If rest leaves you feeling tense, guilty or still switched on, there’s nothing wrong with you. Your body is responding to old patterns of safety and belonging. Here’s why rest doesn’t feel restful, and how your system can learn to access truly restful rest.

So many of us were taught to stay calm, keep it together, and move on — but that approach only takes us further from what we actually feel. Feeling your emotions isn’t about effort or control. It’s about slowing down enough to notice what your body already knows.