Interview Archives: Rest & Rhythms with Emmie Rae of The Daily Rest

January 2024 | Issue No. 9

Jan 22, 2025

Be a boss babe! Hustle culture tells us. Early bird gets the worm—so wake up at 4am! Do a HIIT workout! Do another! Don’t rest until you get it! Follow me and I’ll show you the five secrets to becoming that girl who’s hot and cool, who hits 6 figure months and doesn’t forget to invest it, who has a perky butt and attitude, who posts pretty plated meals and starts her Instagram stories with “So a lot of you have been asking...” and who does it all without dying or aging.

There was a time when little old insecure me fell prey to bullshit like this. Until one fateful day I—God willing—stumbled upon a corner of the Internet operated by—no—loved up by writer, poet, and rest teacher Emmie Rae.

At first, it was unclear who was actually behind @thedailyrest Instagram account. An angel, no doubt, but in the top left circle where an account holder's hottest photo typically inhabits, was instead filled with soft pink nothing. The entire page was sown with permission slips to listen to your body and soul instead of society’s standards and the latest “how to!” carousel. It was a portal to peace and contentment. The deepest breath of the freshest air.

After finally learning that the woman behind the gentle reminders was named Emmie, I was elated to also learn that she has an online studio dedicated to rest practices, aptly named The Daily Rest Studio: a spa for your spirit. Her digital community is home to weekly live workshops, alongside a library of shorter practices for any moment or mood. It’s truly one of my favorite places on the internet, where pressures and expectations of movement and body shape are thrown out—and love, compassion, acceptance, and exquisite language reign. It’s an honor to introduce you to Emmie, a guiding light who shows you how to rest in a restless world, and how to honor the rhythms of your own life.

—Carley

Hi Emmie! First thing’s first, your cosmic profile. What is your sun, moon, and rising?

Pisces Sun, Sagittarius Moon, Taurus Rising.

Human Design? 5/1 Sacral Generator

This issue’s theme is rest and rhythms—a theme that embodies your work with The Daily Rest so perfectly. How did you come to work with rest?

Working with Rest was never part of the plan. When I started teaching yoga, so many people made a point of telling me I should teach yin and restorative, which offended me deeply as I had forever tried to distance myself from the gentle/soft/ quiet person people (rightly) perceived me to be. I also loved sweaty vinyasa and a challenging class with a loud playlist.

However, I wanted to teach yoga full-time and it seemed like a good opportunity to get my classes up. So I began to study and practice Yin and Restorative. The specific practice of taking 20 minutes of Rest a day completely blew my mind. I found it so much more challenging than any other yoga practice (and I am *not* a naturally strong or flexible person so I found most asana practice challenging) and the impact on my life was shocking.

As a creative, driven, endlessly inspired person who forever runs out of time to do ~all~ the things, Rest truly felt like the last place I could ever be at home, and yet, when I started to move through the earth shattering discomfort of it, I found myself able to engage with life more deeply than ever before. I found I had more time to do the things I adored, and this state of being forever in a rush and running out of time began to fade.

I had always seen these practices as something you would do if injured, older, sick or unwell, but I realised the people who really (or also) needed it the most were like me — the ones who had big dreams and big energy and resisted it above all else. This was back in 2015. I would tell anyone who would listen I was going to ‘make rest cool’’. Eight years later, I feel like we’re finally getting there.

How did people first respond when you started teaching rest?

Most people thought it was lame or boring, totally reflecting back all the shadow I had around being lame and boring myself. So fun. I watched other yogis visibly tune out when I started to talk about teaching rest and wished I just taught something cooler, something that made more sense. A lot of students walked out of the class in the beginning, or simply sent me death stares over a bolster for the entire hour and a half.

Reflecting back on that time I wonder why and how I put up with all of that, like damn: I was strong! But I also knew in my body this practice worked and was needed by the very people who resisted it the most.

Despite all the disinterest, all the triggered students, all the people who didn’t know or care what a Rest practice was, even from the beginning, there were always people who did get it and kept coming back. The ones who loved it, really loved it. Many of those students I still know today and I am so grateful they believed in me, and this weird practice of nothingness in a busy-addicted world.

What does a well-rested life look like for you?

For me, a well-rested life doesn’t have to look the way we think. Sure, it could mean moving to the country, learning to make sourdough and wearing floral dresses, but it can also look like a vibrant and full life in any environment or setting. It’s not about an absence of busyness, difficulty or hard work, or a perfected state to achieve, but instead a belief that we have the power to slowly shift our addiction to stress and struggle - to believe there is a different way to live than the one we have been sold.

How does your rest practice shift with the rhythms and seasons of life?

I tend to feel the most balanced and consistent with my practice when I let go of any dogma or rules around it. While I do practice every day, it often looks different, and the way I came to have an effortless daily practice is by first allowing myself to practice most days instead of forcing myself to be hyper-consistent.

I have come to a place in my practice where I do not plan it around any particular cycle or season and instead simply let it unfold. This has taken me almost a decade to allow and trust within myself but it feels very natural now. While it’s a daily anchor for me, there are some weeks or months where I go very deep and spend a lot of time practicing and others when I come back to basics and spend more time having fun with life :)

Speaking of seasons of life, you spent a lot of the past year traveling and living in Japan and even hosted a retreat there. What is your favorite part about Japanese culture and how does it inform your teachings?

So much of my work is inspired by the time I’ve spent in Japan over the past fifteen years I recognise as someone not of or brought up in the culture, I have a very romantic experience of life there, but it has always been somewhere I have found that perfect combination of endless inspiration and electric energy, married with a very deep quietness, kindness and appreciation of beauty in the mundane. So much of this informs both my writing and the way I teach.

