How to Create Space For Ourselves: Wisdom & Practices to Remedy Depletion & Burnout
Space is one of the most critical factors for physical, emotional and spiritual health. Although the notion is romanticized by popular culture with colloquialisms like “I’ll hold space for you,” and “I need space,” actually taking a break from visibly productive activities isn’t fundamentally valued, and is even looked down upon. In our fast-paced, over-programmed modern society, it’s incredibly hard to come by, often causing guilt, burn-out and resentment- all to the detriment of collective wellbeing. Insufficient space is the root of much physical and emotional struggle and I will share what gets in the way and how you can find it, even amidst the busiest of schedules. Though for many of us, our most spacious moments may involve nature or vacations, we don’t need to go into the wilderness or attend a pricey yoga retreat to find space. We can find it in the reality of our day-to-day lives; Our brains and bodies will thank us- likely with increased attention and alertness, a more calm and stable mood, less stiffness and aches, digestive ease, and more energy to revel in life.
So what is space exactly? Its elusive definition makes it harder to prioritize. According to Oxford Languages, space is a continuous area or expanse that’s free, available and unoccupied. It’s also a pause that exists in-between one thing that’s ended and another that’s yet to begin or what’s between one person and the next. Then there’s the universe “outer-space,” which holds everything. Space is paradoxically everything and nothing. We can find it within and outside of us. It may be easier to understand this concept by looking at when we know we haven’t had enough space. Consider a time when you have felt so many responsibilities or tasks that they were crowding in on you. Or perhaps, you might recall a moment when a friend or family member was so overly involved in your life, that the edges of them and you began to blur. Others might relate to the idea of being “suffocated” in a relationship. Maybe you’ve been so busy with social obligations, you had no time to breathe, let alone for yourself. Or you’ve reacted quickly without thinking, to regret it later. I know I have.
How do you feel when you don’t have enough physical or mental space? When you don’t have enough time for yourself? Our body contains vast intelligence beyond our conscious minds, and its somatic cues point to important underlying needs. When our need for space is infringed on, our body may reflect this through tensing up, feeling tight, heavy, restricted, feeling nauseous- all normal stress responses corresponding to increased adrenaline and cortisol that prepare ourselves to fight or flee when our brain interprets a threat. When we have enough space, our bodies soften. Our parasympathetic nervous system response is activated allowing us to “rest and digest,” in peace while slowing our heart rate and breath.
*Practice: Felt Sense of Space*
Consider if you had all the space you needed, what would that feel like? How would your body and mind feel? Where would you be? Imagine a moment in your life when you had space or felt spacious- When time was not a factor. Pause and let yourself rest in that for a memory. Take some breaths here. Notice what it feels like. Likely, you may find your body relaxing, softening, settling or releasing.
Trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk famously said “our bodies keep score,” and indeed painful life events can imprint themselves physically, getting stuck in the body and manifesting as uncomfortable symptoms. This is our body speaking to us and the first step is taking space to explore and examine what’s lying beneath to make sense of our feelings and needs. Somatic practices like shaking, tapping, rocking, dancing all serve to create more spaciousness within the joints and tissues and move stuck, built-up feelings through and out of us so we have more space in our bodies. Humming can actually soothe the nervous system while de-constricting the throat so our voices might flow freely. Tending to the body is an act of self-love and the act can influence the mind to become more loving. In the same vein, when our bodies relax, our minds can relax; Our prefrontal cortex which governs logic and reason, shuts down in response to stress; When we regain calm, we regain our capacity to think clearly. Changing the body’s posture and shifting how we physically face experiences can also result in shifts in the mind and emotions. An exercise I’ve had clients practice to feel less anxious and more confident is holding power poses, positions where the spine is upright, the shoulders are back, there’s space in the chest and there might be a wide-legged stance, which can communicate a sense of readiness and confidence, which then becomes internalized when repeatedly practiced physically.
