When My Soul Is Tired, This Is My Perfect Remedy

 "When our souls are tired, we don't need sleep, we need to get away and just be.”

It happens to all of us. We push and push and grind, and the truth is, we don't always take the best care of ourselves. Soul exhaustion creeps up, and then it's time to address our self care in a big way.

How Do I Know If My Soul Is Tired?

Have you ever felt a weariness that seems to seep into your very bones?

It's a kind of exhaustion that sleep alone can't cure because it's a profound sense of fatigue that envelopes your entire being.

Even a full night's sleep can leave you feeling drained of energy and lacking motivation. Excitement for life feels far from grasp.

It's a scenario many of us are all too familiar with. Some call it "soul tired."

When we're exhausted, our body is working hard to just keep up with the daily tasks. When our brains are tired, we can't put anything else in.

This is where I was. Totally blah. Tired and wired. Sick of everything. No pizazz. Dull.

Soul Exhaustion & Mental Health

We can't talk about this deep-seated tiredness that we are calling "soul exhaustion" without talking about mental health.

Not only do social anxiety, persistent stress, and overwhelming demands of our jobs and our family lives, contribute to the feeling of being spiritually tired and emotionally drained, but they don't set us up for healthy minds either.

Then there's the double whammy - soul exhaustion itself can weigh heavily on our mental health. The lack of motivation and common state of melancholy can lead to unnecessary conversations in our heads of the negative variety and cyclical thinking.

It's so important to recognize when our soul's tiredness is more than just a passing phase and might be symptomatic of deeper mental health issues.

If you find your tired soul intersecting with symptoms of mental illness like depression, it's important to acknowledge this and seek appropriate support. In such cases, seeking help from a medical professional is advisable.

My Perfect Remedy: A Personal Retreat.

I know when I'm "soul tired," there's only one thing that will get me back on track. I call it, "a personal retreat."

A personal retreat is a time when you step away from your daily life to reflect on where you are in your life at the moment. It's a time to rest, restore, reset and it's a time for deep listening. It's a courageous and bold act of self love.

Taking A Week Off For Myself

I decided to save myself and take a week off.  From everything.

I knew I needed to get away and let myself do nothing.

I chose a beautiful place...the California central coast.

The first morning when I woke up without an alarm, I felt strange.

I resisted my impulse to do the usual thing...get up, check the news, check my emails, my texts. Instead, I heard a little voice say, “wait… you don't have to do any of that. In fact, you're not going to do that.”

I closed my eyes and sank back into the comfy Air B&B bed. But it felt really odd.

It wasn't that easy to switch off. 

Because I'm always doing. I'm always thinking and planning and running to the next thing.

I got myself up and drove to the beach because I knew this is what I needed and what I came for.

It was foggy on the coast but I could see the sun peaking through the clouds as if she wanted to slowly wake up, too.

I drove up the coast highway a few miles and found the elephant seals.

I watched them hurling their mammoth slippery bodies up onto the sand and then into the huge pile. I gazed at the young males fighting...bashing their necks against each other.

It was mesmerizing to watch them and hear them snort and make funny sounds. These large creatures were right below me, protected from the humans, and yet I could see them clearly without disturbing their natural habitat.

What I learned from these seals was the beauty in just flopping on the beach.

And molting…shedding their skin.

Sometimes Doing Nothing At All Is Necessary

I decided to do the same.

I sat on the beach two days in a row doing absolutely nothing.  

In the warm afternoon sun, as others were running and playing in the surf, I allowed myself to shed the tiredness.

I was molting, too...shedding the layers of mental stress.

It was shocking to realize how tired I felt. I thought to myself, I’ve done nothing all today and yet I still feel tired.

And then I realized my body was trying to catch up.

I thought about how faithfully my body had carried me through a year of covid, enduring a month of smoke from California fires, and launching a new course with hours and hours of time in front of my computer, learning new technology, then watching it not work and having to figure out what to do next. Over and over.

It had been a year of continuously adapting and being resilient.

I thought about how amazing my body was and my mind, to get me through all this.

And I was eternally grateful that I gave myself this gift of not having to produce anything or give to anyone, only to absorb the golden rays of the sun.

It was true bliss.

Rewards Of Going On A Personal Retreat

If you’ve ever been on a personal retreat, you know the rewards. If you’ve never taken time away just for yourself, you may not realize how extraordinarily valuable it is to just be with yourself.

So…in case you’re wondering…here are just a few treasures of being on retreat.

1. Rest

In our ever busy world, our bodies and minds are often in a constant state of desperation for rest. Rest brings restoration to our soul's energy. We reset everything when we just allow our brains to switch off or our bodies to stop the endless doing. I didn’t have a clue of how tired I was because I was continually revved up.

2. Clarity

When we pause, we get to think about what's important now.  What's going right and what's not. If we listen to our inner guidance, we know. In order to do this, we need stillness and time away from distractions.

3. Creativity

New ideas emerge. Possibilities begin to rise up and we see what is possible and what can happen. Writers and artists know the value of time away so that they can focus, get clear on what they want to create and express. And it bumps up our creativity factor.

4. Authenticity

When we take the time to be alone with ourselves, we come home to ourselves. We recognize who we actually are...the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's the body we live in, what we know and who we are. We can choose to love it or hate it but it's us.

5. New ideas

When we aren't hypnotized by so much work or busyness, we can see what's really important. We're not going to live forever and if we realize that things aren't going the way we planned about life, we can adjust, change course, and find happiness and meaning in our own lives.

Is A Personal Retreat Right for You?

If you answer yes to even just one of these questions, a personal retreat may just be your perfect remedy too.

1. Do simple tasks feel unusually difficult or exhausting lately?

2. Is the joy, spark and keen interest missing from life where it used to be?

3. Do you feel disconnected from your inner self and personal goals?

4. Do you feel constantly tired, even after resting?

5. Are you craving clarity and direction in a world that feels increasingly chaotic?

Give Yourself Permission

I've spoken to many women who can't even remember the last time they took time like this and many believe they never have. I remember a time in my life when the idea of focusing solely on my own well being wasn't even on my radar.

And this is a sad but honest truth, because we all deserve to know what this feels like. A true reset. And our souls are just waiting for us to make the decision to do it.

Will this be the time you finally say yes to that part of you who is so desperately showing you signs, or will you keep ignoring her?

Here's a secret: It may never feel like the "perfect time." You may never get x, y, and z together and in order before you take this time for yourself. Likely you will not. That's part of the medicine.

A little bit of surrender can be an incredibly liberating and transformational thing. Once you give it a try. ;)

Solutions Just For You

A personal retreat is definitely my first recommendation. For me, it's a guaranteed reset and my soul is recharged.

But maybe you're finding that you need a half way point between completely unplugging and not taking any action?

Not all of us have a life situation that supports a full week commitment of "me" right now.

My 7 day self care challenge is a perfect middle ground.

The most important thing is to take some action. However small or big!

Over to you

 I invite you to begin planning your own personal retreat. Today.

What are you waiting for? 

Check out my guide on How To Go on a Personal Retreat to get the ball rolling!

Know someone who could benefit from a personal retreat? Send them this post. 

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