By in Meditation, Mindfulness, Other Therapies, Psychotherapy

Difficulty Getting Up In The Morning?

Do you wake up to fear, stress or pain?

Is it just too hard to get up every morning these days?

Are you lacking the energy to face the day?

Do you just want to stay down and hide?

Hey, there is no need to be ashamed or embarrassed if your answer is yes to any of the above. We are all dealing with a lot right now. Each of our circumstances is different, yet all our lives are impacted by an extraordinary threat on some level or another. We may have our own individual opinion or view on our and the world’s situation. Our body on the other hand has their own also. The part of our nervous system that scans for, and deals with threats is very confused at the moment. Of course the situation is uniquely different for each one of us but generally speaking, our nervous system is getting a lot of mixed messages telling it that there is a threat, yet we can not see it and it is unclear where and how to find safety. On the other hand the nervous system is also registering that we are being deprived of our resources that would normally help us be safe. We lack contact with other humans and nature and we may not be able to engage with the activities that we would normally turn to, to help us.

So whatever we may be prone to, when our nervous system is getting overwhelmed, confused, out of balance or dis-regulated may really show up now, commonly this is pain, exhaustion, anxiety, disconnection, depression and a general sense of overwhelm. It can hit us the hardest first thing in the morning when we may have had a rough night, not getting much sleep, or after we have just been blissfully unaware in our dreams and suddenly reality and our internal situation hits us.

It is important to be kind to yourselves now. Overcoming yourself with caffeine and pushing on will only work for a limited time. Also, would it not be nicer to ACTUALLY feel better in the morning? There are many meditation and relaxation apps that can help you relax at night to find better sleep or to calm the stress in the morning, however those tools usually can only help you manage the overwhelm that is in your system it probably won’t resolve it. So how about doing something slightly different and engage with techniques that help you to gently connect with your nervous system and begin communicating with it to resolve the confusion and overwhelm?

Communication is the keyword here. Many mindfulness techniques, meditation and relaxation techniques help your nervous system to calm down momentarily, however they are often a one way communication. We notice our stress and then introduce techniques to calm the stress down. That is fine, however, what is missing is an outlet for all that energy that our nervous system is holding. Even if you feel exhausted and it seems there is no energy at all, the truth is that under every depression, exhaustion and burn out lies suppressed high energy and stress that at some point became too much and then was shut down. That is why sometimes we meet anxiety, fear, heart racing or an increase in pain when we truly connect to ourselves and begin to relax, or first thing in the morning. The moment we relax, let our guard down our Nervous System takes the opportunity to let us know what is really going on. This can be scary and sometimes unfortunately we are not equipped or ready to deal with what comes up and we believe that relaxation or embodyment is not for us.

The key is to make sure we engage into the process feeling supported and resourced in the right way and that we do so very slowly and in small portions. Then it can be the most simple and healing process. It is not about only seeking comfort. We do want to expand our sense of comfort and wellness of course, but being able to be with small digestible portions of the difficult feelings is equally important to gradually release that energy. As Liz Koch says “It is not about getting rid of trauma, it is about metabolising it.”

This is of course best done in private coaching sessions but we can experience this process safely also in group sessions.

If you would like to find out more, Kristin is offering a free live Somatic Movement Meditation class on Youtube on Monday the 26th of October at 8 am to help you face the day more resourced, calm, comfortable and capable. She also offers private Somatic Coaching online.

To contact Kristin call The Body Matters on 01702 714968.

Kristin Loeer
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