Simple Ways To Honour And Move Your Energy

Welcome to Cozy Couch Chats.

Today I'm feeling drawn to chat about honouring your needs and boundaries,

And giving yourself permission to honour your needs and boundaries.

This has been a big lesson in my life,

Something that I'm still working through,

I think it's something that we probably are all always working through,

At some level,

In some way.

Especially in the world we live in,

Where we've been conditioned to push ourselves beyond our limits,

Which can be great,

It can definitely open up new worlds to us that,

Had we not pushed ourselves,

We may not have accessed,

However,

It can be a harmful cycle to live in.

I'm sure everyone listening to this has probably experienced burnout in some way.

And burnout doesn't always have to come from a work or career source,

Burnout can come from other areas of your life,

Or it can come from different areas of your life adding up.

Burnout comes from,

Essentially,

Holes in your energy,

So your energy is leaking out in ways that you no longer feel you can control,

In ways that are depleting you,

That are leaving nothing for yourself.

And when you get to this point,

It can be really challenging to rebuild that energy,

It can be really challenging to work on setting boundaries when boundaries haven't been in place for you for some time.

And operating in this way,

We tend to miss those beautiful little moments of life,

The flowers blooming on our walk,

Maybe even going for a walk in the first place,

Is something that we just don't have the energy for.

And honestly,

That's where I've been this week,

And I know that going out in nature will help,

But I've gotten myself to the point of it being difficult to even get myself out there.

And I know that I just have to have some grace with myself when this happens.

I have been pushing to create and create,

And that is my natural way of being.

I am a creator,

I am a creative,

And I become really passionate about what I would like to create,

And then I put everything I have into it.

On top of that,

It's summer right now while I'm recording this,

And I've been more social out and about with friends,

Which is wonderful.

However,

Something I need to work on,

And maybe you can relate,

Is just having more awareness,

Feeling into those early signs of,

Am I taking on too much?

So one sign that's coming to mind for me right now,

Is I can literally feel a buzzing of energy in my body when I'm very excited about life,

About what I'm working on,

About what's coming up,

Almost to the point that it's slightly uncomfortable.

And I'm realizing now that maybe this is a sign that some of that energy needs to be balanced out,

Needs to be grounded,

So that I can continue on with a more stable flow of energy,

Keeping that excitement and passion intact without going overboard.

So yeah,

If you felt a buzzing in your body,

Almost like you can feel the blood moving in your body,

You feel that anxious excitement,

The butterflies in your stomach kind of feeling,

Having trouble falling asleep,

Because you're looking forward to moving to the next step of whatever you're working on,

Or getting things done,

You are feeling lightheaded.

Also I'm getting if your appetite is low,

If food isn't quite appealing to you the way it normally is,

That can be a sign of not being grounded in that energy.

And so if you're experiencing any of those things,

Which I have been experiencing a lot of,

And then I hit a wall this past week,

Those are signs to ground that excited,

Creative,

Passionate,

Ambitious energy.

In all things,

We strive to find balance.

It does not always work this way,

And that's okay.

However,

It's the self-awareness and the making effort towards that balance that matters.

And so what can we do when we find ourselves getting those early signs of burnout?

We need to ground that energy.

We need to perhaps move excess energy to find ourselves in a more stable place.

So here are some ways that we can do that.

Getting into nature,

Of course,

Is a really great way to ground yourself,

To bring yourself back down into your humanness,

Into your body,

To remind yourself that you are a human living on this planet,

That there are trees coexisting with you,

And to just hug a tree even,

To feel the earth on your feet,

Feel the grass on your feet.

Water is a really great way to ground,

So if you have any kind of natural body of water around you,

Going for a swim or even putting your hands and feet in the water for a few minutes can work wonders.

Or having a shower with the intention that any negative energy or excess energy just gets washed down and recirculated into the universe.

Having a bath in the same way when you drain the tub,

Imagining that unneeded,

Unwanted energy going down with the water and being repurposed in a positive way.

Moving the body is a really great way to move energy,

Especially when you're feeling that electric buzzing energy feeling.

Tune into your body and ask yourself,

How does my body need to move right now to move this energy?

Maybe it's something vigorous,

Like some jumping jacks,

Or maybe it's putting on music and just dancing however your body wants to dance.

No judging yourself,

No trying to control it,

This is one of my favorite ways to move energy and get back in touch with my body.

Or maybe it's something more gentle,

Like some yoga,

Gentle stretching,

Going for a walk.

For some people,

It may be going for a run.

I occasionally feel the need to do that,

It is rare,

But sometimes I'll be out for a walk and I'm like,

You know what,

This pace isn't doing it for me and I just,

I need to just run for a couple of blocks just to move things and then it works wonders.

