Being Balanced

🦘 A Quokka’s Perspective

The words we use.
Some words have a way of creating pressure.

Must.

“I must get everything done.”

Take a moment and read that slowly.
Notice what happens in your body.

Does must make things feel more urgent?
Does it feel like there’s no room to stop, adjust, or decide what actually needs your attention?

Now try:

I can get this done.

Pause again.
Notice what happens.

The responsibility may not have changed.
The thing may still need to get done.

But must can turn something into a demand — and sometimes that demand is coming from us.

“I must finish this.”
“I must get caught up.”
“I must take care of everything.”

What happens if you replace must with I can?

“I can finish this.”
“I can work on getting caught up.”
“I can take care of what needs my attention.”

I can doesn’t mean I have to do it all.

It gives us a little more room to choose what we do next.

❤️ Tiny words can change the whole story.

This week, notice when must shows up.
Pause.
Try I can instead.

Then notice what changes.
Small shifts. Gentle practice.

Slow Your Pace with Matilda Grace 🐾

Take a beat.

Sometimes something happens and our response is already on its way before we’ve even had a chance to notice it.

A comment.
A text.
A request.
Something we need to fix.

Or, if you’re Matilda, another dog. 🐶

Taking a beat doesn’t mean you won’t respond.
It simply gives you a moment to notice what is happening inside you before you do.

What did you feel?
What was your first impulse?
Do you need to respond right now?

Sometimes that tiny bit of space is enough to give us another option. Maybe one that won't involve you losing your own ground, peace or elevating the situation.

Notice first. Then choose what comes next.

Matilda is still working on this one. 😉🐾

Now that we're practicing... let's talk about rest.

Sometimes we notice that we need a break.
And then we keep going.

I'll stop when I finish this.
Let me just do one more thing.
I'm almost done.
I'll rest after.

Until the decision is eventually made for us because we're exhausted, overwhelmed, irritable, hurting, or simply out of energy.

Rest doesn't always have to come at the end.
Sometimes the practice is responding to ourselves a little earlier.

• Sitting down for a few minutes even though there is still something to do.
• Stepping outside.
• Getting a drink of water.
• Changing position.
• Closing our eyes for a moment.
• Letting something wait.

It doesn't have to be a long break to communicate something important to our nervous system:
𝙄 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪.
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠.

What happens when you let yourself pause before your body makes you stop?

Notice → Support → Connect → Grow

🌿 We all have a “but.”

I want to exercise… but I’m too tired.
I want to set a boundary… but I don’t want to upset anyone.
I want to make a change… but what if it doesn’t work?

It’s easy to see the “but” as the problem — something we need to push through, overcome, or argue ourselves out of.

But what if it’s information?

💚 Sometimes that hesitation is telling us something about our fears, our concerns, or our past experiences. The things your nervous system is trying to protect you from.

In Working With Your Big “But,” we won’t try to get rid of your “but.”
We’ll get curious about it.

You’ll choose one of your own “buts,” explore what may be underneath it, and begin looking for ways forward that your nervous system can actually feel safe and work with.

🌿 Nervous System Wellness Workshop
💻 Live Online
⏱️ 60 minutes | $30

Learn more + register:
beingbalanced.net/ns-wellness

🦘 A Quokka’s Perspective

The words we use ~ Only

“I 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 got one thing done.”

Take a moment and read those slowly.
Notice what happens in your body.
How it makes you feel?

Does the one thing you accomplished somehow feel smaller?

The word only shrinks what we actually did.
• I only walked for ten minutes.
• I only finished one thing.
• I only took one small step.

But take away the only...
• I walked for ten minutes.
• I finished one thing.
• I took one small step.

Nothing about what you did changed.
But the way you spoke about it did.

And sometimes, recognizing what we did do — instead of immediately measuring it against everything we didn’t — gives us a little more room to work with where we actually are.

❤️ Tiny words can change the whole story.

This week, listen for the word only when you talk about something you accomplished. Then try taking it out and see how you feel.

Slow Your Pace with Matilda Grace 🐾

We move through so much of our day without really noticing the movement itself.

Try slowing down one ordinary thing. Become mindful of your movements and the world around you.

As you walk:
Notice your foot meeting the ground. Feel the pressure shift as you take your next step. Notice the movement through your legs, hips, and arms.

Or as you wash a dish.
Takea sip of water.
Reach for something.

This is not about moving slowly.
It's about choosing a moment and slowing it down enough to actually be there for it.

Sometimes being present begins with simply noticing what your body is already doing.

Now that we're practicing... let's talk about overwhelm.

Overwhelm doesn't always begin when everything becomes too much.
There may have been whispers first.

Your shoulders creeping upward.
Your breathing getting shorter.
Moving faster.
Losing concentration.
Feeling more irritated.
Making little mistakes.
Thinking, "I just need to get through this."

And so we push a little harder. Until eventually our body and nervous system gets loud enough that we can't ignore it anymore.

One of the things we can practice is noticing earlier.
Before we are so uncomfortable we have to stop.

Take a pause throughout the day and ask:
• What's happening in my system right now?
• Am I still within my capacity, or am I getting close to my edge?
• What could support me before I keep going?

Sometimes that support is just the pause.
Sometimes it's movement or taking a breath.
Doing one thing instead of five.
Asking for help.
Changing the plan or deciding something really can wait.

The goal isn't to never feel overwhelmed. That's probably gonna happen at some point.

It's becoming more familiar with the signals that tell us we're getting there — and learning what helps us return.

Notice → Support → Connect → Grow

You check your phone battery. But how often do you check yours? 🌿

Some days we wake up and wonder, “Why am I already tired? My day has barely started.”

We don’t always begin the day with a full battery. Because we often have things running in the background.
• Worry
• People you care about
• Health concerns
• Finances
• Decisions that need to be made
• Unfinished things
• Even something exciting you’re looking forward to

Then we add everything we expect ourselves to accomplish today — without considering how much capacity we actually brought into the day.

That’s where awareness can assist us.

And we can make choices that work with the battery we have — instead of the one we wish we had?

🌿 Check Your Battery! is a Nervous System Wellness Workshop where we’ll slow down long enough to notice our own capacity, explore what using our 'battery', and look at practical ways to work with what we have, rather than continually pushing through.

Live Online • 60 minutes • $30

💚 You don’t have to have a full battery charge- you just need to work with the one you have.

🔗 Learn more + register:
beingbalanced.net/ns-wellness