When life becomes overwhelming, it’s important to become aware.
We might all experience a moment in our day where we just feel a little stressed, somehow uneasy in the body and mind. You could be at your day job (working from home or on site) and feel mentally exhausted after having to focus for hours. You might be on holidays with all the time and joy in the world, but still, have that sensation pop up. There isn’t really a time or place for it, it’s just something one can experience in the day-to-day; especially in the Western culture where we all live a fast-paced lifestyle. A lot of our energy doesn’t get space to settle, breathe and expand. Calmly.
We are rarely asked by others: what makes you truly happy? What could you do more of? When do you feel the most alive, empowered, and purposeful?
Worst, do we even ask ourselves this?
I was sitting at my home desk today and it was getting close to 4pm when I felt the sensation. This little unease, something internally telling me that something was off and I needed to get up, move, refresh, write, stretch, meditate or go outdoors for a bit, to nurture myself. Bring back some balance.
I’ve become quite good at listening to my body and know what it needs, in order to let the sensation move through, but sill, I do have moments where I become lost in the motions and am not present enough. Where I become a tad overwhelmed with what I think I should be doing, achieving, focusing on. When you’re in that state, it’s easy to just grab chocolate cake or snack on crisps instead of eating proper meals, and there’s nothing wrong with cake by the way if that makes you happy; but there’s a difference in enjoying one portion every once in a while and really find joy in it, enjoy the taste of it, feel grateful and content with it, as opposed to chucking it down between emails because it’s the only decent thing in the fridge. That’s where this discomfort starts to appear all of a sudden, because we’re not aware enough and nourishing ourselves enough.
To an extent, we all engage in some sort of habits in our routine that don’t benefit us - some of these things might be the use of substances such as alcohol, tabaco or drugs because we think they make us feel good. Poor sleep, poor nutrition, stress, worrying, complaining, fear, lack of exercise, binge watching TV/Series, being passive.
What I told myself to snap out of it today, was simply to stop what I was doing, move away from my desk and start to engage immediately in an activity that would naturally make me feel good! And here I am, on my lovely yoga mat, surrounded by my crystals, essential oil diffuser, favourite body creams, hairbrush, books, tea and a fresh word document page to share my thoughts.
Being in tune with yourself and becoming the master of your beautiful life doesn’t need to be elaborate, it starts with just noticing.
Whenever your internal voice tells you, mhmm.. I think I could be a little more comfortable here if I did that, or I feel lazy cooking a good and exciting meal for myself but I know that once I start I’ll enjoy it, THEN DO THAT. Even if it means laying in your bed for half an hour and just staring at the ceiling and daydream, if that feels good and you need the rest, give yourself that moment. Self-care and fuel look different for everybody, and on different days we may need different things, but always aim to prioritize feeling good, feeling happy about yourself and how you actually feel inside. Go more towards the things, thoughts, routines, activities and foods that truly nourish and empower you on the long term. Cultivate that sensation of wellbeing, of going after what YOU need.
A few things that are working well for me:
Thoughts: Whenever I feel I am a little stressed, unhappy or lazy, I am careful to not make it bigger than it is and indulge in it. I try not to talk about it in too much detail to people around me and rather check in with myself, my mindset, my thoughts and body and start to tell myself all the things that are in fact beautiful and awesome in my life, and soon I reverse my state. Chances are, the more you do that, the happier and more content you will be. Like attracts like, similar things are attracted to each other, so if you start to think about and visualize what you love about life and what you want more of in yours, rather than focusing on what makes you feel down or stressed, you will in time create a life from that vision and intention. That’s extremely powerful.
Body: Moving, exercising, has been by far one of the biggest success factors in my life at the moment and I feel there’s nothing that can’t be cured, and make you feel more empowered and blissful than a good workout session or an outdoors activity! It simply realigns the body, the energy, and engages you in a way where you naturally feel more energized and capable.
Nutrition: What we feed ourselves, (including drinks, substances) is ultimately going to affect how we feel on a daily basis and will benefit or harm our internal balance and wellbeing. Again, there’s nothing wrong with eating what you like and we’re not talking about being on a diet here and obsess over having to be healthy all the time. It’s more about taking the time to actually cook, do your grocery shopping, enjoying the process of it, observe how certain foods feel in the body, find what works for you and nurture your body properly. It’s just about finding a balance, an average - where let’s say 80% of the time we feed ourselves things we know, from having paid attention to it and experienced it, feel good in our body and give us energy and wellness, and the rest of the 20% is also here to not pay too much attention and perhaps enjoy whatever we want to eat with joy too.