JUMP UP AND GIVE ME ZEN
How to find zen when the world as we know it is falling away?
Do you ever find yourself feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel? Just running, running, running but feeling like you’re getting nowhere at all??
Are you in constant tension in your solar plexus, with a feeling of suffocation most days?
In a society that is obsessed with pushing more and more, it is easy to get caught up in a life of constantly chasing goals and not even recognising where we are at right now and how much we have truly achieved. Trust me! I am very guilty of this more than I would like to admit.
Not that long ago I was in a place where so many horrible “things” were happening “to me”. I couldn’t even see past the forest and understand that what was happening was happening for me (more on that later). This time in my life really made me strip back the s%&* and dig deep into how I could find inner peace within ME.
Now with COVID-19 stripping...
ARE YOU EATING YOUR EMOTIONS??
Do you sometimes find yourself making an excuse to be “driving past” your favourite take away shop just so you can grab a snack to stifle your building anxiety?
Is the pantry your best friend when you’re feeling down, upset or lonely?
Do you like to reward yourself with food when you feel you “deserve” a treat?
Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?
Sounds like you are eating your emotions instead of dealing with them!
Finding comfort in food is such a common tool that we use so that we don't have to deal with our emotions, otherwise known as emotional eating.
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING ANYWAY?
Emotional eating is mindlessly eating food in the hope it will make you feel better. It is eating regardless of whether we feel hungry or not. When we experience negative emotions it can often feel like there is a void inside of us and so quickly want to fill this void to no longer feel the discomfort.
This is where food comes in.
WHY...
SEARCHING FOR HAPPY – WHY DO WE WOMEN CONTINUE TO PUT OURSELVES LAST?
I DON’T HAVE THE TIME…I NEED TO GET FITTER…I’M TOO FAT TO START!
Are you telling yourself stories so you don’t have to get started??
I’ve certainly come across some very well thought out excuses as to WHY women will NOT invest in themselves, be that time or money.
Through my many years as a Women’s Health Expert, I have found the greatest road block to women taking care of their health is not wanting to make time for themselves. Yes, that’s right I said “wanting”, it may be on a subconscious level but when you say no to self care, YOU are making the choice to NOT put your own health first.…….
The top 5 excuses I regularly hear as to why women won’t put themselves first are:
- I don’t have TIME
- I’m not fit enough
- My kids come first, they need me
- I don’t have enough money right now
- I feel guilty doing anything for me (check out last week’s blog on Mummy Guilt here)
...
MUM GUILT UNCOVERED
Nobody tells us when we give birth we take on a whole new level of guilt…the “Mummy Guilt”
You know about mum guilt right? Feeling sick in the stomach or 'bad' for taking time for yourself? Feeling like your kids are not getting enough or 'as much' as others? Feeling that you'll never be enough...oh yeah, that's mum guilt!
Studies have shown that a staggering 78% of mums feel guilty for actions they have taken while “mumming”, with 68% saying this occurred once or twice a day. The majority of mums attribute ‘not spending enough time with the kids’ as the main cause. Other causes include ‘not trying enough activities with the kids’ and ‘not being able to afford enough’.
Mummy Guilt is real. It is something all us mums have inside us and while we can channel the guilt for good (more on that later), if not channeled it has the ability to cripple us!
But where does it come from and WHY...
BURNOUT – AN EPIDEMIC TO MODERN SOCIETY
If constant stress has you feeling lost, overwhelmed, completely exhausted and like you can never meet the constant demands of your life...you may be dealing with burnout!
Burnout is a state of extreme emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress that has never been addressed.
COVID has brought so many different forms of emotion to so many of us and burnout is at the forefront of this!
Burnout is actually considered an epidemic in our current world. Surrounded by devices and never being able to switch off is making it more and more difficult for anyone to live in the moment and walk away from constant “busyness”!
For me….COVID caused my lingering burnout to slap me in the face!!!!
For so many years I felt it building, ignored the signs and instead, like most busy people, I kept pushing myself onwards. Constantly pushing myself to be this person I felt I had to be in order to be...