The Great Re-Setting

My life is full with the work of both serving clients and running a business. As the sole provider of services, I teach, coach, facilitate women’s circles, and do intuitive readings and energy healing. As the owner of a business, I also do, or at least coordinate, the marketing, bookkeeping, scheduling, visioning, workshop development, website content and updates.

Sometimes, in all this flurry of activity, I get disconnected from the reasons I serve and I forget about serving myself. I stop going to yoga. I find it challenging to cook healthy meals for myself, I stop doing fun things – like listening to live music, reading novels, going on dates with my husband, or just hanging out with him or friends. I become overwhelmed easily  – one small change or additional responsibility throws me into a tailspin. I find it hard to stop – the very thing I really need to do.

Have you ever been there? Knowing you are overwhelmed, off-center, being run by your to-do lists and the real or imaginary deadlines they create, and yet also not quite able to stop and give yourself the things you need to feel resourced and alive again?

For me, the first step is simply acknowledging I’m here. It also helps to acknowledge that I both like being here (because I feel productive) and don’t (because in quiet moments, I can feel the exhaustion and know the toll it will take).

Once I acknowledge where I am, I can take a deep breath and let go of the judgment I feel about being here again. Just those two steps free up a lot of energy. They deflate the adrenaline rush of getting things done and make room, even if it’s just a little sliver of room, for choice.

That sliver opened up for me last night.

I have a coaching group this morning for which I had to list and rank my top ten values. It was the final step in a process we started 2 weeks ago. As a coach myself, I know that when clients identify and name the values they hold dear, they are better able to prioritize the myriad of things that beg for (demand) their attention. And while I know that’s true for me, too, I hadn’t consciously done this work in several years.

Reconnecting with the values I hold dear gave me a sliver of space to choose how to honor them and myself. I found myself creating a Wordle of my values so having them around me met needs for beauty. I took a deep breath and chose how to spend the rest of the evening. I went grocery shopping so I have nourishing food available to me. I snuggled with my cat and went to bed instead of pushing past the exhaustion and getting one more thing done.

I call choice points like this the great re-setting. Breath. Yoga. Spaciousness. Opening my fist and letting go. Trusting that something larger than me is at work and I can rest in the knowing that all will be well.

This morning, there’s less overwhelm and drive to just get ‘er done (the entire to-do list). The urgency has dissolved in the face of what really matters to me. Connection (with myself, Source, you). Authenticity. Beauty. Acceptance. Freedom. Growth.

How will you create – or allow – that space to emerge in you today?