You are a powerhouse. You can move mountains. You have overcome adversity, accomplished a hell of a lot, and built a pretty sweet life for yourself. And… something is missing. In the process of building your life you might have left behind some parts of yourself. Perhaps these parts were left unattended while you pushed for the next thing, perhaps you had to intentionally leave them behind so you could more effectively fit the mold of success we have in our current culture.

Some days you feel in your bones that you are burned out. Yet, you manage to show up- for others; for the responsibilities people have entrusted you with.

And yet, if you’re being honest with yourself, you get the sense of your soul aching. You are being called to show up differently. But how?

You’ve managed to take some PTO, try out some self care, and show up regularly to therapy. But these solutions didn’t really lead to you feeling differently. Somehow these attempts at slowing down to tend to yourself felt like another task to add to the agenda- something else to DO.

You and I both know you can rock the doing part. You are skilled at using your intellect and operating from a brain based way of relating to the world. Maybe you’re a little too good at it, considering that being in your body and working from your intuition, feels like a totally different realm. That may even be the reason you never could get into meditation, despite hearing how beneficial it is for you from your therapist, your friends, or that self help account you follow on instagram.

You feel inconvenienced by your emotions. Being your deep feeling self is untenable if you want to continue to find success in the world. So, these emotions get shoved down and you micromanage them with a sense of hyper-vigilance. Your proverbial “toolbox” is full of coping skills (therapist sanctioned or not) all to “manage” your anxieties, worries, fears. The idea of really feeling your feelings confuses or maybe even repulses you—that’s what you try so hard to avoid! The problem is, now you’re left with a sense of dread and worry that these feelings, these felt senses in the body, will surface and put you to task with trying to shove them back down or shut them off. Ultimately this whole process ends up leaving you with a new set of feelings to cope with! Hmm…maybe not so efficient after all…

You’ve landed here, reading my website, feeling frazzled, stretched thin, but still seeking. Wondering if it’s possible to feel differently and noticing a sense of curiosity…and maybe even an inkling of hope.