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Issue 5

May-June 2025

Rest

An afternoon nap. Dozing in your favourite chair. Swaying in a hammock. Rest used to be simpler. Over time, it got all tangled up with guilt and hustle—it became something we earned only after we hit our limits. Then midlife showed up and our sleep started some fancy evasive manoeuvres. The good news is rest isn’t a prize for productivity—it’s a basic human need. And restful sleep really is still possible. Join us as we make our way back to rest, that sweet thing we’re allowed to need, and meant to have.

Read editor's note

Rest doesn’t require a lengthy retreat or hopping on a plane to eat, pray, love our way around the world. Rest can be encountered in everyday life.

Ben Katt

Three everyday practices for a tired soul

Profiles

Hello sleep, my old friend

A conversation with Dr. Jade Wu on why letting go of control may just bring the sleep we long for.

In the shifting landscape of midlife, sleep scientist Dr. Jade Wu shares why it’s time to stop micromanaging rest and start building a more trusting, sustainable relationship with sleep.

Annie Brandner

Prefer Audio?

This issue now has a playlist of all articles you can listen to. You can also find an audio option on every article page.

Editor's Note

The road back to rest

Before endless to-do lists and midlife sleep curveballs, rest didn’t feel so far away. If it seems out of reach now, you’re not alone. Time to find our way back to it.

Annie Brandner

Books

Recline, read, repeat: 15 books making a case for rest

A compelling collection of books that rethink our relationship with rest as a catalyst for clarity, creativity, and sustainable living.

InHabit Staff and Readers

Work

Out of office, into life: Sabbatical lessons from five who stepped away

Five people. Five sabbaticals. One powerful truth: stepping away might be the most radical way to find your way back to what matters.

Peter Reek

Well-being

Burnout: The breaking point that became a turning point

Burnout can feel like a breakdown. If we let it, it can also become a breakthrough, an invitation to come home to yourself.

Rosemary

Well-being

Is it time to break up with your mattress?

Do you fantasize about hotel beds more than your actual vacations? Your back (and the science) might be telling you it’s time for a new mattress.

Jody King

Well-being

Not as chill as I look: Why real relaxation takes more than time off

Rest doesn't always come included with a plane ticket. If you're still tired after time away, it may be time to meet your stress with more compassion.

Eric Strom

Well-being

The other four-letter word: Rest in a world that won’t slow down

Rest shouldn’t feel rebellious—but in a world that profits from our exhaustion, it is. Talisha Matheson makes the case for radical, unapologetic restoration.

Talisha Matheson

Well-being

You can’t hustle your way to healing: The stress-rest connection

I was praised for being unstoppable. But beneath the hustle was a body that never felt safe enough to slow down.

Rebecca Vigelius

Meaning

My brain at 3 a.m.

Ever found yourself wide awake in the middle of the night spiraling when all you want to do is sleep? You’re not alone. Welcome to a dramatic reading of the sleepless mind.

Shaun Crawford

Meaning

Three everyday practices for a tired soul

When life feels too full for rest, it’s usually when we need it most. Here’s how to start small and find rest right where you are.

Ben Katt

Meaning

What remains: Making meaning for the rest of your life

As I approach 60, what’s left isn’t the leftovers. It’s the raw material of a life still unfolding—and it’s mine to shape, every day.

Alexandra Best

MOney

Money

Sleeping with one eye on your bank account

Financial stress isn’t just about money, it’s about the nervous system, the stories we inherit, and the rest we postpone.

Peter Reek

Relationships

Me, myself and sleep

Sleep and I hit a rough patch that felt both foreign and disorienting. So, I did what most women do when a relationship flounders—I called on my friends for advice.

Lisa MacDonald

Relationships

Rest and forgiveness

When we forgive we learn rest. We discover our own capacity to heal, to love ourselves and others. Forgiveness allows us to begin a new thing, a new life, to grow and to thrive.

Part 2: On forgiveness

Opal Virgo

Relationships

When friendship feels like rest

The best friendships don’t demand polish or performance. They welcome your whole self—tired, tender, and true—and offer what we all long for: rest.

Bronwyn Smith

Work

How to rest when everyone’s depending on you

Shawn Neumann explores the paradox of taking a pause when you’re carrying the weight of a company and everyone in it.

Shawn Neumann

Work

Out of office, into life: Sabbatical lessons from five who stepped away

Five people. Five sabbaticals. One powerful truth: stepping away might be the most radical way to find your way back to what matters.

Peter Reek

Lifestyle

A brunch worth slowing down for

When the stars align and the scones rise perfectly, the weekend feels like a little miracle. These dishes invite the joy of slow mornings with good company and delicious bites to any weekend.

Pascale Pergant

Lifestyle

Jon Hamm is breaking in and breaking down in Your Friends and Neighbors

Jon Hamm, home invasions, and the war on keeping it together in midlife. Your Friends & Neighbors is the dark, funny midlife mirror we didn’t know we needed.

Reed Carpet

Lifestyle

Meet the pack: Mya

Rescued from the mean streets of Texas, Mya hates the rain but is still living her best life on Canada’s West Coast. She loves snuggling, sleeping, running, and cheese.

Paul Brandner

TRAVEL

Travel

A homespun kind of rest in New England

Jen journeys back to her childhood home in New England, recalling the magic of a homespun kind of rest—and how her mother made rest and home one and the same.

Jennifer Wieland

Travel

Tofino: A restful getaway at the edge of the world

Cycle the trails past ancient rainforest and along the ocean's edge. Experience how movement in nature can quiet the mind and bring rest to the spirit.

Tiffany Thornton

Books

Hello Sleep: The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications

When sleep slips away, many of us go into fix-it mode. But maybe rest isn’t a problem to solve as much as a relationship worth repairing.

Dr. Jade Wu

Books

Recline, read, repeat: 15 books making a case for rest

A compelling collection of books that rethink our relationship with rest as a catalyst for clarity, creativity, and sustainable living.

InHabit Staff and Readers

PROFILES

Profiles

Hello sleep, my old friend

A conversation with Dr. Jade Wu on why letting go of control may just bring the sleep we long for.

In the shifting landscape of midlife, sleep scientist Dr. Jade Wu shares why it’s time to stop micromanaging rest and start building a more trusting, sustainable relationship with sleep.

Annie Brandner

Profiles

Short Q&A with Dr. Jade Wu

What brings a sleep scientist peace? Get a glimpse of Dr. Jade Wu the person—her routines, reflections, and what she's learning in this chapter of life.

Annie Brandner