Part of being human is experiencing a wide array of emotions. We have complex brains that allow us to feel a range of emotions. We can experience the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. And sometimes, we can get stuck in a low place, we might call it a “rut.” Additionally, we may feel helpless, hopeless, and like there’s no way out, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Here are 3 ideas to help get you out of a rut or from feeling stuck to feeling empowered:
- Start a new project or craft:
- Extend Anonymous Kindness
- Return Home to You
- Bonus Tip
- Recent Reflections
I: Start a New Project / Craft –
Learning a new skill or completing a fun project can help you to feel more confident and empowered. It can give you a sense of accomplishment, boost your self-esteem, and provide a creative outlet for your emotions. It can also be great mindfulness and meditative exercise to do alone or with someone you love!
👉 To get started, consider watching YouTube videos, signing-up for a class or even listening to a podcast. Then, just try your best and see how it goes!
👉 A few of my personal favorites include a paint and wine night, paint a ceramic, or build a succulent terrarium. Search on Google for types of activities like this or maybe other activities in your area. I’ll usually find tickets on Event Brite or sometimes even Meetup.com
👉My only caution when choosing this new project you start is to ensure it will NOT take you a million years to complete. You want something to help you get out of the rut, not deeper into it. Know what I mean?
👉By learning or developing a new skill we allow ourselves not only to learn that new skill but also learn something new about ourselves. We give ourselves permission to explore, play, and open our minds to new possibilities.
👉A deeper sense of confidence comes from being able to overcome obstacles that we didn’t think we could. As a result, we feel good about ourselves when we complete a new skill. We can then use this feeling to help us in other parts of our lives.
👉Whatever it is, the key is to let it be something that sounds FUN to you, something NEW and something you can complete in a REASONABLE amount of time.
II: Extend Anonymous Kindness –
👉For some, a really fast way to get yourself out of a rut or from feeling disempowered is to do something nice for someone else with no expectation of anything in return.
👉Not only does it make you feel good in the moment but it can also have a ripple effect. When you do something nice for someone, they are more likely to pay it forward and do something nice for someone else.
👉Research shows that when we give, it not only benefits the recipient but also has a positive effect on our own physical and mental health.
👉So how can you do this?
Anonymous Kindness Examples:
– Leave a nice note on somebody’s car
– Pay for the person’s coffee behind you in line
– Bring in baked goods to work or your child’s school
– Offer to help someone with something they are struggling with
👉The anonymous part is key here. You want to do it WITHOUT the intention of recognition or reciprocity. The focus is on the act of giving, not what you might get in return.
👉 Explore what it feels like to do something good for someone else without recognition. Instead of external gratitude from the recipient, can you generate that internally for yourself?
III: Return Home to You –
The final tip I have for feeling empowered and getting out of a rut is to return home to yourself through mindful meditation, movement, and reflection. We can get so caught up in our lives and what’s going on around us that we forget to check in with ourselves.
👉 The top three key activities to help you return home to YOU is giving yourself permission to move, write, and meditate in a way that feels authentic and right for you.
- Moving your body is an essential part of our overall health and well-being, yet we often don’t make it a priority. Carve out time in your day, even if it’s just 10 minutes, to do something that gets you moving and supports your physical health. This could be taking a walk, doing some gentle stretching, or dancing around your living room!
- Writing can take many forms and doesn’t have to be daunting. Whether it’s a gratitude journal, stream of consciousness style writing or a letter to yourself – the act of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) can help you process your thoughts and feelings. It can give you space to write out or draw exactly how you’re feeling.
- Meditation is a practice that can help you to feel more centered and connected to yourself. To clarify a meditation that is unique to you doesn’t mean it has to look a certain way. The key to meditation is learning how to be in the present moment in a particular kind of way, non-judgmentally. If you’re new to meditation, there are many free guided meditations available on my Insight Timer to help get you started.
If you prefer a video format and you want to meditate with me on video, come check out my YouTube channel and check out my latest Progressive Muscle Relaxation Meditation here. It’s all about releasing tension in your body so you can start to feel more relaxed.
No matter what you do to return home to yourself, make sure it’s something that feels good for you. The goal is to get present and connect with yourself on a deeper level so that you can feel more peaceful, relaxed, and empowered from within.
By taking some time each day to return home to YOU, you are better able to show up for all the other people and things in your life that matter most!
It’s really that simple.
When you’re feeling stuck, helpless, or in a rut, remember these three tips: start a new project or craft, do something nice for someone else, and return home to yourself through mindful meditation, movement, and reflection.
If you can implement even one of these tips into your life, I guarantee you’ll start to feel more empowered and less stuck. But if you can do all three, even better! Just remember to go at your own pace and do what feels right for you.
If you need some guidance or support on your journey to feeling empowered and getting unstuck, feel free to join the free Facebook Group for more tips and inspiration on getting unstuck!
**BONUS TIP**
You Can Start This Today…
✅THE DONE DID LIST (AKA – Accomplishment List):
👉 List any and all the things that you’ve done that make you proud.
👉 Post it on a wall, make a screensaver of it. Wherever you choose to put this accomplishments list, I need you to make sure it’s visible.
👉And if you don’t think you have anything to be proud of, start small with where you are.
For example:
✅ I am grateful for my bed.
✅I made it through another day.
✅I tried something new.
✅I was kind to a stranger.
The point of this is that we so often focus on what we haven’t done that we don’t give ourselves enough credit for all the things that we have done.
Shifting your focus to what you HAVE accomplished will help increase your feelings of empowerment and leave you feeling less stuck in a rut. Try it today and see how you feel!
👉 This can help to pump you up and remind yourself of all the things you’ve accomplished, even if you feel stuck right now. 🙂
✨Recent Relevant Reflections✨
Most people overestimate how much they can get done in 1 year vs. how much they can get done in 5.
Let me repeat that.
🤯Most people OVERestimate what they can accomplish in 1 year and UNDERestimate what they can accomplish in 5. 🤯
What does this mean?
🛑STOP believing that if you didn’t get everything done today, this week, or this month you’ve failed.
You have not failed.
You still have time!🛑
I hope this was helpful for you in some way.
Remember, I’m always cheering you on!
Tell me down below what was your favorite part or share it on your instagram stories and tag @yourmindfulbreath.
Sending lots of love & light!
Be Well!
Faye
