Rest and Ulcerative Colitis Recovery: Why Doing Less Can Heal More

Why Rest Deserves a Place in Your Healing Plan

I used to think rest was something you earned. A reward for being productive enough, helpful enough, tough enough. The idea of slowing down, without being forced to by illness, felt indulgent. Lazy, even.

But when I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, my body made it very clear: rest wasn’t optional. It wasn’t a treat or a luxury. It was medicine.

In those early months, I did what most people do: I looked for answers in food, supplements, and medication. And while those were all important parts of my recovery, they didn’t tell the whole story. It took me years to realise that one of the biggest missing pieces was something deceptively simple: rest.

Not just sleep. Not just lying on the couch when I couldn’t move. I’m talking about true, nervous system rest. Emotional exhale. Mental stillness. Rest that allows your body to stop surviving and start healing.

If you’re in the middle of your UC journey, flaring, recovering, or somewhere in between, and wondering whether you’re “doing enough,” this blog is for you. Because sometimes, the most healing thing you can do isn’t adding more to your plan.

It’s doing less.

Why Rest Matters for UC (and What ‘Rest’ Really Means)

When we think about healing from UC, most of us jump straight to food. What to cut out. What to add in. Which protocol might finally work. And yes, what’s on your plate does matter. But it’s not the whole picture.

One of the most overlooked tools in gut healing is rest. And not just physical rest, but the kind that reaches into your nervous system. The kind that tells your body: you’re safe now. Because your gut can’t heal in a state of stress.

Ulcerative Colitis is an inflammatory condition. And stress, even the low-level, “I’m fine” kind, fans the flames of inflammation. When your body is stuck in fight-or-flight mode, rushing through your day, juggling too much, never switching off, digestion slows down. Immune activity ramps up. And the very systems that need to focus on repair are too busy reacting to perceived threat.

That’s why rest is more than sleep. It’s the slow exhale in your day. It’s the space between appointments. It’s time away from screens, to-do lists, and emotional overload. It’s nervous system regulation, a fancy way of saying your body needs calm to heal.

There’s also something deeper here, especially for those of us who’ve lived with chronic illness for a while. Many of us are used to doing. We’re good at researching, planning, managing symptoms, and pushing through. Rest doesn’t feel active enough. But healing isn’t always loud. It’s not always productive in the traditional sense. Often, it’s quiet. Gentle. Cumulative. And it starts when we stop trying to fix everything and allow ourselves to simply be.

For me, this shift didn’t happen overnight. I had to unlearn the idea that rest was lazy. I had to let go of the guilt I felt when I said no, or cancelled plans, or took a nap in the middle of the day. But the more I made space for real rest, the more my body responded. It was like it had been waiting for me to stop long enough to catch up.

So if you’re reading this and feeling like rest is the thing you never get around to… maybe that’s where your healing wants to begin.

The Nervous System Connection

Your gut and your nervous system are in constant conversation. Every time you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or even just under pressure to hold it all together, your gut feels that too. It’s not a metaphor. It’s biology.

Our bodies have two main modes: fight-or-flight (stress response) and rest-and-digest (healing mode). These aren’t just moods, they’re whole-body states, regulated by the autonomic nervous system. When you’re in fight-or-flight, your heart rate speeds up, your muscles tense, and digestion slows down or shuts off completely. Your body’s priority becomes survival, not repair.

Now think about what it’s like to live with UC. You’re often already inflamed. Already on edge. And then on top of that, you’re navigating work, family, relationships, finances, symptoms, flare anxiety, all of it. It’s no wonder your system is overloaded.

This is where the vagus nerve comes in, a key player in that rest-and-digest state. It connects your brain to your gut and helps regulate inflammation, digestion, and emotional regulation. When your vagus nerve is activated (through things like deep breathing, humming, gentle movement, or simply feeling safe), your body gets the message: it’s okay to settle now. It’s okay to heal.

For years, I didn’t know any of this. I was eating clean, ticking every supplement box, showing up at my gastro appointments, but still flaring. And I couldn’t understand why. The missing link, I came to realise, was nervous system regulation. I was doing all the right things, but from a place of panic. Of fear. Of desperation to fix what felt broken.

It wasn’t until I started paying attention to how I was moving through the world, not just what I was doing, that things started to shift. Slowing down wasn’t just about being kind to myself. It was about changing my body’s internal environment so that healing was actually possible.

This doesn’t mean you need to meditate for an hour a day or suddenly become calm all the time (if only!). But even simple, consistent cues, a few deep breaths before a meal, five minutes of quiet in the morning, can start to retrain your nervous system. These moments build up. They matter.

If you’ve been feeling like you’re doing everything “right” but still not getting better, maybe it’s not about doing more. 

When I Finally Slowed Down: A Turning Point

When I was first diagnosed with UC, I did what many of us do: I focused on food. I went all in on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Not one slip-up in two years. I tried, ketogenic, vegetarian, low-lectin, low-FODMAP… you name it. My symptoms improved, but remission never lasted.

At the time, I was working 80–90-hour weeks, travelling often, and saying yes when I should’ve been saying enough. I thought I was being dedicated. Strong. Efficient. But in reality, I was completely depleted.

There’s a saying in PR (the industry I worked in): “It’s PR, not ER.” But my nervous system didn’t get the memo. My life was a perfect storm of stress and overachievement, and I wore it like a badge of honour. When I applied to a global UC drug trial, they initially rejected me because they didn’t believe someone working that much, with zero sick leave, could possibly be that sick. It wasn’t until my gastroenterologist submitted colonoscopy footage that they admitted me. I was, it turned out, one of the most ill participants in the entire trial.

And still, I kept pushing.

