I get it.
Your to-do list is beginning to resemble that of an award winner’s bulging thank-you speech.
People to see, things to be done, and the list continues to grow and grow.
It’s not long before you feel your heart start to beat faster. Subconsciously, your shoulders raise and your breath becomes shallow.
Frantically you juggle and move commitments around – even begrudgingly cancelling your lunchtime sweatfest {aka workout}…for the SECOND day in a row!
But it’s not enough to calm your increasing feelings of overwhelm and anxiety, which is killing your usual sparkle, energy, drive and creativity!
Worst of all, you begin second guessing yourself and overanalyzing everything you do {oh hello there sneaky voice of perfectionism, rack-off!}
You begin shouting:
“I’m too busy”
“I haven’t got time”
“I’ve got sooooo much to do”.
You slip into bed, your heart thumping though your chest, feeling like you’ve accomplished ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, praying that you’ll get a decent nights sleep and wake-up feeling refreshed, ready to ninja chop anything that tomorrow throws at you.
Does this sound like you, love?
This was once my everyday life. That was until I realized that I was tackling my anxiety situation ALL wrong.
It dawned on me that I have the same 24 hours in my day as both Oprah and Beyonce! It’s no secret that those two powerhouse women know how to get ‘things’ done.
Quickly, I found myself wondering, how do these two incredible women do it. What are they doing that I’m not {of course there was plenty of stuff}.
So how does one stressed out, overwhelmed beauty get off the hamster wheel of sparkle-sucking hell?
The answer is delicious self-care rituals.
Think about it.
Beyonce takes time out from booty popping on stage and screen to cruise on her yacht with Jay-Z and Blue Ivy.
When Oprah isn’t running her massively successful empire, she’s out brunching with her BFF Gayle or snuggling with Stedman.
These women take time for themselves amidst a whirlwind. And you can do the same.
By taking time out to care for yourself and schedule pleasure-breaks, you’re likely to be more productive, more focused and the soul-sucking self-doubt talk disappears like magic. Seriously!
Why?
Because time expands when you give yourself time to reconnect with your inner spirit – the holder to so many brilliant ideas and solutions to problems. {where do you think those ideas and answers come from when you wake up in the middle of the night?}
So what self-care rituals give your overwhelm gremlins the old 1..2..ninja chop outta here?
The answer is simple – whatever activities you love.
Here’s an example.
Last week, I had four icky days that the old overwhelm gremlins started creeping back into my headspace. I was hitting a wall on one of my upcoming projects and just couldn’t move past it.
My creativity mojo was barely simmering and I began second guessing all the hard work I had already done {oh and you bet my inner mean-girl raised her ugly head too}. Needless to say, it didn’t exactly feel like a funfest!
A year or so ago, I would have just worked harder and harder – for longer and longer periods of time in order to “push through it”. What I didn’t know then was, this was the worst thing I could have done – I was just prolonging the feelings and killing my flight or fight response.
These days, those little gremlins are a timely reminder that I need to up my daily self-care rituals.
Enter the pleasure break.
1. I ask myself – what activity would feel pleasurable to me right now – because each instance calls for a different type of pleasure break {a bit like I don’t feel like spinach with a poached egg for breakfast everyday}.
2. I take myself away from what I’m doing for anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours – to do what’s going to feed my soul.
Last week, my pleasure breaks called for:
:: a walk with my lover
:: a soothing lavender infused grape seed oil bath
:: taking a booty-shakin’ dance break
:: re-reading my favourite sections of Danielle LaPorte’s – The Desire Map.
:: dinner + plenty of laughs with a couple of gorgeous gal-pals
:: washing my hair and styling with a big sexy blow out…in the middle of the day.
:: being meticulous with my yoga classes…I’m going to be able to do that headstand before the year is out!
Your pleasure breaks will differ depending on what your soul truly craves.
Are you ready to get off the tiresome hamster wheel of overwhelm and icky feelings, my dear friend. Hhhelllz yes you are!
Over to you!
Tell me in the comment section below:
“What pleasure-town activities make your soul sing?”
Need help breaking-off a relationship with an overwhelm gremlin?
Come on over and check out Ravish!™. It’s like biting into a really delicious cupcake… with the good kind of frosting.
With love and gratitude {and a lot more sparkle in my step},
