Women:  Maternal, nurturing, caretakers.  It's at our core and soul level.  Yet, who takes care of the care taker?  The world today hasn't taught us how to DO it all, but encouraged us to BE it all, hasn't taught wisdom but expects us to be insightful, hasn't fully accepted mind/body medicine but will quickly tell you:  "it's all in your head!".  

So, when we attempt to DO it all with messages to eat healthy, drink enough water, go to the gym and also BE there for everyone in your life, we feel undervalued and like we have failed.  Feeling like this long enough brings sickness, disempowerment and shows up like depression, burn out, or disease.  When we attempt to seek healing, a global misunderstanding dismisses the root cause leaving us with further disconnection.  

A women's body has a special gift of the inner voice.  It's true!!  When we are young, we are taught to give over our power to those bigger and stronger than us quieting this inner voice.  This intuition is strong, yet we must be taught to follow and TRUST it.  Our body's messages direct us to the healthiest version of our self while both our higher being and nervous system work toward the same goal, to keep us alive.  We must begin to LISTEN  and allow our bodies to live most vitally.  The messages only get louder and stronger as we continue to dismiss them.  

I know, I have been there.  As I poured myself into a work environment and tried to assimilate in a place that was't like me at all, I only created more discord in my body and more of the symptoms that nagged me to listen.  My energy was significantly depleted with a dysthymic mood (low grade depression) , sugars cravings, constant hunger, weight gain and extreme fatigue yet too wired to sleep making the cycle repeat itself.  I worked toward righting myself without any success.  All of this left me feeling powerless.  

What I soon learned was that I experienced Adrenal Fatigue or 'energetic burn out' as I like to call it.    Continuing to stay the course and believing this was my best option, the connection of my symptoms to my mood eluded me and worsened before I found relief.   While it wasn't clear in the moment what was happening, hindsight showed me, that preceding this experience I knew immediately I was unhappy and I forced myself to stay in the situation because it felt like the right thing to do.  It was an opportunity at a well paying job, leading me to my best chance at career growth and down the "golden path" to rise to enchanted standards that cultural norms tout us with.  But at what cost and with what preparedness?   The trade off was an angry, negative, toxic environment where I felt disempowered and under valued.  I absorbed that energy and did not have the clarity of self to turn my back on that environment. 

A  "muffin top" surrounded my waist to protect my vital organs from the chronic stress interpreted as life threatening.   I appreciate this, I do, especially if I were fighting tigers or battling the winter elements.   However, we know those are not the battles we fight in this modern world and instead, we rush, dismissively responding to each bell and ding  and still we battle.  The second chakra, too circles this vital area of the body, part of the seven energy circles from Indian religion, which is said to house reproduction and creation.  Is it any surprise, the body creates a layer, a boundary, to keep itself safe from toxic energy?  This is not how I wanted to show up.  I did not want to be too fatigued to enjoy my life, too shut down and disconnected from my creation, intuition, and inner language from my body to mind. Self doubt and lack of clarity led me to push on towards what my inner voice already knew as incongruent.  

Often we do this and it may be effecting you as you read as well, we dismiss a message from our intuition/creation and stop the insight that guides us to step into our own truth.  It often happens in relationships as well as work.  As a result, we become ill.  When I finally got out of the toxic situation I began to heal, weight quickly fell off and with proper energy I could exercise, alter my diet and and return to the vibrancy that I felt like ME!

Let's learn to step into our body, feel the feelings, allow the energy to move and set us free.  Emotions are energy and therefore, meant to move freely.  When kept contained, we keep them feeding on our own bodies leaving us depleted and sick.  

Nourish and feed your body to care for yourself at a deeper level.  Care for yourself the way you care for others, those you truly love.  When we begin to connect and nourish our self at a root and cellular level, this transcends to all the areas of our life.  We create trust with our self which begins to feel calm and confident.  

If this sounds challenging know that you must MAKE time but it only need be a few minutes.  Engage with yourself :  sit, breath, meditate, exercise,  notice, be aware, be insightful, curious, introspective.  Ask yourself what you need.  When the emotion arises ask yourself "why"?  Unravel the emotion and question where that emotion came from.   Follow it back until you can reach a source of clarity.  This will begin to help you engage with your inner voice and learn to trust the health and wisdom within you.  

It's important to notice that ANY time you take to greater nourish yourself increases your results and anything you enjoy doing you can slow down to make it more mindful and intentional.  Listen to some helpful hints below from some of my favorite women friends:

  • meditation                                                           
  • journaling
  • exercise
  • going to bed early
  • taking time alone
  • pampering hair and skin with lotion, make up, appointments.  
  • wellness care such as massage, chiropractor, reiki or acupuncture. 

This list is short but with any suggestion, ask yourself if it is true for you.  Doing something out of obligation or because it works for Mary, Jane and Sue does not mean self care and will only disconnect you further.   We must begin to reconnect with what is true in our being and find the seeds that nourish us.  When we are fully in our power, we can begin to truly take care of those around us and rise up in a global way.  

 

Continue the cirlce of nourishment.  Share with a friend or comment below! --- >