Deep Rest: Why Recovery Is an Active Biological Process — and Why Many People Never Reach It

Healing_ Passion
6 days ago
3 min read

For years, we’ve been told that rest is the antidote to stress.

Sleep more. Slow down. Take a break.

But what if rest alone isn’t enough?

A recent scientific review published in Health Psychology Review introduces a powerful idea that helps explain why so many people feel exhausted, inflamed, or unwell even after stressors are removed. The authors call this state “deep rest.”

And importantly, they show that deep rest is not the same as stopping activity or lying down. It is a distinct biological state—and one that many modern bodies can no longer access easily.

The Core Thesis: Deep Rest Is Where Healing Happens

The review proposes a simple but profound model:

When the body perceives a threat (physical, emotional, metabolic, or environmental), energy is diverted toward survival.
In this state, the nervous system is dominated by sympathetic (fight-or-flight) activity.
As long as the threat remains—even subtly—repair and regeneration are postponed.

Only when threat signals fall below a critical threshold can the body enter deep rest, a state characterized by:

Parasympathetic (vagal) dominance
Reduced vigilance and prediction
Reallocation of energy toward cellular repair, maintenance, and renewal

This is the state in which biology shifts from coping to healing.

Rest vs. Deep Rest: A Critical Distinction

One of the most important contributions of this review is making clear that:

Not all rest is restorative.

Many people reach a state the authors label “rest”:

They stop working
They reduce stimulation
They may even sleep more

Yet true restorative biology is not fully engaged.

Deep rest goes further. It is the state where the body finally feels safe enough to:

Repair DNA
Clear damaged proteins
Renew mitochondria (mitophagy)
Restore immune balance
Rebuild metabolic and hormonal resilience

This distinction explains a common modern experience:

“I’m resting, but I’m not recovering.”

Energy Allocation: The Missing Link

At the heart of the review is a bioenergetic insight:

Healing is expensive.

Cellular repair, regeneration, and quality control require significant energy.

When energy is continuously spent on vigilance, inflammation, and compensation, there is simply not enough left for repair.

The authors describe this as a hierarchy of biological needs:

Immediate survival
Ongoing prediction and allostasis
Optimization and restoration

Deep rest allows the body to move upward in this hierarchy.

Why This Strongly Supports the ERM Framework

This review aligns seamlessly with the Exposure-Related Malnutrition (ERM) framework, which views chronic illness and fatigue not as failures of will or motivation, but as states of unresolved bioenergetic debt.

ERM and Deep Rest Speak the Same Language

Deep Rest Review	ERM Framework
Threat locks energy into survival	Chronic exposure drains bioenergetic reserve
Recovery requires energy reallocation	Recovery fails when energy is unavailable
Cellular housekeeping defines health	ERM centers on failed maintenance and repair
Mitochondria gate restoration	ERM places mitochondria upstream of symptoms
Recovery is dynamic, not static	ERM emphasizes delayed and incomplete recovery

In ERM terms, deep rest is the biological gate into resolution.

If that gate cannot be opened—because mitochondria are congested, nutrients are insufficient, inflammation is ongoing, or exposures persist—then recovery stalls, no matter how much “rest” someone gets.

Why Some Interventions Fail (and Others Backfire)

The review also explains why:

Exercise
Cold exposure
Fasting
Intense breathing techniques

…can help some people but worsen symptoms in others.

These are hormetic stressors. They require an existing energy reserve.

In ERM states, where reserve is already depleted, adding more stress—no matter how “healthy”—can push the system further from deep rest.

This is why ERM emphasizes:

Restore first. Stress later.

Recovery Is About Flexibility, Not Baselines

Another important point from the review:

Health is not defined by perfect baseline numbers
It is defined by how quickly and completely the body recovers after challenge

This supports ERM’s focus on:

Delayed recovery
Persistent low-grade activation
Inability to re-enter anabolic and restorative states

A Reframing That Matters

This review helps reframe a crucial message:

You’re not lazy. You’re not broken. You may simply be unable to access deep rest.

And that is not a moral failure—it is a biological condition.

The Takeaway

Deep rest is not a luxury.

It is a biological prerequisite for healing.

The ERM framework explains why deep rest becomes inaccessible in modern life—and how targeted, staged interventions can help restore the body’s capacity to truly recover.

Healing doesn’t begin when stress stops.

It begins when the body finally has enough energy to repair itself.

Crosswell, A. D., Mayer, S. E., Prather, A. A., Slavich, G. M., Puterman, E., & Mendes, W. B. (2024). Deep rest: A conceptual model for how contemplative practices counteract stress and optimize health. Health Psychology Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2023.2272466