for fun.
Without that break there wouldhave been no spark.
Wayne Dyer spent a lot of timeat his apartment where he wrote
in Maui.
He could look out over thebeach and he went for long walks

(09:38):
on the beach, got a lot of timeto himself and without those
breaks and without thatwithdrawal from stimulation,
there probably would not be asmany books as there are, because
he fed his soul when he didthat and then had more space to
express.
Arianna Huffington, after shecollapsed from exhaustion, built
Thrive Global, and thatredefined success and includes

(10:00):
well-being, wisdom and wonderThings that were not even in the
conversation when I was inschool.
So creativity is not alwaysfound in movement and, as a
person who likes to move arounda lot, I'm a pretty antsy person
and I danced for 14 years.

(10:21):
I love to exercise, I do yoga,but sometimes inspiration waits
for stillness.
It can wait for stillness ofyour body and it can be
stillness of your mind.
Questions you could askyourself are what comes up for
me emotionally when I thinkabout doing nothing.

(10:43):
What would it feel like todeeply rest without guilt?
Can I even imagine that?
Where in my life have Ireceived insight or clarity
after I paused life?
Have I received insight orclarity after I paused?

(11:03):
If I trusted that rest wasproductive, how would I spend
today?
What message might my body orspirit be trying to send me
right now?
And I know personally speaking.
When I was working with my coachabout 15 years ago, she noticed
a pattern that I had and it wasthat I would get sick when I

(11:28):
overdid and I really needed torest and really needed for
everything to just stop.
I really just wanted everythingto stop so that I could just
lay there.
Lay there and drink tea andjust be.
And she said you do this andit's your pattern.
I was pretty annoyed when shesaid it, but she said you

(11:49):
actually create the space tostop because you go, go, go and
then when you stop, you sleep.
You don't have that built-inplay or built-in rest time for
nothingness in there.
So you can look at that in yourown life and see whether you
have any of these patterns.
Do you feel safe to pause?
Here are some affirmations thatI came up with that you can try

(12:14):
this week.
I give myself permission torest, knowing it's sacred.
My clients actually wrotethemselves a permission slip.
I got that idea from someonelast year and I liked her idea.
So I said what do you need towrite yourself a permission slip
to do.
My value is not in what I do,but who I am.

(12:39):
It's a tough one and it'sgetting easier.
Resting is revolutionary andrestorative.
Doing nothing opens me toeverything.
I am safe to pause because I'maligned with life's rhythm.

(13:00):
I am safe to pause because I'maligned with life's rhythm, so
I'm going to ask you if you wantto get in a space and you have
a little bit of time to do thisguided meditation.
If not, you can stop now andcome back to it at a time when
you can just be still Okay forthose that are staying.
Find a quiet place and settleinto a comfortable position.

(13:24):
Close the eyes down, feel thatspace behind your eyes and just
let your eyes release in theirsockets.
If you're laying down, justimagine the back of your head

(13:44):
just relaxing and more space inyour neck.
Close your eyes or keep themfocused at something lower down
on the ground, if you wish.
You don't have to close youreyes.

(14:09):
When you go in and inhalegently through your nose, hold
at the top and release.
Inhale slower through your nose.
Hold at the top and release.
Pause at the top and release,pause at the bottom Three more

(14:35):
times Through the nose, fillingup, feeling the layers of
tension just go out of you withthis exhalation.
Tension just go out of you withthis exhalation, breathing in,

(14:58):
feeling your muscles relax,tension drain out of your jaw,
your throat, exhaling and holdat the bottom and just fill
yourself with peace.
One more big breath in and youcan sigh it out, feel the light

(15:36):
a couple hundred feet above yourhead and you can even look up
or roll your eyes up if they'reclosed down, and feel that light
just wash over you.
Let it just cascade inside yourbody, all around your body.

(15:57):
With your hand on your heart, Iwant you to thank your heart
first.
It's been beating and takingcare of things since you were
about 8 weeks inside your mom,so a very long time.
And it does rest on the inhale.

(16:22):
Say inwardly I am here on theexhale.
Now.
Let your body soften, let yourthoughts just reflect clouds and

(16:46):
you can have thoughts If ato-do list pops in, just say
thank you and let those cloudskeep moving and return to your
breath.
Just for this moment.
How would it be if I let go ofneeding to fix or figure

(17:12):
anything out.
Just rest in your own presenceand rest in your own power and
rest in your own power.
You're not missing anything.

(17:36):
You're actually receiving.
What, if this is easier than Iever thought it would be?

(17:56):
Stay here as long as you canand, when you're feeling ready,
return and open your eyes and beaware of the space where the

(18:21):
air touches your skin, your skin.
And if you're outside, you canpull your thoughts to the
horizon or, as far as you cansee.
If you're inside, pull yourenergy to the corners of the
room and you know what the fourcorners look like in the room
and just take a moment here andrest as awareness.

(18:48):
Resting as awareness is a verypowerful practice.
Notice what shifted for you.
Well, I really hope that youenjoyed this episode and I hope

(19:12):
that you will subscribe to thepodcast, because that helps.
Leaving a comment would begreat.
It's a two-way street and Ireally like hearing from you.
And please take a look.
I started a landing page.
It's a work in progress, butyou can sign up for an email
list there if you choose.
If not, no big deal.
I'll see you again.

(19:33):
Please forward this to someonewho might need a break or
someone who has a rest imposedupon them.
Let's say, I know somebodywho's recovering from a knee
surgery right now and he'spretty anxious that he's not
doing anything, and I think thiswould be perfect for him,
because doing nothing isactually good right now.

(19:55):
So until the next time,remember, doing nothing is okay.
Just count me in.
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