09 Apr Change your habits, change your life… One small step at a time
I’ve transformed just about everything in my life over the last six years: career, marital status, where I live, where I do business, how I do business, colleagues, friends, my name, what I believe, how I eat, and how I move my body. EVERYTHING I knew and was comfortable with in my life has changed.
As my roles and titles changed, so too did my understanding of who I was. It’s amazing how much of my identity and ego were wrapped up in my titles.
To be clear, I’m still in the process of transformation.
I’m not sure if we are ever done changing, but I can say with certainty that removing all of those masks and redefining myself has been a big undertaking. I didn’t think so at the time, but looking back it’s been quite the renovation. It actually feels more like a complete re-model – for me, a middle-aged model.
When we’re in fight or flight mode all of our attention is on the task at hand: survival.
We’re not thinking: “Wow! This is hard!” It’s more like “Run Forest! And keep on running until you’re safe.”
Only when I stopped running and took some time to catch my breath, rest and reflect on how far and fast I’d ran, could I see (and feel) just how hard that run really was on my body, mind and spirit.
I realized when I stopped running, that I was in burnout mode.
I realized that my adrenals were completely exhausted. I’d been survival (fight or flight mode) with continual exposure to stressors for so long that my adrenals needed some love and time to recuperate.
I needed to allow myself the time and space to heal. I inherently knew what I must do. Along with my training, I’d read enough self-help books and had coached plenty of women on the very same issue.
The foundation of repair is built on:
- Rest
- Patience
- Self-love
- Forgiveness
- Reassurance
- Self-acceptance
- Self-compassion
- Self-appreciation
- Positive affirmations
- Nourishment on levels – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
When I found myself in my own mud puddle, I personalized my rescue list to suit my needs.
I realized that in order to heal, I needed:
- Gentle yoga
- Time in nature
- Room to laugh
- Permission to cry
- To trust my own voice
- Time and space to grieve
- Time to heal my broken heart
- A platform to dance and shine on
- Acceptance to make more mistakes
- Confidence to take just one step at a time (even if it wasn’t in the perfect direction)
- Strength to feel the emptiness rather than fill it with food, alcohol, material things or empty relationships
I also reaffirmed my need and desire to eat well, exercise gently, stay well hydrated, surround myself with positive, supportive people, establish healthy routines and limit alcohol consumption.
I realize how simple may sound. But as you may experience, when you’re weak, even the simplest of tasks can seem an overwhelming challenge.
These “easy” to do tasks are just as painfully easy not to do.
It’s very easy not to get up early or go to bed early. It’s very easy to drink a glass or two of wine every night. It’s super easy to skip meals or grab something quick because cooking seems like too much work. It’s easy to skip leisure walks, thinking you don’t have enough time – and won’t work up the intensity to burn calories anyway.
But it’s just as easy to DO the right things when you do them gradually and repeatedly.
Eventually, by doing things consistently, you form new healthy habits.
The journey to healing my exhausted adrenals has stemmed from taking small, baby steps and repeating them every day.
This is exactly the way I coach my clients. Based on their personal needs and imbalances. The steps I suggest are different for everyone.
I believe we, ourselves, know what we need to do – what supports us, and what depletes us. Sometimes we just need a little help with direction, encouragement or motivation. If you find yourself in need of map, I’m here to guide you. If you want to venture down the road at your own pace, I’ve created a DIY step-by-step lifestyle transformation program just for you.
Until then dear one, keep on trekking, one small step at a time.
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