There’s something magic about spending time in Japan, and I feel endlessly lucky to have many lifelong friends who have welcomed me into their families and homes and taken me to many very special places across the country since I was in my early twenties. I can only hope to give back all the inspiration, healing and acceptance I have received in Japan, at least in some small way.

I imagine that’s a lot of travel, how do you center and maintain a healthy rhythm while traveling?

I grew up in a small, extremely idyllic coastal town. I spent the first eighteen years of my life in the same home and throughout my teenage years dreamed endlessly of moving to the city. I visited places like Bangkok and Tokyo and fell completely in love with the vibrancy and aliveness. I don’t know if it’s due to my early life being very steady, consistent and deeply connected to nature that now as an adult I tend to thrive in travel and changing environments, but it’s something that actually brings me a deep peace and ease.

I have been without a permanent home since the beginning of 2023 and while I do plan to settle (kind of!) in 2024, it has been a truly magical experience, and one I encourage anyone to try if you’ve always felt the call. Yes, constant change and travel is a stressor on the system and may not be for everyone, but the right stressors can actually expand our capacity for growth, connection and joy. I have found that with the right combination of flexibility and letting go of perfectionism as well as a commitment to the practices that bring you back home, you can actually feel healthier and more alive when you’re in new environments and on the go. If it’s the right time and season for you, of course.

I love your teachings on celestial rhythms. Learning about them has been a refreshing rebellion against the typical “work 5 days a week, party 2” the modern world has. Can you give us a breakdown of the days of the week?

This could be expanded greatly, but a few keywords to have a little fun with

Sunday | Sun Day: Social connection, family, friends, outdoor time, play, sharing, sun and great conversation

Monday | Moon Day: For introspection and meditation, for moving slowly and gently, for feeling all that needs to be felt

Tuesday | Mars Day: For hitting the ground running, for action and doing the things we’re afraid of

Wednesday | Mercury Day: For communication, writing and creating, for spending time with friends

Thursday | Jupiter Day: For exploration, vision expanding, trying new things, being seen, putting yourself out in the world

Friday | Venus Day: For beauty and sensuality and indulgence. For bathing rituals, massage… and doing your taxes.

Saturday | Saturn Day: For doing the things you keep putting off. For organization, discipline and domestic tasks.

There is a lot of noise around the idea that things that are meant for you will come easily. Do you subscribe to this belief?

Firstly we have to look at what we interpret the word easy to mean. I think these days we tend to conflate the word easy with fast or predictable. We might translate easy to mean no bumps along the road, no shadows or old beliefs we have to overcome. A predictable path we can know and control. If we take easy to mean these things, then I don’t subscribe to this belief at all.

I do believe the things that are meant for us will present us with the right challenges to overcome and fears to face. Often what is meant for us will gently press us up against our edges and encourage us to grow - which is certainly not easy - but it is always worth it.

What I also believe is, things that are meant for us are often the things we have always loved, and the people we have always been, but never saw as enough. I don’t think our most aligned anything will come through force, that rejection is protection and nothing that is truly meant for us will ever completely pass us by.

Advice for someone who is successful, but also completely burnt out. How can they move into rest without feeling guilty/shameful/like they will fall behind?

Starting small is key. You almost have to make it too easy. Sit and meditate or breathe through the left nostril for three minutes once a day. Then twice a day. Even smaller if you need to. Start so small you can’t possibly imagine it will help. Embrace imperfection and inconsistency, and through practice you will no longer be able to ignore the fact your life is better with it, and while it’s not the point, at all you will also realise you start to get ahead, instead of fall behind, even if it’s not in the way you expected or planned.

Favorite tools for rest Nothing is needed other than commitment and intention, however, beautiful objects. Something to cover your eyes. Doesn’t have to be cute or fancy, but closing off the overactive sense doors of the eyes can sometimes be enough of a Rest practice in itself. A sheepskin and incense are my personal favorites but a nice to have rather than a need.

Favorite “failure” Not getting a ‘proper’ job after graduating university and floating around writing poetry, learning to meditate, traveling and working in clothing stores instead after a lifetime of being an overachiever.

Something you are proud of All the really, really hard decisions I’ve made, especially in the past few years. The Daily Rest Studio!! All the incredible people I have come to know.

Something most people don’t know about you? I still think moving slowly and gently and taking time to pause is really fucking hard a lot of the time.

Best advice you’ve ever received. Trust yourself.

What makes you feel beautiful? The very specific combination of sitting in meditation wearing a robe and fragrant body oils after swimming in the ocean. Also walking around Tokyo listening to music in my most favorite outfit of the moment.

If you could write anything permanently in the sand so that when anyone on the beach strolled by they would see it—what would you write? You already know.

One person dead or alive that you could have dinner with? Where are you and what are you eating? My great grandfather. I never met him but he was an author and the first person to fly from Melbourne to Darwin in 1919. I’d love to take him to a proper traditional Japanese dinner in the mountains of Japan and show him where the threads of his adventurous spirit have taken me. I would ask him a million questions about fear and courage and being the first to do something scary and new.

Currently:

Subscribing to: More dancing, more fun and more love
Unsubscribing to: The wellness world
Watching: Videos of my best friend’s kids being adorable
Listening: Japanese language verb conjugation audios that make me want to rip my hair out, and pop music

Anything exciting and upcoming for you that you can share?

SO MUCH but nothing I can share publicly yet :’(

For more Emmie, slow down and replenish your spirit with a variety of rest classes at www.thedailyrest.com and with healing words and poetry on Substack @Emmierae and Instagram @thedailyrest

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