Rest as Rhythm, Rest as Resistance

This is a special episode we recorded on a summer podcast retreat on Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) territory, Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast. While resting ourselves, we explore how we can embody rest as a radical and reciprocal practice. We discuss rest as a form of resistance to capitalism and white supremacy, essential to community care and advocating for systemic change, and our own understanding and experiences of rest as a rhythm of life—whether it be napping, building boundaries, connecting to the land, and sacred attentiveness. As we touch on lessons from Black feminism and Jewish shabbat, precursor to the Christian sabbath, we ask: who has access to rest? What would rest redistribution look like? How can rhythms of rest lead us into broader and transformative changes? We hope you will be challenged and inspired by this conversation to practice a rhythm of rest in your own life and community.

A huge THANK YOU to our Patreon supporters for making this retreat possible for us!

Episode Notes & Annotations:

• When speaking about rest as resistance, Trixie references The Nap Ministry by artist, writer, and activist Tricia Hersey
• Maria mentions radical birth workers who rejuvenate themselves so they can care for others
• Céline references Jewish shabbat as a rhythm of rest, culminating in Jubilee, a theme explored in Geez issue 63, Sound The Trumpet
• Céline references Adrienne Maree Brown on pleasure activism and rest as a joyful and life-giving act
• We refer back to reconnecting with the land in our earlier episode in Season 1, Relating to the Land, with Lori Snyder

Currently, we do not have the capacity for releasing updated transcripts per episode. We plan to update Season 2 episodes with transcripts as soon as we're able. If you have the interest, skills, and volunteer capacity to help us out with this, get in touch: resettingthetablepodcast@gmail.com