What do you do when you’re totally exhausted?
Do you simply push yourself through the next task & the next one & the next one?
If you’re like me, you have more items on your to-do list than there are hours in the day. Most of the time, we simply move from one thing to another without taking any breaks at all, let alone any restful breaks to recharge.
And we rarely stop & check on how we feel.
We just do what’s expected of us.
Shortly after Hurricane Irma, I felt a lot more tired than usual. There were just more things to take care of.
By and large, I used every technique that I knew of to help maintain my energy level & positive attitude.
The other night, I was on the phone with a friend and I was quite tired. We had scheduled the call to plan an event & I wanted to honor my commitment.
When I told her that I was too tired to think clearly, she said plainly: “You can change that.”
She meant that I could use my mind, like a positive affirmation, to lift my exhaustion.
Normally, I would have done just that. However, at that moment, I was too tired to care. I just wanted to be. I didn’t want to do anything else.
Sometimes, we have no choice but to push ourselves to get the job done, like putting up all of the shutters even when you have no juice left. We do whatever it takes.
Other times, using an affirmation feels pushy, mean, and unkind to ourselves.
Those are the times that we need to simply respect our bodies. To be kind, caring, and gentle.
So, I told her that I wanted to honor that feeling of exhaustion. And we hung up.
A funny thing happened afterwards.
I simply walked very slowly inside the house, noticing how exhausted I was. I even leaned against the kitchen sink for a few minutes, feeling that sense of heaviness in my bones.
Then, I moved around some more, all while saying to myself: “I. AM. So. Exhausted.”
I didn’t fight it.
I didn’t manipulate it.
I didn’t try to change a thing.
I simply noticed it, accepted it, & felt it in my flesh & bone.
After a while, that sensation of total exhaustion dissipated.
Then, I sat down & leaned my head against the back of the chair. I placed one hand on my solar plexus & the other over the collarbone. And I closed my eyes.
That felt good. That gentle energy exercise helped me recharge.
What do you do when you are super tired? How often do you give yourself the space to feel it, to be it, & to allow it to move through by itself?
Leave a Reply