*Practice: Smile & Tense & Release*
Consider what it feels like to hunch and curl forward, shoulders curled in, tense your forehead, knitting your eyebrows. What emotions arise? Then notice what it feels like to let your forehead relax, let the corners of your eyes and mouth soften, and perhaps even smile as you sit upright with shoulders dropping away from the ears. What emotions arise? Smiling creates space in that we become more available to our present experience rather than resisting it, and research shows that smiling can make unpleasurable experiences more enjoyable. Try taking this another step, by tensing all the muscles of your face as you inhale, and pause. As you exhale, release them all and relax. Next tense all the muscles of your arms, squeezing your fists, drawing shoulders to your ears, and pause. As you exhale let them all relax and hang heavy. Do this tense and release exercise with each body part, culminating with tensing and releasing the whole body. This practice helps us notice just how much tension and tightness we naturally carry with us each day, and what it feels like to actually experience relaxation.
*Practice: Relax Into Your Back-Body*
Observe what happens when you lean into your back-body, and feel the support of the chair or couch you’re sitting on. Try simply rolling your shoulders up and back to create more space in your chest. Gently sit a little taller, to find more space in your spine. Perhaps take some neck rolls, shoulder rolls or hip circles, all creating lubrication and more space in our joints for energy to flow freely. Zoom calls and computers result in our bodies constricting, hunching and bending forward. When we consciously lean back, we create space in our physical and emotional body and allow ourselves to become available for the experiences that are meant to flow to us, with our hearts more energetically open. Notice also what its like to receive your breathe rather than grasping for it. Notice how your mood and perspective might shift when you lean back.
Natural Detoxing Pathways: Our Bodies Create Space For Us
On a physical and neurological level, our bodies and brains need space to thrive and integrate new information according to Dr. Nicole Beurkens, child psychologist and nutritionist. If we pile new information on top of barely assimilated information (like I’ve been known to do by taking multiple courses simultaneously) little gets consolidated into knowledge and memory. We’re skimming the surface. We need time to choose which information to assimilate, but also to examine and release unneeded information. Our bodies naturally do this in the space of sleep.
According to the sleep scientist Mathew Walker in the book “Why We Sleep,” sleep is a memory aid, which prepares the brain for making new memories and which cements those memories after learning to prevent forgetting; Sleep has an intelligent filtering system which also allows us to discard what information or memories or unneeded- becoming especially protective in cases of painful or problematic memories.
One of my teachers, Kristen Mackey, a board-certified family medicine physician who practices integrative primary care, shared that our brain has a pump-like function called the glymphatic system that eliminates toxic residue accumulated during the day each night- toxins associated with Alzheimers. The increased flow of cerebrospinal fluid at night washes away waste that builds up between our brain cells during the day. Ayurveda, an ancient holistic system of medicine, also believes that the liver processes and eliminates toxins primarily at night, between the hours of 10am-2pm, thereby supporting healthy hormonal function and hydration. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the liver is seen as integral to processing not just physical toxins, but emotions like grief and anger. According to Dr.John Douillard, a leader in the field of natural health and sports medicine, diaphragmatic breathing (breathing deep into the belly and expanding the diaphragm) acts as a natural pump supporting our lymphatic system’s detoxification processes. How amazing is it that our body naturally lets go of what’s not serving us to create the space we need to thrive? Also, it is worth noting body-based self-care processes like dry-brushing can also support circulation and lymphatic movement.
Space in The Form of Sleep
When we don’t give ourselves space to sleep, we accumulate toxins or what in Ayurveda is called “ama,” which can show up physically in fatigue, high blood pressure, poor immunity and mentally as anxiety, depression, indecision, or inattention. Mathew Walker says that “sleep is one of the most underappreciated factors contributing to cognitive and medical ill health in the elderly, including issues of diabetes, depression, chronic pain, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimers.” Poor quality sleep is indeed associated with reduced rates of anxiety and depression (Sullivan et al, 2023). Elizabeth Blake Zakarin, a clinical psychologist at the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders says “just like our electronics need to be charged, sleep may recharge or reset the brain to optimize functioning.” She reports poor or insufficient sleep increases negative emotional responses to stressors and decreases positive emotions. In a research study, Walker observed drastic swings in emotional brain activity in healthy individuals who were sleep-deprived, and corresponding pendulum-like swings in mood from negative to giddy in a short period of time. Without sleep, he notes we can’t rein in our impulses with too much emotional gas pedal (amygdala) and insufficient regulatory brake (prefrontal cortex). It’s probably not a surprise that sleep-deprived individuals are more prone to anger and hostility; After a rough night of sleep, I am prone to irritability and my partner can attest, my mood can swing quickly.