That may be something you experience from time to time.

And even if you're not a runner,

Which I don't personally identify as a runner,

That doesn't mean that you can't run if your body is telling you it wants to run.

So don't worry about labels around movement,

Just tune in to what your body needs and honour that.

Remember,

I'm talking about honouring your needs today,

So I think honouring what your body needs is important as well.

Or honouring what the body,

Soul,

And spirit needs to arrive at a place of balance.

So those are some ways to work on balancing that energy when you have those signs that burnout is approaching.

And of course,

Taking pauses as well,

Taking breaks.

So I personally have a tendency to just push through whatever I'm working on,

Even to the point that if I have to pee,

I won't get up to pee,

Which I know is so ridiculous,

But I just get into such a flow state.

But then my energy becomes so stagnant just from sitting and forcing myself to get through what I'm working on and ignoring my body's needs,

Which those are always going to be running in the background.

My body is always operating on a cycle.

It's going to need to eat,

Sleep,

Drink water,

And those are the most basic things we can do for our body that does so much for us.

So that's something that I'm working on as well.

And if you feel like you've already hit that burnout place,

Some signs of that is just you don't feel like doing anything.

Nothing appeals to you.

You just want to be a hermit.

You feel shut down.

You don't feel motivated to get out of bed in the morning.

And of course,

Some of these things do overlap with depression as well.

So always be sure to check in with a medical professional,

Be a therapist,

Just to make sure that you're taking care of your mental health as well and making sure you have everything you need there.

But if you have just been through a period of pushing yourself,

Some of those signs may be burnout,

Apathy,

Lethargy,

Things like that.

The things that were making you feel excited before,

You just can't be bothered right now.

For me,

I hit that wall this week and I also hit my menstrual cycle this week,

My flow.

That's something else I've been working on is honoring that and really trying to support my cycle no matter which phase I'm in because each phase of the cycle,

There are shifts in our energy that are different one to the next.

And so there's little changes and shifts we can make in our lifestyle and how we operate in the world,

How we treat ourselves,

How we honor our needs that will best support that part of the cycle.

During the flow phase,

Introspection,

Solitude,

Rest,

And slow gentle movement,

Warm grounding nourishing foods are super important.

This past week,

I have really just been trying to honor this winter season in my body,

In my energy,

So that I can rebuild those energy stores for spring,

And by that I mean my internal spring.

So when I enter my follicular phase and that energy naturally starts to rise again,

I begin to feel more confident and social again.

And had I pushed through how I was feeling this week with the feelings of burnout and with my cycle,

I would not be ready to go back out and show up in the world for the next phase.

So replenishing your energy stores is so important.

Setting boundaries with yourself and with others with your time and energy is so important because if you are always giving and giving and giving,

You're going to run out of energy.

You have to fill your own cup.

I know you've probably heard this so many times and maybe it gets old,

But I think we hear it so many times because we just don't listen to it.

It feels good to give and maybe you identify as someone who is very generous,

Very giving,

And always wants to be there for others even if that is at the sacrifice of your own time and energy.

But if we don't also work to fill our own cup and have our cup filled just as much as we fill others,

There will be nothing left to give.

So taking care of yourself,

Honoring your needs,

Resting,

They're actually some of the most selfless things you can do.

Because I think this is where we get caught up is that we don't feel like we're showing up enough for others if we take that time for ourselves.

If we take care of ourselves before others,

We feel like we are being selfish in doing so,

But actually we're being very selfless because when we do that,

We can continue to show up for others,

To support others,

And have energy to give.

And to give from a more generous,

Loving place because maybe you have felt this where you're just depleted energetically and someone asks for your help and you feel so much resistance but you do it anyways and then it just doesn't feel good.

And the other person can kind of sense that energy too,

Right?

And so it doesn't feel good for anyone and maybe you feel resentment,

But we have to take accountability and responsibility for that resentment and not hold it on the other person because we are giving from a place of not having anything to give.

And that's on us.

We have to continue to learn and integrate whatever it looks like for each individual to take care of ourselves first.

Put your own oxygen mask on first,

Just like they say on airplanes.

I know that this has been said time and time again,

But it is true,

And today I feel drawn also to pull an oracle card and just see what guidance there is from spirit,

From whatever your personal belief is.

And I have here my Risuli Great Eastern Oracle deck.

I'm just going to give these a little shuffle and pull a card.

What I got is called Plant a Seed of Love,

Offer Love,

And Harvest Happiness.

And all of these cards,

They're really beautiful.

They're all in a painted style and this one has different shades of orange,

Greens,

And browns.

So what I'm getting here is again with that grounding,

With the brown.

