How I Recovered From Two 3-Day Events

As one who bows down with respect to her nervous system, and an energetically sensitive soul, participating in two 3-day events was a lot to ask of my body’s energy resources.
 
They also occurred back-to-back.
 
I was invited to lead body awareness and movement medicine in one of them, inspired to attend the other for biz development, and fortunately, have a big toolbox to restore my energy.
 
I learned a couple of things and wanted to share some strategies for similar instances in your life that may help.
 
Specific Self-Care
 
> I stayed really hydrated. Water is my favorite beverage anyway and I knew that if I didn’t, I would feel sluggish in my body and fuzzy in my brain.
 
> One afternoon during a panel discussion, I left my seat and stood in the back. I do not sit for hours and hours and hours anymore and my body was feeling it.
 
> I wore comfortable pants so that I could sit cross-legged sometimes and shift my hips more easily when I was sitting. I almost wore my tan jeans on the last day of one of the events, and then thought better of it. Good choice!
 
> I was totally out of my walking routine, so I had to make do with walking multiple loops of the perimeter of the parking lot. Since I didn’t know the neighborhood, I wanted to stay in a well-lit place and the thought of being inside again using the sole treadmill of the hotel was not exciting.
 
> I had lunch by myself for 2 out of the 3 days at the second event. I just couldn't people anymore. I brought lunch and breathed in some fresh air while strolling in silence. In the past, I would have pushed through and try to squeeze out every single moment. I could feel that I needed a break and compromised with myself and my body to enjoy lunch with colleagues on the last day.
 
This phrase, “compromised with myself and my body,” is key. It is also necessary and realistic. I take a stand for listening and honoring body wisdom - AND it is a voice to be integrated into your life along with your aspects of your holistic Self. I am also a mom. I compromise and negotiate allthetime. However, creating room for MY experience is critical, so that I can make more aligned choices from there. So can you.
 
Post-Event Self-Care
 
I slept. I moved. A little bit at a time. Think about it like a seesaw seeking a balancing point. More sleep and rest, so I had more energy to move. More movement, so I could sleep better. For me, this is an essential part of my equation to equalize. As well as patience. After a wonderful AND energy intensive experience, I know it’s going to take some time, and compassion, to reset.

Getting Grounded

This walk followed a all-day holistic expo where I presented a mini-workshop, “Stop Tolerating Chronic Stress.”

Fun and inspiring - as well as a huge amount of energy output. When the expo was over, I asked my body and soul what it needed, and a barefoot walk on the grass was the reply. Fortunately, it was a weird 70-degree October day and I also got to see the Full Moon rise. From conference room to calm, giving to receiving, doing to being.

A fierce love reminder: We are human be-ings, not machines. This is not new, nor an overnight paradigm shift. However, our culture continues to tolerate a mostly sedentary, tethered to tech, inhumane pace of living. We gotta keep calling this out. We also need to give ourselves some grace and create teeny shifts to reorient ourselves to our humanity.
 
We are designed to move; we have over 600 muscles, over 200 bones and joints, and a web of fluid connective tissue to name a few mobility aspects of our magnificent design. We are not supposed to sit for long periods of time. Period.
 
We can use technology for good AND go outside and play! Remember that you are part of the natural world with energetic ebbs and flows. This is critical.
 
My experience of driving, sitting for long periods of time, being a mom doing mom things, getting back home with little transition time before needing to do it all over again reminded me why I don’t do that anymore. UGH! For those of you in this pace of life, I feel you.
 
Creativity is required, hence self-care strategy and micro shifts. Start where you are, restore when you can, and I got your back.