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The Revolution is Rest: How A Yogic Path Can Lead Us To Sustainable Change

Writer's picture: Jeannette RodriguezJeannette Rodriguez

Updated: Jan 22

A woman enjoys a peaceful moment in a rustic wooden container home, sipping a warm drink while gazing out at the serene snowy forest.
A woman enjoys a peaceful moment in a rustic wooden container home, sipping a warm drink while gazing out at the serene snowy forest.

In the depths of winter, while nature whispers "rest," our culture screams "reinvent." The familiar pressure arrives right on schedule: new year, new you, new goals, new promises. Yet our bodies, minds, and spirits arrive at January's doorstep depleted - whether from the physical exhaustion of holiday festivities, the emotional weight of family dynamics, or the mental fatigue of year-end demands.


Instead of honouring our natural need for winter rest, we're thrust into a cycle of resolutions and reinvention. This pattern isn't random - it's a calculated push that serves systems of productivity rather than our well-being. This year, I'm choosing a different path. One that aligns with nature's wisdom rather than capitalism's demands.


I've lived this disconnect intimately. Last year taught me its most profound lesson about rest while I was living in Brazil and the Caribbean. Even there, thousands of miles from hustle culture, I noticed how the capitalist mindset followed - that constant urge to do more, be more, achieve more. Even while launching my first yoga coaching program, a dream years in the making, I felt that familiar pressure: what's next? What's more? What else?


But distance offered clarity. I began to see how deeply ingrained these patterns of urgency and productivity are - not just in our actions, but in our nervous systems, family dynamics, and cultural narratives. Even in our attempts to rest, the mind searches for the next goal, the next milestone. This isn't personal failure; it's systemic design.


Understanding The Systems

As a second-generation Mexican-American woman navigating predominantly white spaces, I've witnessed the complex interplay between cultural values and systemic pressures. My immigrant family's understanding of "hard work" as the path to "The American Dream", a pretty disguise for white supremacy and capitalism, collided with my yoga journey and environmental science training. Through my studies in Geography and environmental science, I learned to analyze intersecting systems, revealing how seemingly personal pressures connect to larger structures of power.


This "new year, new you" messaging, for instance, isn't just seasonal marketing. As Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun (2001) illuminate in their work on white supremacy characteristics, it's deeply rooted in systems that prioritize quantity over quality, urgency over intentionality, and doing over being. Through studying complex environmental, social, and economic systems, I began to see how capitalism's demand for constant growth mirrors ecological and social exploitation – both ignore natural cycles of rest and renewal.


The intersection of experiences from my cultural heritage, scientific background, and yoga practice, offers a unique lens for understanding how systems of oppression disconnect us from natural rhythms. Whether it's the pressure on immigrant families to constantly prove their worth while abandoning their rich connection to the earth, the push for endless productivity, or the wellness industry's commercialization of rest – these are all manifestations of the same systemic patterns.


During my time at University, juggling full-time studies and work, I discovered yoga not just as a stress management tool, but as a profound teacher of rest and renewal. What started as quick stress relief evolved into a complete paradigm shift: the ancient wisdom of yoga directly challenges our modern obsession with constant productivity. Through my own journey from stressed student to dedicated practitioner and now entrepreneur, I've experienced how yoga's philosophy of conscious rest (pratyahara - conscious energy withdrawal) offers a powerful alternative to our culture's burnout cycle.


What emerged was a deeper understanding that true productivity isn't about constant action - it's about the sacred balance between effort and ease, just as a breath requires both inhale and exhale. This wisdom transformed my entire relationship with rest, leading me to dedicate my life to sharing these teachings as an antidote to our culture's addiction to hustle.


While these systems push us toward constant action, nature offers a different invitation - one that honors the wisdom of rest.


Look outside. The trees stand bare, their energy drawn deep into their roots. Bears slumber in their winter dens. Everything in nature knows that this is not the season for explosive growth or immediate action – it's a time for the sacred practice of going within and restoring. That nature out there is not separate from our nature, it is one, we are a part of nature.