Many of my clients report being fatigued so one of the first things we examine and support is cultivating a nourishing sleep routine. How are you winding down? What comforting cues (dimming the lights, lavender pillow spray, passionflower tea?) might you create to signal to your body that it’s time to rest? Can you take a walk in the sunshine first thing in the morning to align your circadian rhythm with natural sleep/wake cycles? Are you sleeping and waking at consistent times? There is much research that sleeping early and waking early helps align our bodies optimally with nature’s circadian rhythm. In addition, sleep may accelerate physical recovery from inflammation, stimulate muscle repair, and help restock cellular energy in balancing glucose and glycogen (Walker, 2017).
Slowing Down Helps Productivity
Our nervous systems too require space to function optionally. When we’re busy hustling, studying, creating, or performing, our sympathetic nervous system is activated in a healthy, necessary state of motivation known as “wake and take,” that motivates action towards important goals. However, when the nervous system is activated for too long, too intensely, or too quickly- it becomes desensitized; According to one of my teachers Chris Muse, a Somatic Sex Educator, our nervous systems then need more to be stimulated or satisfied. Meanwhile our allostatic load, “the wear and tear” effects of chronic stress on the body, increases in a degenerative flood. When we are moving really fast, overloaded with tasks and to-dos, not only can we become overwhelmed, but we also cannot think properly. Our wise nervous systems have adapted to perceived stressors by turning off unnecessary functions to survival, like logical thought, to prioritize automatic functions that enable us to fight or flee the stressor.
So when we’re rushing between meetings or late-night studying, we don’t have access to our full analytical mind and other important functions of the prefrontal cortex (calming, creativity, problem solving) to respond to and retain information with our full potential. We’re not being effective or efficient cognitively by pushing ourselves through. Slowing down in the short-term saves time in the long-term; Taking space is in service of effective action. If we’re making decisions with awareness and intention, and not storming ahead blindly and unmindfully, we won’t be needing as many life revisions. We may save ourselves from mistakes requiring course correction later. We also won’t be needing to repair as many relational ruptures, since we have waited to act until our prefrontal cortex, the center also for empathy, comes back online. Not to mention that small pockets of space helps our bodies; If we take just 5 minutes of space to get up and walk around every 30 minutes of work-sitting, dramatically reduces blood pressure and blood sugar levels (based on research conducted by Keith Diaz of Columbia University Medical Center).
Mindfulness (or Practice in Conscious Awareness)
Mind-full-ness refers to being fully aware of our mind and experience in the present moment and without judgment. If you don’t like this over- used term (someone recently told me it makes them cringe), feel free to replace it with intentional presence, compassionate inner-focus, present-moment awareness, or deliberate self-inquiry, or practice in consciousness. Mindfulness results from humans having a unique capacity for metacognition, the ability to be aware of and control one's own thought processes. The root word meta means "beyond" or "on top of.” However, we often don’t practice this superpower while living amidst and inside our own heads. Slowing down to examine our thoughts and the choices we then make as a response, helps ensure our feelings and thoughts are not running the show and prevents us from overly identifying with them. When we become aware of our thought patterns, we can liberate ourselves from unhelpful narratives and untrue thoughts clouding our senses and choices.
Scientists estimate 95% of brain activity is unconscious. This activity encompasses habits and patterns, automatic body function, creativity, emotions, personality, beliefs and values, cognitive biases, and long-term memory. When we move fast, the 60k unconscious thoughts that are driving our behavior each day can do so without restraint or monitoring. We stay unaware of how our thoughts actually are influencing us. This is problematic since many of our thoughts are untrue, or are unhelpful narratives internalized in childhood- perhaps an internalized parental voice or learned enduring familial or ancestral story. These core beliefs may have served us to secure relational connection and meet important needs in childhood, but as adults they often stop serving us. When we give ourselves space, we can decide what narratives we want to let go of, are most helpful for us to believe, and revise our beliefs to be more aligned with our authentic goals and values. It’s worth noting it takes practice, time and patience for old neural pathways to be pruned off and rewire as new beliefs form.
