Believe it or not slowing down could just save your life and your SANITY!
Anyways, I am here to share a friendly reminder to…
SLOW the F DOWN!
I don’t know about you but I have been going non-stop lately and it’s so damn exhausting.
Don’t get me wrong it’s not all work. In fact, I was in Portland with my best friend last weekend but still sometimes you need a vacation from a vacation especially when you are out and about exploring the whole time. Sometimes we just need to pause, slow down and recover.
Don’t believe me, well I am speaking from experience here and it sure saved me.
As someone who has suffered from extreme burn-out, just plowing through things, I’ll sleep when I’m dead kinda attitude and non-stop lifestyle, I am telling you it is NOT possible to sustain that! Your body will shut down eventually. I know it happened to me. I wouldn’t stop until I physically shut down (your body always knows best). I got super sick and physically could not get out of bed or caught intense illnesses (swine flu, terrible digestive viruses, pneumonia and chronic fatigue/ exhaustion to name a few).
That one extra thing is NOT worth it! You only have one body…you need to take care of it. Seriously, your sanity and happiness is more important than that one night out, those extra hours of work or that extra workout……SLOW DOWN and connect to your SOUL!
Here is an example from a day in my life about 2 years or so ago….
I woke up at 5:15AM and taught my 6AM yoga class, then rushed off to my first physical therapy client at 7:30 AM and then worked with my little kiddos until about 1PM (literally back to back work straight from 5:45AM-1PM….NOT GOOD). I was thinking I would go for a run after I made myself a healthy salad for lunch (breakfast was a smoothie on the go) but I realized I was exhausted. So I took a delicious power nap and after 30 minutes I realized I needed to sleep more so I added on another hour. When I woke up, I realized that a run was the opposite of what I needed. I needed to rest. I did some paperwork and then realized I was not going to drive out to the burbs for a networking dinner with some phenomenal Chicago entrepreneurs…so I emailed them all and said I had to practice what I preach and slow down and would not be able to make the dinner. I was honest and listened to my body and guess what…the other women were amazing and said we should all just reschedule (boom I didn’t miss out on anything!). After I heard this, I decided to go to a nice hot yoga class….slow it down. After that it was some dinner then tea and reading my book and early to bed for me. I feel so much better today…….sometimes we just need to slow down. Seriously, even taking a 10 minute break can help!
You might be thinking. This story is great, Katie, but I don’t have the luxury of taking an afternoon nap. I totally get that which is why I have some tips to help you out.
5 Ways to SLOW down to Save Your Sanity:
1. SLOW FOOD:
What the heck does this mean? It means chew your food and give yourself more than 5 minutes to eat a meal. Sit down at a table, chew your food and actually enjoy your meal. No distractions…no phone, no computer, no TV. Just you and your meal and perhaps a significant other or a family. This does several things….lowers your cortisol levels (that damn stress hormone), allows you to enjoy your food, chewing begins the digestive process (digestive hormones are in your saliva and the more you chew the more you breakdown your foods in your mouth) which leads to better overall digestion AND you will actually notice when you are full instead of inhaling your food and not feeling satisfied. This is a principle I teach about in my Seasonal Clean Eating Program and I would LOVE for you to join me.
2. PAUSE:
This might be the best one. Seriously just take a moment (or many moments in your day), pause and take a few deep breaths. These little pauses throughout the day will keep your mind more at ease, oxygenate your blood, lower stress and keep your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) working properly and you want that working right!
3. SLOW Exercise:
As someone who LOVES her high intensity workouts and long runs, this one is tough for me. BUT sometimes those HIIT classes, pounding the pavement, Soul Cycle or Spinning classes are the OPPOSITE of what your body needs. Again, there is a place and time for these BUT if you are always on the go AND then you always do these types of workouts your body is in a constant state of stress….NOT GOOD. Switch it up…go for a slow stroll (by yourself or with a friend), take a restorative yoga class, sit and meditate or just simply rest. Here is a free meditation for you to help with slow exercise…..you can listen to this meditation while going for a casual walk or sitting outside in nature.
4. REST and DIGEST:
Remember the parasympathetic nervous system (you need to let this system do it’s job to let your body rest and pair itself) and REST and DIGEST….this can be applied to your food, exercise, your work, relationships and your life. Let your body rest and let your body do the miraculous work it is designed to do. Let yourself rest and heal. Rest is a very very good thing (This was a hard lesson for this recovering workaholic, people pleaser, over-achiever)
5. REFLECT:
When we slow down and pause, we usually get a lot of clarity. I sure do. So when that clarity comes write it down. Use your journal (here is my favorite journal), write a note on your phone, email yourself (I use this one a lot when I am out and about) or call a good friend or loved one and talk about what you learned from slowing down. Sharing with others is a great one because you can hear what you learned and you will also inspire someone else to slow down too. Need some help with this? Check out my free Detox Your Soul e-book. It’s filled with tips to reflect and slow down
Speaking of spreading the love….know someone who could learn from this? Please share it with them!
How do you plan to slow down and tune in today?