In yoga philosophy, we speak of 'pratyahara' - the conscious withdrawal of energy from external activities to nourish our inner landscape. Pratyahara invites us to turn inward, teaching us that our most powerful transformations often begin in stillness. It’s a practice that involves shifting our attention within to the point of complete presence of our current internal state so that the external distractions no longer agitate the mind as easily. Winter naturally invites us into this practice on a macro scale every year, yet the systems we live in push us to override this wisdom.


Reflection Question: Where do you feel this pressure in your life?




Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times: The Eight Limbs of Yoga and Rest


A white statue of a meditating figure cradles vibrant purple flower petals in its hands, symbolizing mindfulness and tranquility.
A white statue of a meditating figure cradles vibrant purple flower petals in its hands, symbolizing mindfulness and tranquility.


Yoga offers us more than physical postures - it provides a complete framework for living in harmony with natural cycles. The Eight Limbs of Yoga, a systematic approach to wellbeing, includes several practices particularly relevant to our relationship with rest and productivity.


Yamas & Niyamas: Our Ethical Foundation

At the heart of yoga philosophy lies ahimsa (non-violence) - not just toward others, but toward ourselves and to stand up against harm when we see it taking place. When we push through exhaustion or ignore our need for rest, we're practicing a subtle form of self-violence. Think of how often you've ignored your body's signals for rest in service of productivity.


Svadhyaya (self-study) teaches us to continuously reflect on our own nature and the nature of the universe. Svadhyaya invites us to ask deeper questions:

  • How much energy do I actually have right now?

  • What drives my need to keep pushing?

  • Who am I trying to prove something to?


Satya (truthfulness) challenges us to see beyond cultural conditioning. Staya invites us to look within for what we can give ourselves in moments where we tend to feel guilt or shame for not producing what someone else expects of us. Winter can be a perfect time to still the mind and find our truth. Next time you feel guilty for resting, ask yourself: Is this my truth, or an internalized pressure?


Santosha (contentment) invites us to take a step back, slow down, and appreciate what we have and how far we’ve come. Santosha challenges what might be our greatest challenge in a culture of constant striving. Rest is an act of reclaiming our power and freedom from a need for more. It asks:

  • What if you're enough exactly as you are?

  • What if there's nothing to fix, force, or improve?


Pratyahara: The Art of Turning Inward

Think of pratyahara as nature's wintertime - a conscious withdrawal of energy from external activities to nourish our inner landscape. Just as trees draw their sap inward during winter, we too need periods of conscious retreat. This isn't about escaping the world, but about restoring our energy to engage with it more fully.


Practical example: Next time you feel overwhelmed, try this simple pratyahara practice:

  • Find a quiet space

  • Close your eyes

  • Draw your attention away from external sounds

  • Focus on the sensation of your breath

  • Notice how your energy naturally begins to settle


The Balance of Effort and Ease

Yoga teaches the delicate dance between abhyasa (dedicated practice) and vairagya (non-attachment). Think of it like tending a garden - we need both the discipline to plant and water regularly (abhyasa) and the wisdom to let nature take its course (vairagya). 


Tapas (discipline) is the fire and passion energy that helps us resist the system’s demands. Tapas isn't about forcing ourselves into rigid routines. Instead, it's the inner fire that helps us stay true to our deeper wisdom, even when cultural pressures push us toward burnout. It's the courage to say "no" to productivity demands when our bodies say "rest."


This ancient wisdom directly challenges our modern obsession with constant productivity. Through these practices, we learn that true sustainability requires both periods of engaged action and deep rest - just as nature moves through cycles of growth and dormancy.



The Breath as Our Bridge to Rest: A Practical Guide to Presence






Amid a lush tropical landscape, a bright yellow sign reminds passersby to pause and breathe, creating a peaceful ambiance along the road.
Amid a lush tropical landscape, a bright yellow sign reminds passersby to pause and breathe, creating a peaceful ambiance along the road.

In yoga, we understand the breath (prana) as both our life force and greatest teacher. Each conscious breath becomes an opportunity to resist the culture of urgency and return to our natural rhythm. Before diving into complex philosophy, let's begin with a simple practice that you can use anytime you feel the pressure to override your need for rest.


