Emma Marshall is the founder of Movement is Medicine.

Hi Emma! What’s the one lesson you’ve learned about rest?

That it’s imperative. It’s not a luxury.

OK, it sounds like you take rest seriously. So, what does ‘rest’ mean to you right now?

Being firm in setting boundaries and saying no. I like to switch off by going to the cinema where no one can chat to me or spending time in the sauna and steam room. Those things aren’t just good for the body but also the mind and soul. 

A lot of people just think of rest as sleep, but I don’t agree with that idea any more. Sleep is obviously a huge part of life but in terms of actual resting, doing things that help us to mentally switch off are really important. 

When you work in certain industries or certain jobs, it’s really hard to set boundaries because you’re just on job all the time. But it’s about finding the opportunities to be uncontactable for two hours, an afternoon or an entire day.

Was there a point in your life when you realised that rest wasn’t as passive as you previously thought?

I first started suffering with serious health problems in 2015, when I was working in the music industry. No one could work out why my body kept crashing and throughout each health crisis, I carried on working. Two weeks after having my appendix out, I went back to work. I was in and out of hospital with different issues, never taking enough recovery time.

Then, when my health crashed again in 2018 and into 2019, I finally realised that I needed to take rest seriously. I was in treatment for a whole year… and then the pandemic hit. Having been off work for a year, I was living on benefits just as everything ground to a halt. It was just a bit too much. So I actually moved to Mexico to recuperate.

That’s when Movement is Medicine was born; I knew that I had to start moving because my legs were really, really in a bad way after being bedbound. So, I started to dance.

How did your relationship with rest and recovery change in that moment?

When I was ill, I was living with so many different symptoms that at one stage I was only able to eat 10 foods. And because I was so weak, I stopped moving. Unfortunately, when you do that, your body gets worse. It simply can’t recover enough to build the strength and resilience that it needs to get going again. It’s like having a car; if you don’t start the engine for a whole year, that car’s going to struggle to start. 

I learnt the hard way that motion is lotion; everything is in motion all the time. When we’re static for long periods of time, our bodies struggle to operate normally. Think about the lymphatic system, which is our drainage mechanism; that needs movement to optimally function otherwise you get this build-up of fluids. 

It’s so important to move. But when you’re in rest and recovery from things like stress, burnout and trauma, you want to try to do low-impact forms of exercise, such as dance, walking, yoga or swimming rather than HIIT or intense cardio. 

In other words, rest can – and perhaps should – be in some way active.  So, taking that time out must have had some benefits, right?

Oh my god, 100%. In my late teens or early 20s. I went through these constant cycles of poor health that I’d eventually bounce back from. Then it got to a point where I was no longer bouncing back.

I’d have bouts of pneumonia, kidney infections, etc. I think there’s a reason that your body’s more susceptible to this stuff. These days, I don’t get ill. It’s been about a year since I’ve been sick with anything and I’m really grateful to say that I’m the strongest I’ve ever been physically and mentally.

What do you think women tend to get wrong about rest?

Rest has been programmed into us as something that’s lazy. We all think that we’re not doing enough. 

On a really basic, biological level, we are built entirely differently to men. Men can do more and they’re meant to do more. Women, on the other hand, are much more likely to go through things like adrenal fatigue and burnout than men, so we have to take more rest in order to achieve hormonal balance.

On top of thinking that we’ve got to be able to do everything a man can; we’ve got to look at the fact that many women carry the brunt of domestic labour still. That feminine role doesn’t allow us to rest.

Depressingly true. So finally, how do you prioritise rest day-to-day?

I’m blessed to be in a place in my life where I don’t set an alarm. I can choose how my mornings go; because I work well into the evening, my mornings are very slow. I only really start work at 10 or 11am. 

I can also feel when my body’s staying ‘stop’. For me, syncing my more restful weeks with when I’m actually bleeding is really important. This month, I failed to that and I physically felt it, but normally, I’ll make sure I have two days during my period when I do nothing.

We think it’s normal to feel fatigued or to have aches and pains – that it’s normal to have no motivation. It’s absolutely not normal. Your body’s trying to tell you something and the sooner you listen, the sooner you can move into a genuine state of recovery.

You can sign up to Emma’s online and in-person dance classes here.

Image: Emma Marshall