On Pushing Through

Living and working in Sydney, and needless to say generally in our Western society, we live by the ‘work hard, play hard’ mentality.

And it is such a ‘mentality’, isn’t it! As we only go with what the mind is focused and obsessed upon at the time. “What? – My body is tired, coming down with a cold or flu, is in pain, etc. Well, I’ve had this appointment, date, deadline, etc. and no matter how I am feeling, nothing will get in the way of my plans and obligations. ”

We all know, and we’ve all been there.

I personally, as well as in my business, can’t afford the luxury of ignoring my signs and symptoms, wherever they may come from. I even had to take time off yesterday, including the meditations I facilitate every Wednesday night. It really wasn’t fun to cancel it as I look forward to it every week, but after tuning in I just knew I couldn’t do it. I’ve had so many flu ridden people around me lately and I could feel something coming on. What my body needed was rest so I had to give it to it.

I had to renew my First Aid on Tuesday and something the First Aid teacher said really stuck with me. Hearing the same truth over and over again will hit you differently at different times. He simply talked about the adrenalin rush that occurs during and after an accident. Let’s say you’ve been hit by a car. It is likely that you are not going to feel any pain at first. During the adrenaline rush, we actually don’t feel discomfort or pain. We aren’t really in our body. This is how the body is supposed to function in ‘danger’ – we call it ‘fight or flight’.

Let us now think about the daily adrenalin rushes we go through. I’m talking about Pushing Through every day. Ignoring ALL symptoms in your body and mind and even worse, going completely against what you really need. Creating numbness over time, leading to complete adrenalin exhaustion.

Examples:

• Is your body absolutely exhausted yet you still decide to go for a run?
• Do you feel a flu coming on and go straight for the drugs, then just go on about your day/night as if nothing happened?
• Do you work at night, even throughout the night, when you you’ve already had a busy day?
• Do you continue to exercise even if you’ve hurt yourself during it?
• Do you skip meals regularly, because your ‘work’ is more important?
• What goes on for you when you read these lines? Do you recognise yourself, do you feel defensive or even angry? Sure, as I’m writing this, I have no idea what goes on for you as the reader. You may have all the best reasons and intentions in the world for living your life that way. I am personally more interested why we buy into the ‘pushing through’ and get so protective of our ‘busyness’.

In my practice I see this daily. People getting so caught up in striving that it becomes the ultimate escape without knowing – from yourself and unfortunately your loved ones. I.e. when you go hard every day, how would you have any energy left for your partner, children, etc?

Many others are genuinely believing to be doing the ‘right’ thing. E.g. Exercise. Exercising is of course fantastic but it’s important to pick what is right for you at the time. If your adrenals are low, I wouldn’t recommend daily jogging for example. And yes if you are coming down with the flu, don’t hit the gym. Yoga and Qi Gong on the other hand are actually designed for you to go ‘with’ your body, not against it.

How do you personally push through in life? Are you able to hear your body, tune into your feelings and go with your own flow? What is it that gets in the way for you personally? What would be the worst thing that happened if you started to listen to yourself, including your body, mind and spirit?

I challenge you to have a go at this and see what happens when adrenalin isn’t holding you hostage in the ‘work and play hard’ formula. Instead of robbing your body of energy every day, choose what actually fills your batteries again. Good thing all services at Conscious Wellbeing are designed to fill your batteries, and in the meantime:

Feel like that lovely, nourishing stew? Go for it. Do you need to lay down? Please do. Just need to go slow? – Your body will be thankful for it.

The funny thing is, your whole outlook in life will change. What seemed so ridiculously important before will have that particular charge taken off. Be open to feel surprised ?

Wishing you a truly happy day!

Olivia