Medicine for Your Body, Brain, and Soul
By Serena Poon, CN, CHC, CHN
My clients spend a lot of time thinking about what they eat, how much they move, which supplements they are taking, and much more. The secret to sustainable health, energy, and longevity might just lie in what we don’t do enough of, and that is rest.
This is about more than sleep. We need full-bodied, soul-nourishing, nervous-system-resetting vacations. A real pause from output, overstimulation, screen time, and routine. The kind of reset that is crucial to your health.
Science confirms that we are not designed to perform endlessly. Our body moves in cycles and we need to reset in order to survive. A simple break is one of the most effective forms of healing we have. I tell my clients that vacation should be a non-negotiable part of their wellness protocol.
Vacations Lower Chronic Stress
One of the most important things that happens when you take time off is that your body shifts out of chronic stress mode. For many people, this shift can be the first moment of restoration they’ve had in months or even years.
On the other hand, there is ample research to confirm the health risks of skipping vacation.
When we are stressed for long periods of time, the body produces elevated levels of cortisol and other hormones that increase blood pressure, raise blood sugar, suppress immune function, and promote systemic inflammation. These biological effects have been directly linked to an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, chronic pain and anxiety-related illnesses (1).
The landmark Framingham Heart Study found that men who did not take vacations for several years were 30% more likely to have a heart attack than those who vacationed regularly (2).
Similarly, research from the Wisconsin Rural Health Women’s study found evidence that women who took fewer vacations were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, and were also more likely to die from heart disease (3).
Vacations trigger a reset in your autonomic nervous system. You move from a chronic “fight or flight” response to “rest and digest,” where the body begins to relax, prioritizing digestion, immune repair, and cellular regeneration. This is the foundational state where true healing happens.
Rest is Good for the Mind
Your brain is deeply impacted by how much rest you allow yourself, and it actually physically changes when you experience constant pressure. Studies have shown that chronic stress leads to the loss of synapses in the prefrontal cortex (4). This is the area responsible for attention, decision-making, and executive function. At the same time, constant stress has been shown to enlarge the amygdala, the center of fear and emotional reactivity. This can lead to impaired memory, emotional regulation, and problem-solving ability (5).
Going on vacation–taking a break from routine and stepping into a new environment– helps you heal. It’s now understood that individuals who spend time in nature or unfamiliar environments had significantly improved attention spans, memory retention, and creative thinking. It’s no surprise that after a real vacation, many feel the brain clear, ideas flow, and emotions become more stable.
Cognitive clarity isn’t just about getting more sleep, it’s about context. Removing yourself from your normal stress loops creates space for new neural patterns and new insights to emerge.
Vacation is Good for the Immune System
Many chronic diseases, especially autoimmune conditions, are rooted in low-grade, ongoing inflammation. One of the lesser-known benefits of extended rest is that it can lower inflammation at the cellular level.
One University of California, San Francisco study measured the effect of a one-week resort vacation on inflammatory gene expression.
Participants showed a significant downregulation, or quieting, of pro-inflammatory genes and a measurable reduction in stress biomarkers. Those who combined vacation with meditation had even greater changes (6).
Clearly, vacation does more than just relax you. It balances your immune system. A vacation reduces stress so it also lowers the immune system’s need to stay on high alert. Inflammation abates, white blood cell activity becomes more regulated, and the body shifts into repair mode.
If you are fighting fatigue, bloating, joint pain, or skin flares, rest can act as a biological intervention. It allows the immune system to recalibrate to a more balanced state.
Deep Rest Resets Your Circadian Rhythm and Rebalances Hormones
These days, technology is deeply embedded in our lifestyle. Our exposure to screens and artificial light disrupts the natural cycles that regulate sleep, hormones, and metabolism. Constant overstimulation affects the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the area of the brain that is responsible for maintaining your circadian rhythm. This, in turn, leads to hormone imbalances and broken sleep.
