#RestIsResistance

A social justice framework positioning rest as radical resistance to grind culture, capitalism, and white supremacy.

Origins

Popularized by Tricia Hersey (The Nap Ministry), who founded the project in 2016. Her work frames rest as:

• Liberation practice
• Spiritual practice
• Resistance to capitalism
• Reclaiming humanity

Core Philosophy

Rest is resistance because:

• Grind culture exploits (especially marginalized people)
• Capitalism demands productivity (bodies as machines)
• White supremacy culture values overwork
• Rest was stolen (from enslaved people, colonized people)

Practices

• Naps as reparations (public napping as protest)
• Community rest spaces
• Rejecting hustle culture
• Collective care
• Saying no

Intersection with Other Movements

• Black liberation
• Disability justice (“rest is not laziness”)
• Anti-capitalism
• Feminism (rejecting “having it all”)
• Climate justice (rest for the earth too)

Key Voices

• Tricia Hersey (@thenapministry)
• Audre Lorde (“caring for myself is… an act of political warfare”)
• adrienne maree brown (Pleasure Activism, 2019)

Criticism

• Can become privileged (not everyone can choose rest)
• Risk of individualism (rest vs. collective action)
• “Rest” as consumption (spa days, products)

Rest ≠ Laziness

Reframes rest as:

• Necessary for sustainability
• Productive (restoration enables action)
• Joyful resistance

Resources

• Rest Is Resistance (Tricia Hersey, 2022)
• The Nap Ministry: https://thenapministry.wordpress.com
• @thenapministry (Instagram)