It's kind of abstract,

But it kind of looks like a forest.

So I'm getting grounding with the green heart chakra,

Giving.

The heart chakra is also about giving to ourselves,

Taking care of ourselves,

Self-care.

And with the orange,

I'm getting a sense of tuning back into the pleasures of life.

When we've been in a phase of pushing to get things done,

We're out of touch with those little pleasures of life.

It's very hard for the two to coexist when they're not in balance.

So pleasure,

Sensuality,

Those are key to helping to ground that energy.

And plant a seed of love,

I get planting a seed of love for yourself.

It's important to water the gardens of others,

But it is also important to water our own gardens and to tend to our own gardens.

Why would we work on planting the gardens and tending to the gardens of everyone else's and meanwhile ours is suffering?

We deserve to have a beautiful garden as well.

So if we offer love to ourselves and honor our needs,

Then we can harvest that happiness,

That energy,

Restoration that we can then give out.

So that is my interpretation,

And now I will see what the guidebook has to say.

So it starts with a quote,

A good deed is never lost.

He who sows courtesy reaps friendship.

And he who plants kindness gathers love.

This is by Saint Basil.

So a good deed is never lost.

So what I'm getting here is that if you're a person who is normally very generous with your time and your energy,

If you pull back your energy to take care of yourself and honor your own needs,

All that good that you've done for others is not lost.

It doesn't change the wonderful,

Generous person that you are.

It just means that you are also being generous to yourself and those relationships around you that are built on unconditional love and wanting you also to be healthy and happy and supported.

They will be okay with you having boundaries and with you taking that time to restore your energy.

Perhaps there'll be some friction at first or maybe some surprise if this isn't your usual way of being,

To pull back and take care of yourself,

But ultimately those who are meant for us will support us in that.

And then we will support and encourage them in doing that for themselves as well.

We'll be a model for taking care of ourselves for others.

So the guidebook also says,

Imagine you are the gardener of your life.

You can plant all kinds of seeds such as joy,

Pain,

Kindness,

Fear,

Anger,

And friendship in this garden.

Most valued seed that you can ever plant is love.

When you nurture this seed with the blood of your heart,

You will witness it sprout and grow into the tree of love.

Every branch of this tree develops into creativity and every fruit it bears brings inspiration.

Those who take in the fruit of inspiration are blessed to live a life of freedom and contentment.

Life is an art meant to be lived fully and creatively.

It is an opportunity to learn and discover what gives us purpose and meaning.

We learn to live as we experience it.

Some tasks are complex,

Some require insight,

And others are done intuitively.

No one ever knows all there is to know about designing a life.

We bring it into being by living into the challenge day by day and moment by moment.

If we look at life as a problem or a burden,

It becomes difficult to face.

If we see our daily work as a manifestation of our life,

We can find ways to make it enjoyable.

The circle appears as a beacon of light calling you to use your abilities,

To practice,

Develop,

And nurture them.

You are full of energy and creative power.

To embrace the kind of success that offers you joy,

View life as an opportunity to create and be the best you can be.

When you utilize your qualities of perseverance,

Reliability,

Patience,

And loyalty,

You will find pleasure in living the joy of your life.

You learn to live joyously the same way you learn to do daily tasks,

Draw on your abilities and participate.

You become creative by having fun and continuously learning something new in the process.

So this really speaks to everything I've just been talking about here.

And I feel like this description paints a picture of what that balanced state can look like where you are full of creative energy and joy and enjoyment of life because we have planted the seeds in our own garden.

Because we have shown love to ourselves and honoured our needs.

And in that way,

We are able to show up better and more authentically for others.

So I feel like that really summed it up quite well.

And this guidebook also has a mantra for each card.

So the mantra is,

I am determined to bring the best of my qualities to my life and my work.

From this moment,

I will stay aware and look for opportunities to succeed by meeting challenges as they appear.

So let's just break that down.

I'm determined to bring the best of my qualities to my life and my work.

We want to show up in our life and in our work the best way possible.

And we do that by taking care of ourselves.

From this moment,

I will stay aware and look for opportunities to succeed by meeting challenges as they appear.

So from this moment,

Practicing awareness of when those signs start to appear.

That our energy is leaking out.

And we need to fill those holes.

We need to look inward,

Pause,

Check in with what we need on a body,

Mind and spirit level to take care of ourselves and what that looks like and then honouring that.

I hope that this has been helpful for you.

If you've been relating at all,

I hope that it gives you a little insight to take with you.

Here's to honouring our needs and to avoiding burning out so that we can show up in life at the fullest,

Most energetic version of ourselves,

Honour those cycles of our energy and to take care of ourselves.

That's all for today.

Thanks for listening.