A Practice for Returning to Center

Time needed: 5 minutes

Props: None required

Setting: Any quiet space where you won't be disturbed


1. Finding Your Foundation (1 minute)

  • Find a comfortable, supported seat

  • Allow your spine to lengthen naturally

  • Rest your hands on your thighs or lap

  

Benefits: Creates physical stability and mental clarity

Key Note: If sitting is uncomfortable, lying down is perfectly acceptable


2. Initial Breath Awareness (1 minute)

  • Close your eyes or soften your gaze

  • Notice your natural breathing pattern without changing anything

  • Observe where you feel movement in your body


Benefits: Develops witness consciousness, reduces anxiety, brings you into the present moment

Key Point: There's no "wrong" way to breathe here - just observe


3. Three-Part Breath (Dirga Pranayama) (3 minutes)

Phase One: Inhale

  • Begin with the belly, letting it expand like a balloon

  • Allow the breath to fill the ribcage

  • Finally, let it rise into the upper chest and throat

Phase Two: Exhale

  • Release from the throat first

  • Let the chest soften

  • Allow the belly to naturally draw in


Repeat as many times as needed (I recommend setting a 5-minute timer).


Benefits: Increases oxygen intake, and calms the nervous system. Releases physical tension and promotes mental clarity.


4. Integration (1-2 minutes)

  • Let each inhale deepen your awareness

  • Allow each exhale to be an explicit permission to rest

  • Notice any shifts in your mind and body

  Benefits: Integrates the practice, anchors the experience


Common Experiences & Tips:

  • Mind wandering? This is normal and natural and part of the process - simply return to breath awareness.

  • Feeling sleepy? Open your eyes slightly or sit up taller

  • Difficulty feeling the breath? Place one hand on the belly, one on the chest

  • Feeling anxious? Shorten the practice or keep your eyes open


Signs the Practice is Working:

  • Slower heart rate

  • Deeper, more regular breathing

  • Reduced muscle tension

  • Clearer mental state

  • Increased body awareness


When to Use This Practice:

  • First thing in the morning to set your day's rhythm

  • Before important decisions or meetings

  • When feeling overwhelmed or pressured

  • During transitions between tasks

  • As a reset when feeling scattered or stressed


Remember: This practice isn't about achieving perfect technique - it's about creating a moment of conscious pause in your day. Even one minute of conscious breathing can shift your entire nervous system state.


Nature's New Year


A delicate purple flower emerges from the soil, heralding the arrival of spring.
A delicate purple flower emerges from the soil, heralding the arrival of spring.

Eastern and indigenous wisdom traditions have long recognized spring, as opposed to winter, as the natural beginning of the yearly cycle. This isn't just philosophical thinking – it's ecological wisdom. The natural world begins its cycle of renewal at the spring equinox, after the essential rest and integration period of winter. We are nature. Returning into alignment with nature is a reclamation of our truest nature.


“Nature offers us the medicine we need if we are open to receiving it.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer from Braiding Sweetgrass

Robin Wall Kimmerer reflects this understanding in "Braiding Sweetgrass," describing winter as a crucial period of rest and preparation. This mirrors the yogic concept of 'santosha' - contentment with what is, rather than constantly striving for what could be.


Journal Prompt: How does your energy naturally shift with the seasons?



Creating Sustainable Change on the Path of Resistance

The yoga sutras teach us about 'ahimsa' - non-violence not only toward others but also ourselves. The revolution we seek – environmental justice, social transformation, collective and individual healing – requires sustained energy. When we push ourselves to constant action, we perpetuate the very violence we're trying to dismantle.



A delicate, curly white sprout unfurls gracefully from deep green leaves, showcasing nature's intricate design.
A delicate, curly white sprout unfurls gracefully from deep green leaves, showcasing nature's intricate design.

In "Emergent Strategy," Adrienne Maree Brown (2017) reminds us that nature never moves in straight lines of constant progress. Like the spirals we find in nature, transformation moves in cycles. Like the petals of a lotus, life progresses through states of expansion and contraction. Like the valleys and mountain peaks, we flow from lessons to mastery then back to lessons. Each stage contains its very own teachings and slowness helps us to see them more clearly. 


