This text was originally sent as a letter to my Subscribers. You can join my mailing list to receive updates, inspirations, reminders and honest stories like this one.
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Aloha!
The other day, I had a session with a Client who receives lomi once a month. At the beginning of every session I ask my Clients how they feel and what they need the most from the session – this time I did the same.
– There is this quote, from Lord of the Rings – started my Client. – When Bilbo, who has had the ring for a long time, says that he feels stretched, like butter…
– … scraped over too much bread – I finished. I am a massive LoTR fan, after all.
– Exactly. That’s how I feel. Thin, stretched.
We talked more about what he had said and what he needed from the session. And I realized that it was not the first time I heard something like this. Yes, probably for the first time a Client quoted Tolkien to describe how they felt in the body, but the very feeling – I hear it often, I see it often. Overworked. Over-stressed. Tired. My Clients tell me they need lomi not only because their back hurts or their shoulders are tight, but because they need deep rest.
A moment just for yourself. A moment when you don’t need to do anything or be anybody, think about anything or achieve anything. A moment to dis-charge and re-charge. A moment of deep receiving.
After the session, my Client looked different. I call it the lomi effect – you stand taller, breathe more easily, your eyes are brighter and heart lighter. Your shoulders are less tense, as if a heavy load was taken from your back.
– Much better – he said. – This is exactly what I needed.
He booked next session in 3 weeks and left, but his visit got me thinking about this feeling that he had described so well. Thin, stretched. As if there is too little of you to cover all aspects of your life – work, family, friends, health, hobbies… You stretch so much that you might start to tear.
Tired. Exhausted.
Sometimes I just need lomi to feel better. Sometimes a long walk in nature is enough. Or evening with friends, filled with laughter and good food. Or plenty of water and a lot of sleep. Or couple of days off, a short vacation.
But sometimes… I remember this time last year. I remember that I felt exactly like this. Thin, stretched. Power-less. Uninspired. Not much helped, so I ended up taking 4 months off. It was the best decision, but a very difficult one in the world where too often exhaustion is a status symbol – this, on the other hand, is a quote by Brene Brown. In fact, let me give it to you in full context, because it is priceless:
“If we want to live a Wholehearted life, we have to become intentional about cultivating sleep and play, and about letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth.”
Another Client today told me: I don’t want to feel tired all the time. This is not a way to live… this is not how I want to live my life. She decided to resign from some of the projects that kept her too busy and exhausted, and just this very decision made her feel better.
What I am trying to say in this letter is: please, pay attention to your tiredness – it carries an important message.
No, I will not give you a cliché list of 10 things to do when you are tired. I don’t know you, your story or your context. Tiredness can be a symptom of many things, form dehydration or vitamin deficiency, to your diet and level of activity, to hormonal issues, to depression or burnout and many, many other things.
But, for all things holy: please, let’s NOT normalize chronic tiredness! Let’s, collectively, as humanity, stop treating tiredness like a normal thing in this busy busy world. It is not normal to be tired all the time. It is not normal to feel exhausted or uninspired all the time. What IS normal for us, as human species, is rest and play. Sleep and physical activity. Community and support. Less over-achieving and more self-compassion.
With love,
Magdalena