Following Your Intuition When Times Feel Tough

I’ve been feeling a change … and with that, alot of resistance. Alot of questioning myself.

In my last blog post, I talked about being aware of needing some honest self care (whatever works for YOU) and now that I’ve had a weekend to sit with things and consider if I need to get back into some therapy sessions (professional mental health support is SO IMPORTANT for EVERYONE!), I’ve found some clarity that I wanted to share with you.

 

ONE. Slow down your thoughts

Often when we start feeling stressed, overworked, burnt out, anxious, worried.. we start making lists. What have I done wrong? What am I not doing? What have I been doing? What can I do to fix this? Why am I like this? Why aren’t they listening to me? Why? How? When? What? Who? Can you relate?

So my first step is to intentionally slow down. Slow down what you’re thinking, what you’re saying, what you’re about to say. Even slowing down what you’re physically doing is a huge relief to your mental health – have you ever caught yourself furiously cleaning? Or walking a little too fast? Yep. You’re on auto pilot and you need to slow down.

I am definately guilty of multi-tasking pretty much every waking hour – I do pride myself on being able to handle of small moving parts within our household, but it’s not healthy to do that all the time.

 

Two. Listen to your self

And I’m not just talking about what you’re saying – I’m talking about your thoughts and what your mind & body needs right now. (Which is also related to my latest podcast episode by the way).

I like to think that I’m very much on top of my health needs – I take my supplements, I have access to health professionals to guide me, I’m a freaking Wellness Coach (I studied nutrition and mental health and wellness!) and I am a Mindfulness & Mindset junkie too. I already know what to do to keep myself hashtag healthy – but was I listening to what I actually needed? No.

Self care needs to mean that yes you are educated on what healthy habits you need to maintain, but also it shouldn’t be a restrictive and joyless experience. You need to find the time to let go of expectations of yourself, and figure out what is the next right thing for you.

 

Three. Trust your intuition

I think sometimes we get caught up in the flow of life. We do what we’re told, or what we’ve always down and that’s it.

Trusting ourselves to know when the routine needs changing. Trusting ourselves to pull back on things, or move into a new phase of life. This is important. This will guide you to where you need to be.

After you’ve slowed down and you have learnt to listen to your needs, what is the next thing you feel that’s needed right now? Remember, self care is not selfish. There are no rewards for being burnt out and successful. It might feel indulgent or silly, but you are the judge of what your needs are and you will balance it out with the necessary things in your life. Trust yourself.

 

Four. Try new things

I don’t mean quit your job and go live overseas. (Unless that’s what you need to do!).

Our brain needs stimulation, and every one needs and deserves the chance to challenge our brain.

For me, it’s changing the route I drive when I drop my kids at school. It’s trying new meals to make at home. It’s learning about different cultures online (my kids love this too).

I think part of wellness is expanding and opening up our minds to new experiences – which is something I think everyone in the world needs right now (after being in lockdown for so long). Now is the perfect chance to learn sometime that you’ve always been curious about.

Five. Follow your fire.

After feeling so ‘blah’ lately, I found myself sitting down at dinner last night and really enjoying my meal. Like, bouncing up and down so happy to taste what was in my plate – like colour was coming back into my life.

Maybe it’s too early to tell now, but I’ll take that as a sign that while I’m still trying to figure out what is going on (aren’t we all), making a meal for myself that had no other intentions but to fuel my body, maybe that’s the small step I need to do in order to bring me back to life.

What interests you? What makes you curious? What seems interesting? What makes you excited?

Now, when was the last time you felt that way? When was the last time you did the thing that lights you up?

 

 

 

I hope you are doing well x