Rest as a Radical Act

In a society that romanticizes late nights at the computer, early mornings paired with multiple cups of coffee, and constant, maximum effort to achieve more, choosing rest has become a radical act. As a result of our society’s emphasis on producing it’s easy to feel like time is slipping through our fingers. Have we accomplished enough? Should we be doing more? How can we cram more productivity into our overstuffed hours?-- capitalism at its finest!

The truth is we need rest. We need to breathe. We need to take a step back and remember that life is more than the hours we work. Here’s a look at why hustle culture can be dangerous, and how rest is the perfect antidote.

Hustle Culture– its harm and connection to peoples’ need to survive

Hustle culture is a mindset that prioritizes work above all else. As a result of capitalism, it has become an increasingly popular mentality of toxic productivity. On social media it has shown up in posts like “hustle harder,” “rise and grind,” or even “turn down your feelings, turn up your hustle.” It shows up in the workplace, on college campuses, and in entrepreneurial circles, where people—especially women—are encouraged to develop dizzyingly unhealthy work ethics.

According to hustle culture, your worth is determined by your productivity. You’re led to feel guilty about rest, to push yourself to extremes, and to glorify harmful work-life imbalances. This behavior has troubling and dangerous effects on both physical and mental health. It can lead to burnout, chronic stress, and unwarranted feelings of shame when you feel like your output is not enough. This way of life begins to tie our identity up with work alone, leading us to ignore crucial and meaningful parts of ourselves. It can negate the value of the moments that make us human.

While this is all true, we must also acknowledge that this mentality is rooted in peoples’ need to survive. Originally, the term was directly linked with people needing to work more to make ends meet. The reality is that our society does not support us holistically and there are huge financial inequalities therefore, many of us needed, and still need to, work multiple jobs and accept multiple gigs in order to pay rent and eat. To understand the danger of what hustle culture has become, and choose rest, can also be a privilege.

As Charlie Chaplin once told movie-goers, “More than machinery, we need humanity.” Acknowledging and fulfilling our need for rest is one of the ways we can honor our humanness and engage in radical defiance of capitalism and its hold on hustle culture.

The Importance of Rest

Rest is not only a vital way to combat the influence of hustle culture, but a necessary practice in your life. There are so many reasons why rest is important for your mental, physical, and emotional health.

Rest and relaxation support your mental health by helping you regulate your mood and reduce your stress and anxiety. When you relax, your body “releases ‘feel-good’ hormones: serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin,” which reduce blood pressure and heart rate. In addition, getting adequate rest helps lower your risk of health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and depression.

Here at CONTRA-TIEMPO, we know the value of rest and encourage our dancers to support their health—and the health of others—as we do what we do. We’re a Los Angeles-based activist dance company dedicated to transforming the world through dance—building community, facilitating dialogue, and moving audiences to imagine what is possible. By engaging audiences with our physically intense and politically astute performance work, we endeavor to awaken their sense of themselves as artists and as social change agents.

Explore our summer dance intensives, engagement offerings, upcoming events and performances, and virtual engagements for a taste of what we bring to the Los Angeles community and beyond! Join our familia and connect with us, or support our movement by purchasing from our shop or donating today!

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