If You Overthink Everything, Try This...

I found myself sitting in my bed the other morning ruminating about an issue I was dealing with. I was overthinking it all, every possible situation that it could turn into, and spinning it until I was exhausted and felt depleted by it.

Then I caught myself. I got up, stepped onto my yoga mat, and started doing some windmill squats (see video above). I needed to move that stuck energy that was spiraling and getting me nowhere, as I was sinking into analysis-paralysis.

It's the Earth season, the season according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) when the stomach and spleen chi are running the strongest. And what I was experiencing is quite common this time of year, or any time when stomach+spleen chi become imbalanced.

I had been skipping breakfast, which is one way to deplete stomach+spleen chi, as these two organs are in energetic high tide during the hours of 7-11 am. They want to be fed warm, nutrient-dense food to supply our body and mind with fuel for the day.

But the key component to watch out for in this season is over-ruminating, which keeps us paralyzed and then gets us stuck in the mud. When thinking of mud, that's earth with too much water. The water element's energy, according to TCM, can easily turn into fear. Fear is like the deer in the headlights, paralyzed and unable to move.

Well, once we notice we're stuck and ruminating, the quickest remedy is movement! Each season's imbalanced energy can often be corrected by the two previous seasons.

The previous season is known as the generator, so the fire season of early summer that relates to the heart is the generator, or mother, to the spleen energy. Two seasons prior is the wood season of spring, which corresponds to the liver energy, known as the controller, or grandmother, to the spleen/stomach energy.

Both the wood and fire elements like to move. They're about upward yang sprouting and blooming energy. Movement is medicine, especially to our brain! And it takes noticing the pattern to break free from it.

Otherwise, earth energy can get heavy and stuck, and emotionally turn into excessive worry, complaining, blaming, and self-absorption.

So after I did several rounds of windmill squats with a long, slow breath that matched the movement, my mind was refreshed and reset. I could now think more clearly about the situation and came up with solutions rather than excessive worry.

Hope to breathe with you soon.

From my heart to yours~

Namaste,

Maggie