🎆What Happens When You Hit A Wall? 🎆

My Dear #FierceOver50 One,

Have you ever hit a wall?

Felt so exhausted that you had no 'get up and go?" None at all?

That was me this past couple months or so and I wanted to tell you first, that I am making my way back to you.

But more important, I wanted to explore why this happens for our exhausted achiever selves and share a bit about what we can do about these descents into flat out, "I just can't do a thing mode."

This happens from time to time. It just does.

Our vitality just vanishes. We can't move. We feel turgid. We slog through our days.

We can't think and no amount of coffee helps. Then, on top of this all, we can't sleep.

And, even worse, the voices in your head shout,

"You are not good enough. Nothing works."

"You don't have enough time, money, resources."

"If only I had taken this course. "

"If only I had told him 'no.'"

"If only the cleaning/cooking/shopping did not take all my time."

Your days become one big, long, meal of junk food for your soul.

(I learned "junk food for your soul," from Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves, Ballentine, 1992.)

What happens when you cannot see a way out of this funk?

What happened for me? How am I working my way out of my "dark night of the soul."

[Of course, if you are struggling and you know that you need to seek professional help, of course you should do that. And while you are doing so, know that I and the women reading this newsletter support and encourage you.]

Often, this deep stagnation is a natural part of the cycle of our exhausted achiever lives.

Tanked up on caffeine, powered by our ego and sheer will power, we go, go, go until we run out of steam.

And then we must stop.

I realized this had happened to me and then, because I make these learnings what I do, I had to stop and have a talk with myself about what was wrong and how to bring myself back.

I was tempted to read a novel, to eat junk food, to get a mani-pedi, to go to a chiropractor, and to binge watch Netflix.

But I knew better, because this -- how to get our vitality back -- is what I teach. If you are reading this as a dear and loyal member of my e-mail list you know what I am talking about. We are in this together.

I began to realize that -- again -- that the answer goes deeper than one simple practice, like breathing, or self-massage or gentle movement -- even though I teach all those things.

All these wonderfully effective practices -- breathing, self-massage, and gentle movement -- are tools to access the deepest river of your soul-self.

And this deep river of your soul sometimes needs to rest and recover. That is what I have been doing.

I've been patient and loving with myself.

I've been reminding myself that being in my exhausted achiever energy is something I learned -- mistakenly -- to power my life.

I was told,

"Be like a man, everyone told me. Keep going. You can do it all."

I don't need or want my exhausted achiever self back.

I need to reclaim my #FierceOver50 self, which, as Clarissa Pinkola Estes says is like the "river beneath the river, or the Rio Abajo Rio. If this sounds mysterious and unattainable to you -- what is AnnMerle talking about? -- it's not. s

This powerful soul-self is found in often-neglected and pushed-too-hard bodies.

Our #FierceOver50 soul-selves live in our bodies. Our physical bodies just plain get tired when our minds continue to drive us to do more and more and more.

We need to come back to our bodies in new and profound ways.

The special techniques that comprise my Body Vitality Method will give you the superpower you need

to regain your focus,

to be fierce,

to protect your energy,

to feed your fierce soul,

to come back to life,

to protect your time,

to nourish yourself,

and to persist in becoming who you were meant to be.

If you like what I have to say, sign up for my free newsletter at https://www.fierceover50.com. And if you want to learn about my premiere program for women who are really intent on reclaiming their #FierceOver50 selves, check out my monthly membership below!

Annmerle Feldman