Listening to what the body needs can help you find the balance needed.
I was talking with a friend who is feeling a bit burned out and their workouts are starting to suffer.
Burn out doesn’t happen to just athletes. But athletes notice it but often push through it and and push harder, only making the issue worse. Workaholics do the same thing. Anyone who has too much on their plate and to-do list does more for others and neglects their own needs.
We don’t listen to what the body says, and we keep pushing until we feel burned out.
I know because I was one of those athletes. I was a type A and pushed and pushed and pushed. Until my body said “no more!”. Yet, I still pushed for over 3 months until I was not just tired, but exhausted. My body was literally shutting down, yet my mind still wanted to go, go, go.
That was in 2000 when I had my adrenal exhaustion and I had no idea how to deal with the stress. I just kept doing my training as that was my stress relief, until it became another stress on top of the other stressors I wasn’t dealing with.
The body is always looking for balance and homeostasis.
When we are stressed, the body uses up much of it’s energy trying to recover. The stress can be physical, mental, emotional and sometimes spiritual where you are then working against yourself.
You let your mind think like Nike’s slogan Just Do It and just keep doing whatever it is that you are doing and push, push, push.
More is not better. No pain, no gain is not better. Although sometimes it is.
If we listen to what our body needs, we can avoid burnout.
Right now, the emotional and mental stress of this pandemic, news stories, schools opening/not opening, work, etc can be throwing your whole body off balance. If you add some intense training to it, you may feel the burnout within a week or 2.
Now is the time to focus on what it is your body needs….today…right now!
– Healthier food choices.
– More greens and less grains.
– Do movement that brings you joy! even if it is only 30 minutes per day. This is where Just Do It is the thing to do!
– Do something totally new and different like a cooking class, a new recipe, draw, doodle, paint or photography to inspire creativity.
– Go to sleep when you are tired even if it is 8 pm…I would go to bed at 7 when I had my adrenal exhaustion and sleep 11 hours per night!
– Choose to see beauty and love in all you do and others.
– Drink less caffeine. More over-stimulates the adrenals and makes you more tired. I recently went back to half caff coffee. Not less coffee, just less caffeine and I feel less tired.
It can be a process to know what your body wants and how to listen to the cues.
This is important for whole body health that lasts a lifetime.
My adrenal exhaustion was my cue and my inspiration to learn how to take care of me in a way I had never done before. I had to in order to allow my body to heal from inside out. I had to learn how to deal with my stress differently and learn to ask for help. It is why I started this whole body health practice!
If your body, mind and soul feels tired, broken or unmotivated, it may be time to reflect, redirect and work with someone like me who can identify what is really happening and help your body heal. As your body heals, your energy and spunk return…and learning balance is the key to avoiding a burnout relapse.
Schedule your 30-minute ‘what’s really going on with me?’ session now to support your whole body and amplify your health and well-being across your lifetime. We’ll listen to what your issues are, help you feel safe and find the easiest way to regain balance.
Blessings, hugs and peace!
joanna