Vacation, or restorative time off, allows your internal clock to reset, and this is key to longevity and repair. A study from the University of Colorado Boulder found that participants who camped in nature for one week, without exposure to artificial light or screens, experienced a complete realignment of their circadian rhythms, waking up at sunrise and falling asleep earlier (7).
When your circadian rhythm resets, melatonin levels become balanced, helping you fall into deeper, more regenerative sleep. This improves the release of growth hormone, supports adrenal balance, and improves insulin sensitivity. Poor circadian rhythm, though, is associated with increased risk of obesity, depression, and cancer.
Time Away = New Meaning, Motivation, and Joy
Beyond the physiological, taking a vacation is so important to maintaining emotional and spiritual health. In the silence of rest, you reconnect to who you are—outside of your roles, your responsibilities, and your routines.
Clients often tell me that it was only when they stepped away that they realized how imbalanced their lives had become. For you, time off creates the space to hear your own voice again. The energy begins to flow. You start to feel creative, connected, and present.
In the field of positive psychology, researchers have found that periods of is termed disconnection and novelty, like what we experience during a vacation, are closely tied to increased subjective well-being (a type of ‘happiness” measurement), life satisfaction and emotional resilience. These are not just pleasant feelings, they are imperative to healing (8).
As a Reiki practitioner, I’ve seen how taking this time and creating space allows stuck energy to move, old grief to surface and clear, and intuition to return. Vacation isn’t just physical rest—it is emotional integration and spiritual alignment. It creates the conditions for insight, joy, and deep gratitude to reemerge.
Your Vacation Ritual
Unfortunately, millions of people go years without taking a real break. Our culture is about productivity and perfectionism has turned rest into something to be earned, not embodied. But the science is clear: your body, your brain, and your spirit need rest to function, heal, and thrive.
Even short vacations or structured time away from work and screens have been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk, lower cortisol levels, and improve mood for weeks afterward. And consistent rest, not just one-off vacations, correlates with greater longevity and fewer chronic conditions.
The invitation is not to wait for burnout to give you permission. The invitation is to protect rest as a part of your healing strategy. Block the time. Plan it with intention. Make it sacred.
Keeping the Good Vibes Going
You have returned from your getaway–this is where integration really matters. The most successful clients I work with bring vacation energy into their everyday life by adopting simple rituals:
- Starting the day with quiet time, rather than screens
- Scheduling daily “white space” in their calendars, even just 15 minutes
- Protecting one evening per week as technology-free
- Eating at a slower pace and without multitasking
- Maintaining a sleep routine that mirrors what worked on vacation
The goal is to make recovery part of your rhythm, not just something you “escape” to once a year.
Planning Ahead
You cannot simply work your way to wellness. Your nervous system is not designed to be in a constant stimulated state. Your spirit needs recharging as much as your cells do. And your health will plateau or decline so you must make space for recovery.
Vacation is not an escape. It’s a return to natural rhythm, to being present, to vitality and to your truest self.
You are allowed to stop. And your healing will deepen every time you honor that truth.
xo – Serena
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it still healing if I take a “staycation” and don’t travel?
A. Yes—what matters most is how you use the time, not where you go. A “staycation” can be deeply restorative if it’s intentional and protected from distractions. What’s essential is that you disconnect from work, technology, and obligation-based routines. Research from Leisure Studies shows that people who fully detach mentally from work—whether at home or away—experience the same benefits in stress reduction and mood enhancement. So yes, with the right boundaries and intention, a staycation can absolutely recalibrate your health.
Q: How long does a vacation need to be to have a measurable effect on health?
A. Even a short break can have noticeable effects. Research published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that vacations as short as four days lead to improvements in perceived stress levels, sleep quality, and overall well-being. The positive effects peaked during the vacation and remained for at least two weeks after returning to regular life. For deeper physiological shifts (like hormone rebalancing or inflammation reduction), longer or more immersive rest experiences—seven days or more—are typically needed. Think of it as a spectrum: some rest is always better than none, and deeper rest brings deeper healing.
Q: Why do I feel more tired when I finally stop to rest on vacation?
