If you do, then know that I understand you, because I was there.

Before being a Body & Mind Whisperer, I spent about fifteen years in the corporate world. Those years help me understand what some of my clients go through daily. It’s tough.

What made me suffer the most during this time was how disconnected I felt from my body. All there seemed to be during the day was my head, my desk, my piles of files and my computer. Oh and of course, my boss!

I felt like a wild animal trapped in a cage. I was dreaming of another life, where I could find the time to take care of myself. Even going to a workout class felt like a chore because of timing. The word “biorhythm” had been replaced by “rushing”. The constant pressure I was experiencing almost seemed normal. And that’s terribly wrong!

Taking on a lot of stress and pressure occasionally is okay but having to live by it daily isn’t.

The danger with normalizing it, is about not seeing where the limit is. When there’s so much of it in and around us, we end up aligning to it, thus raising our tolerance level to more than we should accept. Yet, we keep going because quitting a job or setting limits to the demand of a boss is either challenging or very difficult.

The consequences of this spiral settle over time. The longer we live like this, the worse it impacts us and our health and the harder it becomes to get out of it. It’s a loop of unhealthy components that keep nourishing imbalance between the body and the mind.

It’s clearly about too much mental and too little physical activity and it means we are completely disconnected from our basic human form to only become part of it.

The emerging “working from home” pattern that has developed in the last two years has helped improve things a bit but has it really?

What needs to happen to return to balance is a shift of awareness and a personal decision.

Ideally, we must make a conscious choice about how we want to treat ourselves. Because unless this happens, demands, expectations from others are always going to prevail over our own needs.

This is a fundamental element to building self-empowerment.

Empowerment isn’t about overpowering anyone. It’s about choosing what feels right for you, so you can deliver your best self and in turn, encourage others to do the same.

When your mind is overloaded and your body totally neglected, this is a good example of over-empowerment. It’s zero benefit for both. Neither get anything constructive out of it.

When clients ask me how they can shift things and feel better in their body, I tell them the following:

BEGIN WITH WHERE YOU’RE AT!

Beginning with “where you’re at” means you need to return to body awareness in the present moment and give yourself little tricks to help you increase your physical presence.

Things like placing post-it reminders on your desk or on your vision board can help you switch from your mind, back to your body.

Here are a few examples:

– Take a deep breath now

– Stand up now and move

– Smile for 5 seconds

– Pause, Feel & Drift  (upcoming video on the topic)

You should make your own “here & now” reminders because as insignificant as they may seem, they’re the founding stones to creating a new pattern.

Re-patterning needs habits and as well as time and patience.

How long have you had bad habits for? …

Yet, don’t get discouraged, the glass isn’t half empty.

Follow your instinct about wanting to change for the better then:

1. Don’t put yourself under pressure to make those changes happen overnight! Least productive choice.
2. Life’s a journey. Journey yourself into a new mindset and way of being. No need to rush.
3. Have a bit of fun with it. Don’t charge your new habits with too much expectation.
4. By applying the message of your Post-it, simply feel good in that moment. Just be with yourself.
5. Remember that you’re your own boss when it comes to your balance and looking after yourself. No one else will do it for you!
6. Be smart, be kind and trust that small steps are sufficient.

You want long-term changes, right?

So don’t go for the quick diet that promises you to lose 10 pounds in a week.

Integrate your small steps into your daily life and let them sink in at slow pace.

That’s life. Real life. And that’s what you want. Be as you are, be okay with your imperfections, sometimes weak, sometimes strong but always willing to choose wisely for your own good.