slow, sensory day in the life: how I’m healing [chronic/adrenal fatigue, HPA access dysfunction]

Рет қаралды 1,536

5 ай бұрын

Take a peak into a slow, sensory, healing day in my life👁️ (can you tell I filmed this a couple months ago? 😂☃️❄️)
Since 2020, I’ve been unlearning a fast-paced, career-driven life & learning how to instead cultivate a human existence that sustains me & doesn’t lead to toxic stress & chronic burnout. On top of that, for the past year I have been consciously healing my body from chronic fatigue syndrome (AKA adrenal fatigue AKA HPA access dysfunction).
Do ALL of my days look like this? No.
Does privilege play a role in my capacity to sloooooow down? Absolutely.
I recognize capitalism doesn’t make it easy for ANY of us to live like this - in the soft, slow ways so many of us truly need to thrive.
AND, I believe that we learn from others even when our lives don’t look exactly the same. I believe there is healing for you within this video even if you’re NOT in a place to slow down & be with yourself to the extent I’m sharing here.
Before I embarked on my journey of burning my past life/self to the ground (not to be dramatic, but that’s what it has FELT like), I genuinely did not know anyone who lived in the ways I am living now. I only knew my old life wasn’t working for me; I had NO IDEA what it looked like - on a day-to-day, practical level - to live a life that was actually in alignment with my heart, my soul, and my sensory needs. It has taken me YEARS to learn how to find the balance between doing it ALL (survival), or not doing ANYthing (burnout). It has taken me YEARS to get to this point, where I can finally feel my self starting to thrive. 🌱
I so badly needed examples of what this healing & decolonizing journey looked like, and that’s why I feel so passionately about vulnerably & authentically sharing my journey with y’all💜
I am THRILLED to share that my hard “work” [of unlearning “work”😉] has truly paid off, and I am finally out of the woods of survival [living to work, auto-serving, self sacrifice, codependency, perfectionism, anxiety, depression, brain vs body decision-making, self oppressing/colonizing]
2024 is comin in HOT for me, y’all🔥 and I can’t can’t CAN’T wait to share more of this beautiful, magical journey of self-reclamation with you🥰
For now, know:
You are not alone.
Nothing is hopeless.
The visions you have for your self & the world are REAL, and the reason you have them is because YOU are the one who can bring them into manifested reality.
Keep going keep going keep going KEEP GOING!!!!!!!
WE’VE GOT THIS💪🔥💖🦋🦄💫

Пікірлер: 15

@VBrookeMusic 5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing. I completely resonate with this. I’m a stay at home mom of 5 children & it’s very hard for me to just relax & find myself through it all. I have forgotten that I love gardening & being outside with nature & it’s so healing for the soul & body too. I fall into depression from time to time when I don’t take care of myself. So thank you for this. ❤

@amycatwest 5 ай бұрын

Wow, yesss, with 5 kids I can so totally imagine that you are the LAST thing on your "to do" list. But I LOVE that you know what you need - and where to get it!! 💟 You deserve to be a priority too...and everyone wins when mom is happy & healthy🥰🌳🐦

@amadahyrose 5 ай бұрын

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I had a break"down" that's facilitating a breakthrough. Peace and blessings to you.

@amycatwest 5 ай бұрын

Break"down" to breakthrough - yessss I love that🧡🧡🧡

@Qwistie_ 5 ай бұрын

So happy I got recommended this. I relate so much to this. I was trying to be in the type A mold and I struggled so much with anxiety and depression. I would have 3 months of feeling okay and then 5 months of being overwhelmed. Last year I gave myself the chance to pursue work and life that's slow... That's such a good 💡 that you mentioned the separate the person inside and the world outside. We get too enmeshed in our worth in the world instead of it being inherent. I think the only thing I struggle with Now is being stuck in negative things online and not following a routine at home. Making sure I change for work at home. I started going to 12 step style meetings in the morning too. I will need to focus on journaling and check. 🎉 Thanks for sharing your journey with us

@amycatwest 5 ай бұрын

This is all so so relatable💟 I want to see perfectionism talked about a LOT more, because it really wrecked me. Learning boundaries - including boundaries with my self, e.g. what am I exposing my self to - has been *critical* in reclaiming my power. I love love love that you've given your self permission to slow down & prioritize your health (which includes mental health, AKA our happiness!!)💚

@1chumley1 5 ай бұрын

I hope your journey is going well, Amy! I relate to the HPA access dysfunction, I think. It feels very closely tied to the depressive spirals I go into. It is as though adrenaline won't clear out of my body and my thoughts drag me down into a depressed state. There really isn't anything I am more afraid of than going back into this "abyss," so it results in a positive feedback loop. Being in this high state of arousal supposedly really hurts one's intelligence temporarily and I can really feel this ringing true. I feel acutely out of control when these episodes happen. Like you, I have found success with sleep hygiene and now I am using double-inhale breathing in, followed by slow breathing out to get my parasympathetic nervous system to get to work in the moment. I am really hoping these two things help when things get more stressful. Thank you for your insight!

@amycatwest 5 ай бұрын

I believe toxic stress is the "root" of all mental health symptomology...and living in a culture that (by design) teaches us so little about toxic stress or what to do with it can ABSOLUTELY leave us feeling panicked and out of control. I'm glad you are finding some success with sleep, and with breath work!! Breath work is a fantastic way we can train our nervous system to calm back down💚 I also *might* encourage some [slow, gentle, intentional, possibly-cautious, possibly-with-support] leaning in to the emotions/feelings you are afraid of (might just be fear of the "abyss", but perhaps the "abyss" = feelings you don't want to feel). When we aren't able to integrate the fullness of our human experience, the fragmented/avoided parts end up "bumping up" against us when we're vulnerable, and can take us down & keep us stuck. Leaning in could even look like just reading books or watching videos on trauma integration (e.g. Body Keeps the Score, though there are many people talking more & more about this!!)💟

@dannietwinkly8978 5 ай бұрын

lol - the bees wanna be with a queen ❤ all is right all is well 🖤

@pv8192 5 ай бұрын

Ive been going through the same thing the last 5 years. I'm following the Medical medium protocol and am feeling so much better. ( Coffee wrecks the adrenals, as does any kind of stimulant, be careful ). Good luck on your journey.

@amycatwest 5 ай бұрын

Oof, 5 years is a long time to be dealing with this stuff...I'm so glad to hear the Medical Medium is working for you💚 (I do decaf coffee, perhaps should have specified!! I think/hope that is better...full caff coffee def does not work for my body)

@pv8192 5 ай бұрын

Decaf coffee also has small amounts of caffeine, enough to damage the adrenals long term. 🙄