Listen to your body
Photography by Danielle Ann Rose @bydanielleannrose
Now that I have become more accepting and aware of my emotions, I’m better at navigating them, and I experience overwhelm a lot less frequently, but sometimes when I get busy, especially with work I can find myself on autopilot. Keeping my head down, smashing through the long days, too in my head on my hour long commute to work, socially busy on weekends, not checking in with myself or having “me time” ect, it can sneak up on me and I end up feeling uncentered and out of alignment. It feels like frustration, brain fog and tiredness, I get snappy and don’t have the space for anything new
When I find myself feeling this way, I am gentle, forgiving and loving with myself. I remind myself that I am safe, and I check in with my heart, body and soul. I ask what it is that I need to help process these feelings and move them on, then I listen..
Sometimes I am aware that it is not mine to carry, and out loud I’ll say things like: “it’s not mine,” “I am safe,” “return to sender,” “who does this belong to?” “return with love.” If I feel like I can’t shake it, I’ll call whoever I think it belongs to and I’ll check if they’re okay, by finding the cause and acknowledging it, I find peace and the feelings move on
A good sleep is life changing for me, anyone who knows me is aware that I am bloody good at sleeping, I fall asleep quickly most nights, and I can stay in a deep sleep for a very long time and for me, that’s important. I’m also a night owl, and a flight attendant, so it’s easy for me after a few early starts in a row, to start feeling like a grump.. so when I notice that about myself, I know it’s time to make going to bed early a priority so that I don’t continue down the path of overtired and under-slept
When I’m feeling soft, sad, or sooky I find going to a yoga class, stretching and meditation help a lot, it’s in that fragile moment that I get to be gentle with myself and allow my body to move through it and process what’s going through my mind and heart, in a slow paced way. While allowing my body to express itself through movement, I am releasing the tension and tightness in the places I may be physically storing these emotions. I am also a major advocate for allowing myself to cry, letting the tears stream out of my eyes and down my face can be so cleansing
On those days when I’m just not myself and can’t quite work out why, I go outside into nature, put my bare feet on the grass and take some deep breaths. Grounding/earthing is a beautiful way to reconnect with the earth and with myself, all it takes is planting my feet onto the grass and breathing in the fresh air to re-center myself and feel at peace again. If I need to connect deeper, I’ll go for a walk in the rainforest, or along the beach. Something I don’t do as often as I’d like to, that makes me feel so alive and free, is swimming in the ocean and diving through the waves. It’s honestly the most soul refreshing feeling
Something I think everyone does when we’re feeling tired and unmotivated is laying around binge watching movies and tv shows, I feel like it can get a bad wrap for being a lazy thing to do, but I’d like to say that it has been one of the kindest things I’ve ever given myself permission to do, unapologetically. I am one of those people who gets deeply invested in the characters and story lines of movies and shows, I look up the cast members and find interesting interviews they’ve done on press tours. I love seeing the different ways they’ve filmed/produced, connect to the messages they’re trying to share through their craft and I appreciate the distraction from my own mind. Re-watching Gossip Girl and Friends when I was grieving allowed me to laugh and feel connected to something when the only thing I had been feeling until then was a deep aching hurt. I give myself permission to do whatever feels right for me in the moment, even if it isn’t considered productive to someone else, it’s restful and restorative to me and that’s what I care about
If it feels like it’s heavy in my body, I might do something physical like exercising. When I lift heavy weights, go to Muay Thai training, or even run, it moves the energy throughout my body/muscles which helps me focus my mind clearly, but the main tool that I feel is most effective for me with a heavy emotion, is primal screaming. I personally like to do this in my car so no one can hear or see me, but you could do it into your pillow, into open air, anywhere you feel comfortable. All you really do, is feel your emotions rising to the surface and do a deep belly scream/yell.. it might sound silly, but it feels fucking liberating. I have felt some deep, deep soul wrenching hurt leave my body through this method and I immediately feel so much lighter and clear minded
Lastly, I want to say that music is pure magic and a world without it would be a very sad one. I find such value and so much healing in music, on a happy day, a sad day, or literally any day at all, I know I can put on some music and feel something. There are so many songs and entire albums that have such deep meaning to me, even if the artist didn’t write it with the same emotions or intentions I have when listening, it doesn’t matter. It’s art, and art can be interpreted in so many beautiful ways. It might not seem “healthy” to listen to sad music when feeling sad, but let me tell you, it definitely makes me feel seen, heard and understood. It also encourages me to feel on a deeper level, and I find that helps to move the emotions up and out of my body, which is incredibly healing
My point is, listen to your body
We have all of the answers within us, we just have to be still enough to hear them. Our bodies are so intuitive, sometimes we let our minds get too loud for us to hear what we need to, these are just a handful of the things I like to do, and moving forward I will continue to share with you more in-depth modalities and tools to feel more centred and aligned
I would love to hear what you do to feel more connected and grounded, or if you’re going to try any of these examples, feel free to share your experiences with me
