Feel Good Files: The Case For Doing Absolutely Nothing
Welcome back, friends! We’re diving into the second post of The Feel Good Files—our newest series all about holistic wellness and feeling more like yourself in this wild, modern world. Since we’re heading into a holiday weekend, I figured there’s no better time to talk about something most of us resist: doing absolutely nothing.
Yep. Nothing. No multitasking. No catch-up errands. No productivity hacks. Just… being.
Now before you panic, let me clarify—doing “nothing” doesn’t mean melting into the couch with six hours of TikTok. (Okay, maybe sometimes. No judgment.) But the kind of nothing I’m talking about is intentional rest. It's not about zoning out or numbing yourself with noise—it's about slowing down on purpose. Tuning in. Shifting your nervous system from hustle mode into a softer state—what we call "rest and digest." This isn’t laziness. It’s a biological need. And it’s one that many of us haven’t been giving ourselves enough of.
Modern life keeps us in constant motion. We're always thinking about the next task, planning for the next day, and juggling family, work, and social obligations like it’s an Olympic sport. And in the midst of all that, our nervous system is just trying to keep up. The thing is—if we never give it a break, it never learns to come down. That chronic stress loop can lead to all kinds of health hiccups: poor sleep, burnout, inflammation, digestive issues, low energy—you name it.
I’ve been trying to be more present in my own life lately (a work in progress, trust me). As someone who thrives on staying busy, I’ve had to learn to press pause intentionally. One morning recently, I took my corgi, Happy, on a walk—no phone, no agenda, just us. It was early and quiet, the breeze smelled like salt water, and we were just moving at his chubby little pace. Then, I saw a man on his porch with two cats and a baby. Cute, right? But then the baby crawled for the first time—and the man yelled for his partner as they both cheered with total joy. A few houses down, someone strummed a guitar. And in that moment, I realized how much I would’ve missed if I’d been looking down at a screen or rushing through my to-do list. That small slice of presence stayed with me the whole day.
Doing nothing might look different for you. Maybe it’s a quiet cup of coffee in the morning without your phone. Sitting outside and listening to the birds. Watching your dog nap in the sun. Whatever it is, the key is to give your brain and body a break from constant input. The kind of rest that actually restores you.
It sounds simple, but it’s not always easy. Most of us have a deeply ingrained need to be productive 24/7. Even our downtime gets filled with “shoulds.” But research shows that carving out real, intentional rest improves your nervous system regulation, pain tolerance, recovery, emotional resilience, and even your creativity. You literally think and feel better when you stop trying to do it all.
The practice of doing nothing is just that—a practice. It takes time to feel comfortable in stillness. But start small. Try sitting outside for five minutes and doing absolutely nothing but breathing. Put your phone in another room. Let your mind wander. Tune in to the world around you. The sun on your skin. The weight of your body in the chair. The quiet.
This week, I challenge you to pick one tiny thing each day that invites this kind of rest. Maybe you lay on the floor with your legs up on the wall. Or drink your coffee in silence. Or walk without headphones. It doesn’t have to be long. You don’t have to earn it. You just have to let it happen.
You deserve rest—not because you checked everything off your list, but because you are a human being with a nervous system that needs care. Holiday weekends like this one are a beautiful time to begin, but truthfully, every week offers space to soften. To slow. To do a little less, or absolutely nothing at all.
So unplug, unwind, and just be.
You’ve got this.
Rest well,
Dr. Rachel Wolinski, PT, DPT
Roots Performance & Wellness