Burn out happens when things consistently feel heavy.
It’s easy to forget, when you’re under a cloud of to-do’s or carrying a lot of emotional pressure, that life doesn’t have to feel overwhelming or exhausting.
A great antidote to feeling overwhelmed, stressed or burnt out is play.
Often when we’re in a funk our gremlins are knocking around, hurling abuse at us, or whispering fear based comments in our ears. A fun and effective way to tackle gremlins is with humour. Imagine your gremlins as cartoon characters, give them some form and laugh at how silly they look. This simple process can shift the weight, it can make things feel a little lighter.
Another way to bring play into action when you feel overwhelmed is through your body. Physically standing up, moving around, dancing a bit, even lying on the floor with your legs and arms in the air like a puppy sleeping in the sun can shift your energy and make things feel a little lighter.
And thirdly, laughing at the situation really helps. I love the great Caitlin Moran quote: ‘life divides into AMAZING ENJOYABLE TIMES and APPALLING EXPERIENCES THAT WILL MAKE FUTURE AMAZING ANECDOTES.’ I can remember feeling very stressed out during a travelling trip a long time ago where we rented an apartment and went out for the evening for dinner. When we got back we couldn’t get back into the apartment, panic ensued, we thought the owner had locked us out and stolen our passports, and so we called the police. Two minutes later our host arrived back with a bag of cheese, he obviously had a slightly unorthodox addiction and needed a late night fix. The whole situation was at the time scary and anxiety making, but really it was hilarious and now makes for a slightly bizarre pub tale. So step back, look at the situation you are in and try to find the humour.
I’d love to hear how you bring play into your life.
If you want to come and play with us check out our retreat in October!
*Image from www.unsplash.com