Mindful Ways of Getting Out of a Slump

You may not realize how much of life you are missing out on by staying stuck in your head. There are things happening around you and even in your own body that perhaps you are too busy to notice. If you are having that foggy feeling, try these tips to remain present in your life.

In this blog post, I will be covering ways to uncover this feeling and how to navigate through it:

What is that foggy feeling?
How to listen to the clench in your stomach
How to be present throughout your day

What is that Foggy Feeling?

You may have experienced a day where you are simply not present in anything you are doing. You may be at work and are constantly making small mistakes that you feel you know better than to make. People may be talking around you and you haven’t registered a single word they’ve said. On days like this, your balance with yourself is off. When someone says to ‘center yourself’ it means to place your core self in the forefront. This means your morals and values, your true perspective of life and yourself, and your interaction with the world. When you lose touch with those things, you begin to go through your days on autopilot. It may be slow at first, but it can build up to be quite noticeable. You may look back and realize what you’ve been doing and how you’ve been acting haven’t been aligning with your true self.

How to Listen to the Clench in your Stomach

I am not going to lie. Right now even writing this blog post is honestly sending me. There are all these thoughts swarming in my mind about my friends and family and what I’m going to do tonight. God is constantly speaking to us. We are getting signs all the time. About what we should do to better maximize our purpose or how to steer away from something that doesn’t suit us. Someone who has left a relationship that wasn’t good for them can clearly see all the signs and feelings telling them to jump ship once the relationship is over. They say “I should have listened to my gut”. That’s the thing. Your ‘gut’ is always speaking. The Bible says that the same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead lives in you and The Spirit is saying something to you for you to take the time and listen (Romans 8:11). It isn’t until we quiet our minds and settle in the moment that we are in, to hear what God is telling us.

This is a practice to use when you can’t seem to quiet your mind or find yourself through the fog.

Take a deep breath and place one hand on your stomach and one on your chest. As you are breathing, what is the physical feeling you are experiencing in this breath? Does it ache? Does it hurt? Do you feel unsure? Your body is a physical indicator of what goes on inside of you. This is true for physical and mental health. Listen to this physical feeling so you can trace it to its source. As you feel the clench in your stomach you are able to say, this doesn’t feel good and here could be the reason. Once you depict the reason, you should feel a release in this clench.

How to BE Present Throughout Your Day

As the day progresses, it is easy to forget to re-center. A great tactic for surrendering to the present comes in the settling of the mind. When the mind itself is unsettled, it is difficult to be in the moment of the day. It is important to start out small with little actions to keep you centered. One of my favorite practices includes carrying a little journal with me. Even if you don’t have the room or the space, you can write on any small piece of paper. When I find myself being overwhelmed or floating throughout the day, I write out some of the positive things that have happened throughout the day. You can always find the good in something and when you actively write these good things out, it enhances your mind to look out for more good things throughout the day.

Practicing mindfulness throughout the day is important when hearing the voice of God clearly. Even if it starts small, it is important to always start. When writing blog posts, I try to do something blog-related. I may be in a bit of a blog funk, as some may call it, but if I write a paragraph a day or even come up with an idea that contributes to my blog, I can look back at all the accumulated small steps and see that they have added up to something great. That foggy feeling isn’t the dictator of your life. If you fall off or if you have procrastinated in the past, it doesn’t mean you should give up. Keep going.

The Take Away Trail

Life is never linear. You may slip up or you may find that two months have slipped through your fingers and you have no idea how to account for the time. If you realize that you have been caught in a fog, there’s no need to abandon ship. Remember that life is growth. You are always growing and breathing and learning daily. That foggy feeling does go away and you won’t remain in that state forever. Believe that the small efforts you put in daily will add to you becoming the best version of yourself.

Join the Trail

Everything starts with YOU. Begin the journey to creating your trail.

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