Are you stressed and exhausted?

“Stress” for me lately has felt tight, heavy and exhausting.

When I reached out to my community on Instagram and shared this recently, I got that many of you are feeling the same. So naturally, I want to share what stressed and even burnt out feels like to me, what I do to cope and what has helped me feel lighter!

So firstly, what has “stressed” look like for me lately:

Physically my shoulders, neck and jaw tightens.

I feel heavy like everything is just that much harder to do and I take things too seriously! Oh and, I’ve felt tired, low vibe and a bit grumpy. My mind is busy in thought when I’m trying to sleep or be present with others.

I notice these 3 things that tell me I’m stressed or anxious:

  1. I resist meditating, rest or sitting still and despite how tired I feel, I have this fizzed energy to go running, keep busy and check social media

  2. I feel like I need caffeine to boost my energy

  3. Wine feels like the answer, I embrace a drink because it helps me to mellow and my muscle to relax.

Now for the Coping tools;

Embrace Stillness;

Even if it’s the last thing you feel like - remember what you resist, persists.

  • 5 deep belly breaths, where ever you are

    inhale 1,2,3,4…. and exhale 1,2,3,4….

  • Use Meditation!

Re-evaluate Exercise:

Running and high intensity training (Such as HIIT) provokes the flight or flight response which is more stress! So when we are already feeling wound up, we need to use lower intensity exercise to calm us down. Walking, Swimming and Yoga (especially Yin Yoga) help us to get back to “rest and digest” mode which is where we need to be most of the time.

Eat grounding foods

Even though you feel like a quick burst of energy from sugar, especially mid afternoon - choose cooked, warm and energetically grounding foods such as root vegetables that are naturally sweet, rather than salads.


Stay Grateful!

No matter what is going on, there are ALWAYS little glimmers of wonderful things we can be grateful for, it’s important to keep this top of mind and to do this, keep a gratitude list each day of 3 things you are grateful for!







Julia Craig