Updated on October 18th, 2018
What does being stuck feel like for you? Perhaps you have a stagnant, paralysing, oppressive feeling? Or you might feel tight, uncomfortable or low-energy in your body. Or maybe you feel entrenched, closed, and hopeless in your mind.
And overall, your life might feel stale, too – like you’re in a rut, and not moving much in any direction at all.
If this is you, read on to discover two key principles and 6 simple Top Tips for getting un-stuck.
Feeling stuck is not a pleasant state to be in, yet we all end up there at one time or another in our life. I can even see why that’s important – in fact, one of my Talks on Life and Change is called ‘The Importance of Being Stuck – and How to Get Back Into Flow’.
Now, when you’re stuck, you could wait for something to change in your circumstances – and sometimes, our shifts do come from where we least expect them.
Yet this is not to say that, when we are stuck, we have to stay stuck. So, say you want to transform your life, yet feel like you can’t get out of your rut: There are things you can do to consciously and gently work to shift and change that stagnancy. Until you’re feeling more in flow again.
So here are two key principles and six Top Tips – tried and tested with many clients – which you can easily apply in order to get back into flow:
1. Work from the Outside-In
This means consciously making shifts in your outer body or external environment.
As our inner life is intrinsically connected with our body, and very much influenced by the external environment we’re in, this will have an impact on your inner perception and feeling about yourself and your life, too.
Physical yoga practice, holistic body therapies, or dance and movement therapy all work in this way – facilitating inner healing through working on the outer body.
And it’s why going for a brisk walk can help you clear those proverbial cobwebs.
As flow is re-established in your body and then in your mind, it will be easier for you to find your way through whatever it is you’re stuck on.
My 3 Top Tips for this are:
Move
Up the quantum of movement in your life. Make time to walk, run, dance, shake, stretch – or whatever grabs your fancy. Go to a class, or move on your own. Put some music on, and have some movement fun with it.
When you’re doing that, stop mulling things over in your mind, and be fully present in your body: Notice what your movement feels like, and where you feel it. Notice your breathing and your heart beat. Notice any other physical sensations of any kind that your movement brings about.
And notice how gradually, your inner feeling starts moving too!
Go outside
Spend time in your favourite park, near a river or lake, or even in your garden for a little while. Breathe the fresh air. Look at the sky and watch the clouds drifting past.
Science says that regularly spending time outside can have all sorts of health benefits, including improving mental health and positivity.
Some of my clients swear by walking or spending time next to flowing water in order to restore their inner flow!
It’s most effective if you do it regularly – whether summer or winter time – so how about planning some outside-time into your schedule?
Shed your clutter
Feng Shui, a Chinese system of arranging your environment so the energy flows through it gently and smoothly, states that physical clutter in your surroundings obstructs energy flow, and will make both you and your environment feel stagnant.
Science too has proven that physical clutter in our surroundings competes for our attention, resulting in decreased performance and increased stress. It overloads our senses, making us feel stressed, and impairs our ability to think creatively.
So, in order to re-establish flow, clear and organise your external environment: Pass on that pile of books you’ve never read and are unlikely to ever read. Clear the in-tray in your office. Clean out your fridge, or your wardrobe.
Shed anything that weighs you down – in whichever way. I have worked with a client who successfully de-cluttered her home, involving her four children in helping her! See what might happen for you!
2. Work from the Inside-Out
This means shifting your perceptions and your way of looking at things.
You can do this by working to understand what’s stopping you from moving forward, to overcome your excuses, or to let go of worries, or beliefs that don’t serve you anymore.
Notice how the mental weight you’re carrying lifts, and find your way back into action and movement in your life and the outside world. Coaching, by the way, can have this effect!
My 3 Top Tips for this are:
Look for insight and meaning
Often it’s difficult for us to move on when we’re internally still ‘digesting’ something that’s happened to us – particularly, if an experience was difficult, and we struggle to understand it.
Some questions I use in my coaching that can help you with this:
What is your stuckness telling you about yourself and your life? What do you need to be honest about? What can you learn from it? What do you need to accept or acknowledge? What do you need to let go of? What do you need to be more open towards? Which fear might you need to overcome?
And what is needed of you now in order to move forward with your life?
See if you can answer those honestly – perhaps whilst you’re walking – and notice the shift in how you feel.
Think differently
Making a conscious effort to think differently about the situation you feel stuck in can work wonders.
For example: Find a reason why your ‘stuck’ situation is just perfect as it is. Spell it out, and stop seeing your it as only negative.
What could your current stuckness be good for? What about it could you be grateful for?
Now notice the impact this has on your mood, and any change in how you see things!
Get perspective
Sometimes, our stuckness can take on seemingly insurmountable proportions in our mind: We start seeing only that, and our inability to move forward, and it makes us feel lower and lower.
So try to mentally take a step back:
Adopt a bird’s eye view on what keeps you stuck – imagine yourself soaring up to a height of 10,000 feet: What would your situation look like from there? What’s different from up there?
Here’s a photo that’s been going ’round Facebook that might help you put things into perspective – as well as perhaps make you smile!
Final words
These are not immediate fixes. But persist with them over even a short period of time, observing what happens, and you will find that something will eventually shift.
Over to you now…
Which of my Top Tips work best for you? And do you prefer to work Outside-In, or Inside-Out?
And what are YOUR ways of getting unstuck?
I’d love to hear your views. Please drop me a comment in the box below – thanks!
Want some help with this?
Consider working with me. I offer tailored coaching programmes for every need and budget. And if you’ve got questions, just book yourself an informal chat with me. It’s free!
Title and Text Photos: Pixabay
Universe Photo: from Facebook
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