Overwhelmed, Burned Out, Super-stressed Out?

Now’s the time to realize that you’re probably pushing yourself too hard. Maybe you’re tired all the time, or you have trouble staying focused. You may be getting sick more often, or maybe you’re feeling disconnected from your friends and family members. 

You may be so busy that you’re not paying attention to your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, or partner. Maybe you just feel depressed, anxious, or stressed. 

You are not alone. I’m guilty of burning the candle at both ends myself. I care about my family, my home, and I hold down a job to have these things. In fact, I have a few jobs and I deal with a million other responsibilities. Sometimes it feels like it’s more work than I can handle when I’m overwhelmed. 

Your life can suffer too, if you’re on the brink of burn-out.

Personally, I like being busy… At least most of the time. And I like working on big projects. It makes me feel good when I accomplish something difficult, or when I take on a challenge. 

There are times I get overwhelmed… Then I hate being busy. 

I am no longer in the flow and there are these energy blocks that I have to deal with, preventing me from moving forward. I feel stuck. 

Can you relate? I want to list out the kinds of blockages you may be having as a result of the overload you are all too familiar with. 

1. The first sign of an energy block is you forget things. You have so many things going on that something is bound to fall through the cracks. There are so many things to tackle that inevitably you miss out on something and you forget to do it.
   
2. Being disorganized is another obstacle in your way. You get confused as to what is a priority and what isn’t. Your desk becomes messy. Your house becomes messy. And then your relationships and your life become disorganized as well. 

3. Your flow is impeded when you allow people to tell you what to do.  They tell you what you should do, and you’re offended when they think they know better than you. You get frustrated at them because they’re saying something you already know. It may get to a point where you feel angry, you get triggered very easily and you lash out at others. 

Does this sound familiar?  How about this…

4. Your relationships start to suffer at this point – where you have no time for your loved ones. You may have started developing self-destructive behaviors and these behaviors keep people away. And they keep you from getting the love and support you need during this difficult time.

These are just a few examples of how you’re prevented from being in the flow.  They become your energy blocks. 

How To Release Energy From Your Body

Personally, my energy block revolves around staying awake too late and waking up too early. 

For some, it may be just bad habits like drinking or smoking.

There are more destructive habits out there that take away energy from your life. 

And to be honest I often ignore the warning signs.  I keep falling into the same old routines and thought patterns and, of course, I push myself even harder. I use more forceful action. I work longer hours, where it gets to a point where I even start to breathe forcefully.

My body tightens up as I continue to push forward. I have rigid thoughts about the way things should be. I can get into a very linear way of thinking because I just want to reach my goals and achieve optimum results. 

Does this happen to you too? 

Before you crash and burn, take a step back.  And put an emphasis on letting go. I let go by sinking my energy down to my feet.  I go to a place of deep mental, as well as physical relaxation. I use softer and continuous breathing without holding my breath.  

I surrender. 

I allow the energy of the situation to determine my actions rather than using force in molding a situation or outcome to my will.

In other words, I practice a little Tai Chi. And the practice of Tai Chi doesn’t emphasize using force and it certainly does not teach you to keep pushing forward. Pushing yourself too hard is like the flame of fire.  The flame always leaps forward to consume more fuel, to stay alive, to survive. 

Be Like Water, Not Fire

Tai Chi practice on the other hand believes in effort without force.

It believes in relaxation.

It believes in letting go.

Tai Chi displays the characteristics of water, not fire. It’s a time for softness, a time to be in the flow. When you’re not forcing things, and you’re literally letting things occur in their own time, the result is you become fully open and available to the moment. When you’re open your energy flows freely. Most importantly, Tai Chi is a practical way for you to feel comfortable.

Again, you learn to accomplish things without strained force.

Instead of being on the edge of insanity, you must refine a certain edge in your mind to put all of your efforts and yet not use force.  You must not break the actual limits of your body, mind, and spirit. And get to a place where you can be gentle with yourself.

Let’s do some Tai Chi. Follow along with my video.

1. Exhale. Relax down. Follow my arm and hand movements. Let your energy drop and sink towards the floor, into your feet. 
2. Follow my arm and hand movements to do the ward offs.  Up and down.  Ward off right and ward off left.
3. Simply, use your fingers to move one hand up and the other hand down.  Imagine you’re combing somebody’s long hair or you’re  brushing the horse’s mane with your fingers. 
4. Energize up and down. Incorporate some breathing techniques (see my previous vlogs). Inhale slowly, energize up. Then exhale just as slow, and let go of your arm.
5. Inhale, energize back up again. Exhale, relax back down. Then raise your vibrancy, and energize right back up. 

Do you feel the flow?

When You’re Doing Tai Chi, You Go Into The Flow.

Let’s outline a couple of steps here. Actually, there are three simple steps to get into flow.

1. The first step is to start feeling deep inside yourself. The real way to do this is to be comfortable and relax. Let go. Once you do these things, you’re going to find yourself in your body.  Breathe deeply.
2. Then step number two is to find places where your energies have become frozen or blocked. It may be an area where you feel pain. It may be an area where you have an ache, or a bruise. It could be an area where you’re tight or overstretched. In some way, your physical body, your Chi, and therefore your emotions have caused your channels and points to close down. This affects your energy flow in your body. Find these places for now. 
3. The third step is to feel your energy move like a flowing river. When you feel your body is moving like a river, then you can go back to these places and see how the river flows through them.  The river runs through where you feel a little pain, a little ache.  And through it all, the river continues to flow in your body. 

Once you start flowing, then you become free. 

So what if you continue to do this, but you feel stuck in some places like water stagnating in a putrid pond? The blocked energy forms a shape in your body and that shape doesn’t change much. It blocks the normal flow of chi and such a blockage can cause you to become ill, dysfunctional, and feel diminished in some capacity. 

What do you do?

Well stay tuned and follow me on Instagram because Tai Chi practice starts with techniques to dissolve the energy blocks so that you can move your energy inside and outside and around your body. Truly feel free again. 

Get started with online Tai Chi classes and move forward with your life so you can reach your goals.