Self-Care When You Feel Stuck
Feeling stuck can take a toll on your emotional, mental, and physical well-being. You’ve been moving forward and all of a sudden, complete STOP! WTH?
When you become stuck, there is something you need to deal with mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually. Something is holding you back from taking the next step. This is usually something that is trying to protect you or keep you in your comfort zone.
Physical Self-Care Tips to Regain Strength
If the thing that is holding you back is physical, take the time to do something about it. Rest, go to the doctor, do something to increase your strength. Don’t push through the pain. It is telling you something is wrong and if you continue to move forward without taking care of it, things will turn out badly.
There was a time in my life when I ignored the signs. I’d get dizzy when I stood up, was fatigued on a daily basis, and would be winded just walking up the stairs. I ended up in the hospital needing a blood transfusion and surgery. Because I didn’t pay attention to my body and what it was telling me, I took it to the brink and it shut me down, HARD! One doctor even told me, “You’re at the edge of a cliff and you’re thinking you can fly. We’re here to reel you back to the living.” That’s when I agreed to the treatment. (I’m a little bull-headed 🤣)
Mental Self-Care for a Refreshed Mind
If what’s holding you back is mental, give yourself a break from thinking. Go for a walk in nature, read a trashy novel, garden, or just binge something on Netflix. Taking a day (or two) to do absolutely NOTHING is an amazing thing. It allows your mind to reset. Giving your mind the space to wander through all it’s trying to deal with, without piling on the everyday decisions, will help you to find the focus and clarity you need to move forward in your journey.
When things are overwhelming and you have so many things to think about, stopping may not be what you think is the right thing to do. But it is. Just like when my daughter’s townhouse flooded on Christmas Eve during a fast occurring, record cold snap that burst her plumbing.
She was bombarded on all sides (neighbors, HOA, internal) and started to have a panic attack. Once we had most of the water and carpet cleared out, we decided that there was nothing else we could do for anyone. We came back home and didn’t think of it again until after Christmas. By then she had a clear plan of attack and a new vision for her home that excited her.
Emotional Self-Care for Inner Peace
Emotional setbacks are a thing. When you find yourself banging your head on the same stumbling block over and over, there’s probably an emotional trauma (big or small) that occurred. Don’t ignore this. Get with someone who can help you, be they professional or personal. Acknowledge what happened and see if you can shift your perspective about what it means. This will also require some down time and rest as well.
These are, in my opinion, the hardest ones to care for. It requires delving into painful memories and taking a look at them as an outside adult instead of the 2 - 35-year-old you might have been at the time.
I personally stumble a lot with my younger self, living as the youngest of seven children with a bitter, judgmental, and manipulative mother and an alcoholic father. There were a lot of things that were said and done in that environment that created safety protocols that are no longer helpful or useful in my adult life.
My biggest struggle is being seen and learning all of the ways that shows up today. I gift myself the day that I speak with my therapist as down time, because I know I’m going to have an emotional hangover afterwards. Doing any kind of work in that state is not productive. Having the time to sit with, feel, and process my emotions allows the transformations that occur to settle and integrate so that I can show up for my clients, my life, and all of our BIG Dreams.
Spiritual Self-Care to Find Purpose
When all the things above are going on, either individually or all at the same time, taking care of yourself spiritually is vital. Reconnecting to the divine, however that shows up for you, and the spark within grounds you on your path. It gives you the strength to pass through all the obstacles along the way and clarity of vision when things get cloudy.
So, go sit by the fireside, hug a tree, go to church or temple. Find YOUR spot where you connect best and do the thing that focuses that connection. This could be reading, writing, singing, dancing, meditating, or just basking in the sun.
My spot is either sitting next to a tree in nature watching the animals in their daily endeavors, or on the back porch (sidewalk when I was younger) and watching the cars go by. This grounds me in the flow of the world and allows my spirit to connect to the energy of the universe, knowing that it all keeps moving and flowing around me.
Putting it all together
It doesn’t take much to do any of these small self-care things. The key is to find what works for you. You can try on these suggestions or find others that may work better for you.
Once you have found what works for you, start integrating it into your life. It may take some time and a little back and forth with yourself to “allow” yourself this bit of selfishness, but it is SOOO worth it.
You will find that you begin to have more energy and clarity about where you want to go and how to get there. You may even find that you’re more productive in your workday than you ever could have imagined. It’s a strange dichotomy: go slower to go further, faster.
When you feel stuck, self-care can offer a gentle yet powerful way forward. By caring for yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, you lay the groundwork for real transformation.
If you’re ready to dive even deeper into the stories and patterns that might be holding you back, I invite you to explore the Finding Your Stories guide. This guide can help you uncover, reflect on, and reshape the narratives that have influenced your life, giving you the clarity and freedom to move confidently toward your BIG Dreams.