You’re Not Lazy. Your Nervous System Is Just Exhausted.

mindfulnessyoganervous systemwellness
Written By Mya Cato

At some point, someone decided that rest had to be earned. That if you weren’t producing, improving, or pushing through something, you were doing life wrong.

So when your body asks for a pause, you call it laziness. When your mind feels foggy, you label it unmotivated. When your energy disappears, you assume something is wrong with you.

But here’s the truth no one told you: You’re not lazy. You’re tired in a way sleep alone doesn’t fix.

Exhaustion Isn’t a Character Flaw

A dysregulated nervous system doesn’t always look like panic or anxiety. Sometimes it looks like:

  • Procrastination that feels heavy, not careless

  • “I’ll do it later” that turns into weeks

  • Being overwhelmed by things that used to feel simple

  • Wanting rest but feeling guilty the moment you take it

That’s not laziness. That’s a body that’s been in survival mode for too long. When your nervous system lives in constant alert with tight deadlines, emotional labor, unprocessed grief, and the idea of being “the strong one”… your body learns that rest isn’t safe. Stillness feels unfamiliar. Slowness feels suspicious. So your system keeps you moving… until it can’t.

Why Rest Feels Uncomfortable

If your body has learned that love, safety, or stability only come after effort, rest can feel like risk.

Rest brings up:

  • Feelings you’ve been avoiding

  • Sensations you’ve learned to ignore

  • A quiet that feels louder than noise

So instead of resting, you scroll. You stay busy. You distract yourself with productivity disguised as purpose. Not because you don’t want peace but because your nervous system doesn’t trust it yet.

The Body Keeps Score (Even When You Don’t)

Your body remembers every time you had to push through. Every time you couldn’t slow down. Every time survival mattered more than softness. And eventually, it asks to be repaid. Through fatigue. Through tension. Through a lack of motivation that feels confusing and frustrating. This isn’t your body betraying you. This is your body asking for repair.

What Healing Actually Looks Like

Healing isn’t forcing yourself to be more disciplined. It’s teaching your nervous system that it’s safe to pause.

That looks like:

  • Rest without explaining yourself

  • Movement that soothes instead of strains

  • Breath that reaches your belly, not just your chest

  • Letting “enough” be enough

It’s not dramatic. It’s subtle. And it requires more courage than pushing through ever did.

A Gentle Reframe

Next time you catch yourself saying, “Why am I like this?” Try asking instead: What has my body been carrying that I haven’t acknowledged yet? Because laziness doesn’t feel heavy. Exhaustion does. And you don’t need to become someone else to heal. You need to come back to yourself—slowly, safely, and with compassion.

You’re not broken. You’re recovering. And that matters.

Your Next Gentle Step

If this resonated, your body is already asking for something different. You don’t need to overhaul your life. You just need spaces that honor slowness, presence, and regulation.

We host wellness experiences designed to support your nervous system… not override it.

View the calendar of Meeyogi gatherings.

Come as you are. Tired counts.

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Mya Cato