A. This is incredibly common. What you’re feeling is often called “adrenal unmasking”—when the body, after running on stress hormones for too long, finally gets permission to pause. As cortisol and adrenaline begin to drop, your nervous system swings toward parasympathetic recovery, and that sudden fatigue is the true baseline your body has been trying to override. This isn’t a sign something is wrong. It’s a sign your body is starting to repair. Allow the tiredness—it’s not weakness, it’s wisdom.
Q: What if I feel anxious when I stop working or try to relax?
A. This is more common than most people realize, especially among high performers and caregivers. When you’ve been conditioned to equate productivity with self-worth, slowing down can trigger discomfort, guilt, or restlessness. This response often points to nervous system dysregulation, particularly an overactive sympathetic response. Try grounding techniques—like walking barefoot outdoors, Reiki self-treatments, or diaphragmatic breathing—to help soothe the anxiety and signal safety to the body. Over time, rest will start to feel safer and even pleasurable.
Q: Can vacation really help with burnout recovery, or is it just a temporary relief?
A. Vacation alone won’t “fix” burnout, but it’s often a critical turning point in the healing process. Think of it as a reset button—it gives your body a chance to interrupt the stress cycle and your mind the space to assess what’s sustainable. A 2021 study in Frontiers in Psychology showed that people returning from restful time off were more likely to make long-term changes to their lifestyle and boundaries if the vacation was paired with reflection and intention-setting. In short, vacation is not the solution—but it creates the clarity and capacity needed to begin one.
Q: Are there specific signs that my body is overdue for a vacation or rest period?
A. Absolutely. These signs are often early messages from your body that it’s been running on reserves too long. Signs of what I call “rest deficiency” include:
- Trouble falling or staying asleep despite exhaustion
- Reliance on caffeine or sugar to get through the day
- Emotional flatness or irritability
- Low motivation to exercise, even if you normally enjoy it
- Frequent minor illnesses or inflammation (e.g., bloating, breakouts, joint stiffness)
- Forgetfulness or difficulty focusing
Citations
- Knezevic E, Nenic K, Milanovic V, Knezevic NN. The Role of Cortisol in Chronic Stress, Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Psychological Disorders. Cells. 2023 Nov 29;12(23):2726. doi: 10.3390/cells12232726. PMID: 38067154; PMCID: PMC10706127.
- Mahmood SS, Levy D, Vasan RS, Wang TJ. The Framingham Heart Study and the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease: a historical perspective. Lancet. 2014 Mar 15;383(9921):999-1008. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61752-3. Epub 2013 Sep 29. PMID: 24084292; PMCID: PMC4159698.
- Chikani V, Reding D, Gunderson P, McCarty CA. Vacations improve mental health among rural women: the Wisconsin Rural Women’s Health Study. WMJ. 2005 Aug;104(6):20-3. PMID: 16218311.
- Woo E, Sansing LH, Arnsten AFT, Datta D. Chronic Stress Weakens Connectivity in the Prefrontal Cortex: Architectural and Molecular Changes. Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks). 2021 Aug 29;5:24705470211029254. doi: 10.1177/24705470211029254. PMID: 34485797; PMCID: PMC8408896.
- Zhang X, Ge TT, Yin G, Cui R, Zhao G, Yang W. Stress-Induced Functional Alterations in Amygdala: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Diseases. Front Neurosci. 2018 May 29;12:367. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00367. PMID: 29896088; PMCID: PMC5987037.
- Epel, E., Puterman, E., Lin, J. et al. Meditation and vacation effects have an impact on disease-associated molecular phenotypes. Transl Psychiatry 6, e880 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2016.164
- Entrainment of the Human Circadian Clock to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle, Wright, Kenneth P. et al.
Current Biology, Volume 23, Issue 16, 1554 – 1558 - Ryff CD. Positive Psychology: Looking Back and Looking Forward. Front Psychol. 2022 Mar 17;13:840062. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.840062. PMID: 35369156; PMCID: PMC8967995.