The yogic path shows us that sustainable change requires both effort (sthira) and ease (sukha). Balance doesn't look like a steady line, rather it is a playful dance between effort and surrender, strength and flexibility, exertion and relaxation. As we see in the yin and yang symbol, there is some yin in the yang and some yang in the yin. So with practices like yoga, we learn to come into harmony with this dynamic through awareness, compassion, and detachment from the outcome. Focused on the journey of being rather than outcome and reward.


A yin-yang statue on a weathered orange pedestal stands gracefully in a garden, framed by greenery and a tall pagoda in the background.
A yin-yang statue on a weathered orange pedestal stands gracefully in a garden, framed by greenery and a tall pagoda in the background.

This winter, I invite you to embrace these practices:

1. Honor Natural Rhythms

  • Practice pratyahara by turning inward whenever you feel an urge to do more.

  • Notice where you're carrying urgency in your body.

  • Use your practices (meditation, asana, pranayama, taping, dance) to work through it.

  • Allow your drive toward success to be guided by seasonal energy, and plan your year based on the energy each season has to offer.

  • Trust the wisdom of pause as a practice that nurtures creativity and vitality.


2. Cultivate Conscious Rest

  • Use restorative yoga poses to release tension, move through any discomfort, and gain clarity on whatever you are navigating through on your path.

  • Choose yang-to-yin styles of classes to practice coming into harmony.

  • Practice yoga nidra for deep restoration.

  • Meditate as a restful practice of being rather than a rigid practice of doing.

  • Find moments of pause throughout your day. Stop to smell the roses.


3. Build Sustainable Practices

  • Notice when you're operating from urgency. Check in with what your body/nervous system needs.

  • Question the voice of "not enough". Where is this coming from?

  • Affirmations:

    • My value is based on more than what I produce. My value is inherent.

  • Release perfectionistic standards, and welcome a progress mindset.

  • Focus on quality vs. quantity. 

  • Recognize that mistakes are separate from the person. Create environments where mistakes can sometimes lead us to positive results and evolution. Welcome them as stepping stones to your success.

  • Let your practice become the foundation from which your purpose naturally flows. Understand your why.


Remember: Every time we choose rest over urgency, we're actively resisting white supremacy and capitalist culture's demand for constant productivity and a lack mindset. Every time we honor our need to pause, we're creating new patterns for sustainable ways of living and honoring the roots of spiritual practices versus using them for spiritual bypassing.


Your Invitation to Sacred Pause

As wisdom inspired by the Tao Te Ching teaches us, nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished (Lao Tzu, trans. 1989, Ch. 37). This winter, I invite you to join our growing community of conscious changemakers who are exploring a more sustainable path to transformation.


An alliance is forming, stay tuned as we delve deeper into these themes, exploring how yoga philosophy and practice can inform and sustain our growth. Together, we'll learn to:

  • Challenge internalized capitalism and white supremacy culture

  • Embrace cycles of rest and action

  • Build sustainable movement practices

  • Learn tools for managing stress and anxiety

  • Support collective liberation through personal practice of empowerment


“Rest is not a pause in the revolution – it is the revolution.”

By choosing to honor winter's wisdom and our body's needs, we're not stepping away from the work, we're ensuring our capacity to continue it with greater power and purpose.



NEXT STEPS ON YOUR JOURNEY

If you're feeling called to explore this path of sustainable activism through yoga practices and philosophy, I invite you to:

Immediate Support:

  • Watch our Vision Roots Replay HERE

  • Download the Vision Roots workbook with over 20 journal prompts to help you build a sustainable plan for your future self HERE

  • Join our community on Instagram HERE

Deeper Exploration: 

  • 12-Week Rhythms of Breath program HERE

  • Wild Wisdom Alliance (Coming Soon)


Together, we're creating a revolution that honors both our power and our need for renewal, grounded in nature's wisdom, and powerful enough to transform the systems that perpetuate harm through remembering our authenticity.


With trust in the power of rest and renewal, Jeannette.



Citations

Jones, K., & Okun, T. (2001). White Supremacy Culture. Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups. ChangeWork.


Brown, a. m. (2017). Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. AK Press.


Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions.


Lao Tzu. (1989). Tao Te Ching (Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published ~6th century BCE)


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