^{By Amélie Baasner, Doctoral researcher, Humboldt University and Independent Advisor, Germany}

14 January 2026, Berlin. Recently, I came across an article about the American civil rights activist Rosa Parks that described how, in her later years, she engaged in practices such as yoga to support both body and mind. The piece situated this routine within a longer lineage of women* of color who, across generations, have understood rest and embodied care as essential to survival, resilience, and collective organizing. It was a powerful reminder that the connection between body and mind has long been central to the struggles of women* fighting for justice. 

At the same time, the rise of industrial capitalism into what Achille Mbembe describes as today’s brutalist era increasingly privileged rational thought and productivity over the sensing being. Forms of care for the body, for nature, and for community were relegated to the margins, treated as secondary or apolitical and oftentimes linked to the realm of the female. Yet practices of care remain at the heart of human existence. Allowing the body to rest is far more than a contemporary trend of self care (which oftentimes comes with the idea of optimizing the self or consumption). 

1. The Status Quo

Looking back at 2025, it is necessary to be blunt: in many regions of the world, the situation of women*’s rights and of those who defend them, whether journalists, politicians or activists, looks dire. Attacking women* rights has become a convenient strategy for anti-democratic forces to gain support and exert control. At the same time, the rise in technology-facilitated violence against women* has prompted UN Women and others to issue clear warnings about the risks ahead.

In this context, the fourth and so far last global women*’s summit in Beijing in 1995 and the remarkable consensus achieved there feel very far away. The struggle for the societal shifts necessary for everyone to be treated as equal will be a long one. What we are witnessing on a global scale is often labeled a “backwards tendency” or a “backsliding” of women* rights. And while some aspects may echo the past, time inevitably moves forward and new and distinct elements are added to the pattern of the omnipresent oppression of women*. So let’s simply call it a tendency that we need to observe and critically challenge as journalists.

2. The Role Of Women* Journalists

Women* journalists play a crucial role at this moment in time. According to the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) report of 2025, first launched in 1995 alongside the Beijing Platform for Action, gender equality in the global news media still has a long road ahead. For the first time since the launch of the program, women*’s visibility in the news is no longer steadily increasing but stagnating: Although women* make up half of the world’s population, only about a quarter of the people who are seen, heard or spoken about in print and broadcast news are women*. The picture is even bleaker for minorities: ”less than one in 10 women* in the news belong to a minority group”, the report states. This development is closely connected to a media environment in which male voices are still being treated as the default authority. The analysis shows that the gap between men and women* closes much more slowly in the roles of experts and spokespersons than in roles based on personal experience or popular opinion. At the same time, the report finds that gender stereotypes are being challenged less and less, and that news about gender-based violence accounts for only a very small fraction (2% if I recall correctly) of all articles. Yet there is also a clear indication of the difference women* reporters make. With women* now responsible for just over two out of five online news stories, they are measurably more likely to include women* as subjects and sources and to cover gender-related issues. 

In simple terms: without women* in journalism, women*’s overall visibility in the news shrinks even further.

3. Why Should We Talk About Rest?

Rest is a privilege. Before addressing the topics of stress management and self-care, this needs to be very clear. When we live in a country at war, or when our own lives and those of our loved ones are at risk, the body rarely allows true rest; even the idea of “taking a break” can feel absurd or cynical. Rightfully so.

At the same time, opening up conversations about mental health among journalists is both necessary and an opportunity to lead by example. Our network is a great possibility to do so. Many colleagues I have spoken to describe simply pushing through and continuing to work, some of them turning to alcohol or drugs to cope with stress and emotional distress. Precisely because these patterns are so widespread and so often hidden, starting to talk about them openly is essential. 

4. The Story of The Tiger

The image of “running from a tiger” I am sure you are all familiar with. It is often used to describe stress, and it points to a very simple truth that many of us face every day: while we juggle multiple journalistic stories across several devices, race through overbooked schedules, carry empathy for the people whose lives we report on while rushing to the next appointment, care for family and friends and on top of that eventually navigate hostile colleagues or superiors as well as societal or governmental pressure, our body remains that of a mammal. In its basic instincts, it differs little from those of animals. It constantly seeks to maintain an inner balance known as homeostasis, even as our minds race ahead. Mainly responsible for this balance (allow me to heavily simplify) are two branches of the autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic system is what kicks in when we “run from a tiger”. 

Here is what that means:

– Sugar and fat will flood the bloodstream

– Muscle tone increases, so that we’re ready to sprint

– Blood is diverted to muscles, lungs, heart and brain, fingers and toes might suddenly turn cold

– Respiration rate, heart rate and blood pressure rise to deliver more oxygen and nutrients

– Sweat production ramps up

– Blood clotting mechanisms activate in case of injury

– The pupils dilate. 

Our bodies are actually physically ready to fight that tiger (high chances that we’d lose), run from it or just throw a stapler at someone. Please don’t throw a stapler. In short: this is how our body responds to stress and to trauma as well. It makes no distinction between physical danger, emotional fear or remembered threat; perceived risk triggers the same physiological alarm. For this brief introduction, I would like to set aside the complex topic of trauma and its bodily effects, though I wanted to mention it. It demands delicacy and deserves its own space, since so many journalists encounter it directly or through the stories they tell.

5. Now, How Do We Rest Best?

Unregulated long-term stress pushes our bodies into overdrive: chronic anxiety, disrupted sleep and digestion, hormonal imbalance, muscle tension and pain, weakened immune response, and a loss of joy or motivation. The nervous system establishes a new, constantly elevated baseline of arousal that diminishes recovery capacity and gradually erodes physical, emotional, and cognitive resilience. In order to heal this, we need to tap into the sympathetic nervous systems’ counterpart: The parasympathetic nervous system. Its activation triggers the so-called rest-and-digest response, allowing us to find rest both physically and emotionally:

– Muscle tone decreases 

– Increased digestion

– General sense of relaxation, drowsiness

– Less oxygen is required: respiration rate and volume decrease 

– Decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, and sweat production 

Accessing the parasympathetic nervous system and finding moments of rest in an overly rushed world and working environment is deeply personal; there is no simple checklist. For some rest is to be found in nature, for others in the company of a loved one, in painting, cooking, music, dancing, the company of animals or simply by going for a run. Yet the most powerful and universal entry point (and witness to our state of being) remains our breath. Under stress, it shifts upward toward the chest and ribcage, lifting the collarbones. Prolonged exhalations can guide us back to rest, where breathing settles more deeply and we can feel it in the belly. The breath becomes a reliable indicator of how we are doing, even of the situations we face. Observing it and learning what it reveals, without the immediate need to judge, is the most effective first step toward building a close relationship with our body. It is also crucial in the process of speaking up, finding a voice and being heard. This is especially true for those who usually lend their own voice to others so they can be heard. 

If I had to suggest one first step toward rest and self-awareness (without adding more items or exercises to your to-do list) it would be this: observe your breath with kindness, whenever you notice it. 

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 Throughout this essay, the term women* is used to denote all individuals who identify as women, including cis women, trans women, and gender-diverse people who identify with womanhood.

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Euro-Mediterranean Network of Women Journalists.