Recently one of our staff left, and so I am stepping in to help out with another department. It’s a lot. On top of the pressures of my current job, along with not setting boundaries around my time, and especially my effort. For me that meant skipping lunchtime (which I often use to do a short yoga practice), and not checking in with my body and my brain.
My body basically started shouting at me in the form of hives. I started breaking out in hives on my neck and chest because I was so stressed out, and because I was putting so much pressure on myself. Talk about a wake up call. I was also just exhausted, which meant I wasn’t doing the things I like to do to refill my cup.
I’m hitting the reset button. That means taking my lunch, and doing my yoga. It also means making sure I’m not staying at work late, or mentally taking work home. It means saying no to certain requests or saying, I can’t do that now. Which is a reasonable thing to do when you are working 1.5 full time jobs. I’m also putting on my headphones more and listening to podcasts, which makes me happy.
At home I’m setting aside time when I get home to do the things that fill my cup. Right now that is sewing, reading and cooking. I don’t often have the time or energy on weeknights for anything big project wise, but I find it’s a good time to do parts of a project, like cutting a pattern, or ironing the fabric. That way when I have uninterrupted time I can work on the larger project and have what I need ready.
In talking with my therapist, she helped remind me to touch base with my body and practice being in my body. Something I’m not good about on the day-to-day (if you live in a body with pain, or in a larger body sometimes it’s easier to not be ‘in your body’). But, checking in with myself and seeing what I need whether it be food, water, or time away from a screen, is really helpful. Plus, it helps me be present.
I got a bit derailed, but thankfully I didn’t crash and burn. A large part of that is because I have support in the form of a therapist and a life coach, plus some pretty amazing friends, but most importantly I stopped and listened to what my body was saying.
Take a minute and do a body scan. What does your body need?
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In the meantime, keep checking in with yourself and taking care of yourself.
