A lot of people come into the clinic with stress, anxiety and burnout.
They feel stuck and unsure what to do next or how to create lasting change. Often they’ve already tried a number of different things. They get some improvement, feel hopeful for a while, then the symptoms return and eventually they give up.
One of the biggest challenges with stress, anxiety and burnout is that often, just before you make meaningful change, you can feel worse.
If your body has been running on adrenaline just to get through the day, then that adrenaline has been doing a job. It has been helping you function.
So if you start unwinding the system and reducing the need for adrenaline, it can initially expose how tired you really are.
You might feel exhausted, less productive or less motivated.
Sometimes you can even feel a bit unwell.
If that happened after trying something new, it would be completely normal to think:
“This isn’t working.”
“Maybe I should stop.”
“Maybe I need to try something else.”
The problem is that sometimes what feels like going backwards is actually part of moving forwards.
This is why the way you assess change is so important.
One of the best questions you can ask, particularly in the early stages of change, is:
How well do I recover?
If you’ve started unwinding your stress response and your body feels more tired during the day, perhaps your system is also becoming more restful.
You may sleep more deeply and wake feeling slightly more refreshed.
You may recover from tiredness more easily.
So rather than asking, Do I feel tired? ask:
How well do I recover from being tired?
The same principle applies across many symptoms.
If you wake during the night:
How quickly do I get back to sleep?
If your digestion is sluggish:
How quickly do my bowels recover?
If you become anxious:
How quickly do I settle again?
If you become overwhelmed:
How quickly do I return to balance?
The more areas you observe, the clearer the picture becomes.
Sometimes the changes you are looking for require momentum.
Your sleep may improve before your energy does.
Your digestion may improve before your anxiety settles.
Your anxiety may improve before your motivation returns.
The body often changes in layers.
Choose several meaningful areas to assess and keep track of how well you recover.
If three out of five areas are recovering more quickly than they were before, there is a good chance you are moving in the right direction, even if the change isn’t showing up in the way you expected yet.
Sometimes the breakthrough comes after the foundations have already started improving.
If you’re unsure where to start, book a free 15-minute discovery session HERE.
Warmly,
Joel Delaney & the Paddington Clinic Team
