Hello! 👋 

Welcome to Issue 19 of the weekly Chronic Evolution newsletter, where I share mindfulness tips, tricks, and anecdotes to help you evolve your mindset in 5 minutes or less.

Let’s get right into it.

3 Ways To Move Through Uncertainty

Have you ever felt stuck in life?

It’s that feeling where you know you’re not quite where you want to be, but you’re equally unsure about where ‘there’ actually is.

I currently feel stuck with my health.

I’m dealing with my first chronic pain flair-up in years, and it’s brought up a lot of old emotions and fears that I thought I had cleared out long ago.

Some days, a trip to the bookstore feels like a monumental undertaking. A laborious task to be planned and carefully executed.

Other days it’s a quick 20-minute chore. In and out.

The uncertainty has left me stagnant and unable to commit to plans or desires.

If you’ve also been feeling in a slump or unsure of how to move forward, I have a short but powerful issue for you this week.

Here are the three main things I’ve turned to to help me through the current moment. I hope they can help you move forward, too.

1. Embrace the void

Have you ever had so many thoughts speeding through your mind that you’re unable to grab ahold of any of them and end up comfortably numb instead?

The Holistic Psychologist calls this shutdown Freeze. It’s a nervous system response characterized by “few facial expressions, monotone voice, lack of movement, and chronic procrastination.” And it’s where I currently find myself.

Provided I still complete my work obligations, I’m allowing myself to “turn off” and sit in the void for a bit. I’m giving my mind and body permission to embrace a slower pace of processing. Removing the pressure to override and overcome this slowness by choosing to embrace it is liberating.

2. Escape to your dreams

I recently came across the concept of Dreamporting with Daniel Raphael.

I’m new to this topic and still exploring it, but I tried Daniel’s free meditation, which is part of his How to Manifest Instantly YouTube video, and found it extremely centering and calming. In it, you’ll focus on receiving pure, golden energy with every in-breath and letting go of others’ projections and energies with every out-breath. I came away feeling more grounded in my own desires.

Here’s the video. Fast-forward to the 24-minute mark to jump right into the meditation.

3. Rethink movement

I’ve been stuck in an exercise rut. I got it into my head that exercise meant weightlifting. End of story.

A rigid, inflexible view left me choosing immobility over anything else when weightlifting wasn’t an option. I’ve acknowledged that I was wrong and have returned to the basics with a daily myofascial release program. (This is really just a fancy term for rolling around on a lacrosse ball.) I’ve chosen to listen to my body, give it what it needs, and strengthen my weakened mind-muscle connection. So far, it’s helping me to feel better.

If you want to give it a go, just search “trigger point release” on YouTube for free videos. Or you can follow the paid program I’m doing. It’s called Rebuilding U with Kinesiology, Movement, and Fascia expert Chris Kidawski.

That’s it

Those are the three things I’m focusing on right now to help me navigate an uncertain time. If you’re also dealing with health issues, I hope these techniques help you recalibrate and rebalance. They also work for any form of uncertainty, including relationship changes or a shifting career.

To your chronic evolution,

Carly 

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P.P.S. You may have noticed there was no issue last week. I was dealing with this chronic pain flair-up. I have a tendency to retreat into myself during hard times and hide that anything is wrong. I’m working on owning the hard times and reaching out for help. If that’s a topic you’d be interested in learning more about, let me know by responding to this email. I may not be able to reply to everyone, but I read every email.

If these emails ever become a burden rather than something you look forward to opening each week, I encourage you to unsubscribe. (No hard feelings.)