It took me years to understand that my gut wasn’t just reacting to what I was eating, it was reacting to how I was living. The pressure. The pace. The emotional load I carried silently.

Healing didn’t begin with the next supplement or stricter diet. It began when I let go of the hustle. When I gave myself permission to pause. To lie down. To cancel. To breathe.

It began when I finally, truly, let myself rest.

What Rest Looks Like in Real Life 

When we talk about rest, most people think of sleep, and while that’s part of it, true rest goes much deeper. Especially when you’re healing from something like UC, rest needs to touch every part of your life: your body, your mind, your schedule, your relationships.

Here are a few ways rest can actually look, day to day:

1. Stillness

A moment of deep breathing. Ten quiet minutes with a cup of tea. Staring out the window without a screen in sight. Stillness soothes your nervous system, and for a flaring gut, that’s medicine.

2. Sleep

The obvious one, but often the most neglected. Gut repair mostly happens while we sleep. Try winding down earlier, protecting your bedtime like it’s sacred, and limiting screen time at night. Small shifts can make a big difference.

3. Saying No

Rest also looks like boundaries. Cancelling the dinner you’re dreading. Rescheduling that meeting. Letting people down gently so you don’t let your body down completely.

4. Doing Less

Doing less isn’t failure. It’s a strategy. One clear priority a day. One errand instead of five. One hour offline. These moments stack up to become a whole new rhythm.

5. Gentle Movement

Rest doesn’t always mean lying down. A walk in nature. A few stretches. Slow yoga. Movement that soothes instead of stresses your system is often more healing than staying still and stewing in tension.

6. Quiet Joy

Not everything needs to be ‘productive’. Rest can be knitting, journaling, listening to music, or pottering in the garden. Activities that bring calm without asking much of you.

What Happens When You Don’t Rest

Many of us wait until our bodies force us to rest. But when it comes to UC, ignoring rest doesn’t just make you tired, it can make you sicker.

Inflammation Stays High

When you’re constantly stressed, your body stays in a state of low-grade fight-or-flight. That means more cortisol, more immune overactivity, and more inflammation, which is the exact opposite of what your gut needs.

The Gut Can’t Repair

Healing the gut lining takes time and cellular energy, and that only happens when your body feels safe enough to prioritise it. Without rest, your system is too busy putting out stress fires to focus on healing wounds.

Nutrient Absorption Suffers

Even if you’re eating all the right things, a tense, stressed body may struggle to digest and absorb those nutrients. That’s why rest is a quiet but powerful partner to nutrition; it helps your body use what you’re feeding it.

Flares Last Longer

When you’re burnt out, your threshold is lower. It takes less to tip you into a flare, and more time to come out of it. I learned this the hard way, pushing through symptoms only ever pushed me further from remission.

How to Build More Rest Into Your Life

Rest doesn’t need to mean a week off work or a silent retreat in the mountains (though that sounds lovely). It can start small. Intentional. Gentle. Sustainable.

Here are a few ways to weave rest into your life, even when things feel full:

Schedule “Nothing”

Block out time in your calendar with no plans. No errands, no calls, no cleaning. Just space. 

Protect Your Evenings

Wind down earlier. Dim the lights. Switch off screens. Create a cue for your body that it’s time to shift gears and settle.

Breathe Before You Eat

A few deep breaths before a meal can activate your rest-and-digest system. It’s a small habit with a big impact on digestion and stress.

Get Outside (Without Your Phone)

Nature helps regulate your nervous system. Whether it’s barefoot on grass or a quiet walk around the block, these moments are deeply restorative.

Say No (Without Overexplaining)

You don’t need a crisis to justify rest. You’re allowed to cancel plans, reschedule meetings, or simply say, “I’m resting.” Full stop.

Lean Into Low-Effort Joy

Listen to music. Doodle. Watch something cosy. Do things that feel good without requiring much of you. 

Final Thoughts: Doing Less Is an Act of Courage

Rest can feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you're used to measuring your worth by what you do. But healing asks us to play by a different set of rules. It invites us to stop performing and start listening. To stop pushing and start softening.

For me, rest wasn’t just a nice-to-have. It was the turning point. The moment I stopped trying to outwork my illness, and started working with my body instead.

So if you’re in the thick of it, wondering what else you can try, maybe the answer isn’t another protocol or supplement. Maybe it’s space. Stillness. A slower pace.

This week, I invite you to ask:

Where can I do a little less and let my body do a little more?

FAQs: 

Q: Why am I so tired all the time with UC?

Fatigue is one of the most common and frustrating symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis. It’s not just from poor sleep; it can be caused by chronic inflammation, low iron or B12, stress, or even the emotional toll of managing a flare. You're not imagining it, and you're not lazy. Your body is doing a lot behind the scenes.

Q: Can rest actually help me heal from UC?

Yes. Rest supports your nervous system, helps lower inflammation, and gives your body space to repair. It’s not a fix, but it’s a vital piece of the healing puzzle, and one that’s often ignored in favour of ‘doing more’.

Q: What does “resting my nervous system” actually mean?

It means creating moments where your body feels safe. This could be deep breathing, meditation, journaling, gentle movement, or even just switching your phone off and doing nothing for 10 minutes. When your nervous system calms down, your gut has a better chance to heal.

Q: How do I know if I need more rest?

If you’re constantly tired, easily overwhelmed, flaring more often, or feeling emotionally raw, those are signs. Sometimes your body whispers, and sometimes it shouts. Either way, it’s okay to listen sooner rather than later.

Q: I feel guilty when I rest. How do I deal with that?

Guilt loves to show up when we slow down, especially if we’ve been conditioned to see rest as lazy. But here’s the truth: rest is productive when you’re healing. It’s not indulgent, it’s essential. Remind yourself that choosing rest is choosing health.