Self Quest: How does your body signal exhaustion to you?

Today, I want to invite you to reflect on how your body speaks to you –particularly how it signals its need

→ for rest

→ for calm

→ for a slower pace 

→ for more gentle care

Personally, I know it's so easy to dive into being busy, to prioritize my to-do's and obligations, to override and tune out my own need for rest in favor of productivity.

If I'm completely honest with you, oftentimes when I do slow down or make space for an “empty hour" it doesn't feel good at first.

I quickly feel useless or like I'm wasting time.

Then this nagging inner voice pipes in telling me that this would be the ideal time to finally catch up on a series of open items.

Getting myself to truly rest can be tricky for me –especially in bright day light.

Here's what I've come to believe:

I think that there are theme's in each person's life that remain a “topic of effort” possibly for life. 

I've had to understand that resting when I need to isn't a skill I learn once, but rather that it is an on-going conversation I have with myself. This is true even though I've had a few serious health scares like my herniated disks in my 20s that entirely changed the trajectory of my life (if you're interested I share some details about that part of my journey here).

While I've improved, it takes consistent awareness and redirection on my part so that I can be cared for mindfully and kindly and feel whole instead of burnt out.

My point is this:

A big part of becoming a WHOLE PERSON is learning how to read your body's signals as early as possible and being able to respond to your own needs. This is really what CARING FOR YOURSELF is all about. The goal is not perfection, but genuine loving curiosity about yourself.

Since I've been coaching women for nearly 12 years, I know that so many of you struggle with this as well. 

I know that so many of you…

• ignore your body's whispers for rest

• are feeling exhausted, depleted and irritated more often than you'd like to admit

• are putting yourselves and your own needs and desires last

With today's Self Quest question, I want to invite you to explore yourself and how your body speaks to you more deeply:

Here are examples of what happens for me, when my body starts to WHISPER a need for rest and calm space:

• I get impatient and annoyed over small things

• My brain feels frazzled and I forget things

• I am even more easily triggered by a messy environment

Here are examples for what happens to me, when I've ignored the whispers for a while and my body is RAISING ITS VOICE:

• My neck gets tense and I get more frequent migraines

• I wake up with anxiety in the middle of the night

• My eyes get dry and I might get a cold sore (gross, I know, but the truth of exhaustion isn't pretty)

What about you?

How does exhaustion show up for you when your body whispers it needs rest? What symptoms begin to show up when you ignore the whispers and your body raises its voice?

Awareness is the first step and remember, your body only means well and is trying to help you be whole and well 💗

You can take this week's question and simply reflect on it on your own, you can use it as a journal prompt (very powerful ✍️), or you can go on a walk with friends and discuss it in a group (builds connection 👯‍♀️).

With love as always, 

Caroline