So, the only way to become conscious of what limiting beliefs might be secretly driving our behavior is to slow down and bring attention to our experience. There’s a saying, “where attention goes, energy flows.” Many of my clients who practice mindfulness report feeling less reactive, and better able to choose how they want to respond to situations. How wonderful would the world be if we just paused before reacting? How amazing would it feel to be fully available to the present moment, liberated from being caught up by critical or anxious thoughts? When my clients start noticing and shaking off anxious or critical thoughts, they tend to show up more fully and authentically in life. They are more open and able to take risks boldly and confidently move towards their values.
*Practice: Notice Thoughts Without Judgment*
Get comfortable and take a moment to turn your gaze inwards. Notice your body on the surface it’s on. Take three deep cleansing breaths before letting the breath be natural. Notice the quality of your breath, which can mirror the quality of your thoughts. Is it smooth or are there hitches? Notice what’s happening in your mind with compassion. Does our mind feel cluttered with thoughts, scattered or empty? Do the thoughts flow quickly or slowly? Is there a pattern to the thoughts? Is there one thought sticking around again and again? You might notice some negative thoughts or a pattern arising, as most of our thoughts repeat themselves. Try to notice without judgment, with gentle curiosity to what is present. Try not to label thoughts as good or bad. Let them come and go in their own time, like clouds passing in the sky. All sensations, feelings, thoughts, are welcome. When your mind wanders, notice and labeling your experience, as “Thinking,” before gently returning your attention to your breath again. Each time your mind wanders, practice returning to your breath. Practice this for 1-5 minutes.
Space to Clarify Needs & Values
My clients frequently express guilt over resting, or engaging in activities not visibly “productive,” like watching a show on Netflix. I feel this also- it’s almost impossible not to. The drive to succeed and external focus on results can disconnect us from ourselves and our innate worthiness that always exists- no matter what we make or score we get. Taking pockets of time to connect with ourselves can ensure that the direction we’re going in is most aligned with our deepest desires and our values, versus being led down a path that might be influenced unknowingly by others’ expectations, our perceptions of others’ expectations, arbitrary rules or “should’s,” or by fear of taking a new path with all it’s unknowns.
I often see my clients’ unhelpful stories drive them to work more and rest less (“I’m not good enough,” “I need to become successful to be worthy,” “If I take a break I’ll be perceived as lazy.” However, when we rest less, we become exactly that- restless. When we focus outwards, subject to the constant flow of external demands, our attention is untethered from our heart and soul. Our focus and drive to meet external expectations and pressures can shift attention away from what truly matters, which becomes most clear in quiet time with ourselves. We’re more likely to outsource our needs to others and make decisions informed by their influence (or capitalistic or cultural expectations) when we’re unsure of what we need and want. It’s crucial then to have space to reflect on our needs, values, desires and gifts. We are our best compass, and our bodies and minds contant crucial information about what we’re feeling and what we need if we attend to them.
Pause to Celebrate & Ceremonialize
When we clarify our values in the calm quiet of time alone, we can have more confidence in ourselves and our path. In space, we not only can come to know ourselves, but we receive the opportunity to love and accept ourselves. It’s a remembering and coming home of sorts. Pausing to celebrate also offers uplifting encouragement that only empowers and motivates us towards important goals- again, working more efficiently and energetically. Therapy sessions where clients are doing well are some of my favorites, as even though they don’t have that same productive flavor, they are calm moments to savor and soak up- to later remember when new challenges inevitably arise to rock self-confidence and motivation. In addition, humans are more able to healthily adjust to life when we pause to ceremonialize important life milestones, like birthdays, graduations & deaths. These milestones bring communities together in ways that create shared intention, commitment and make the mundane meaningful. Everyday moments get imbued with more depth when experienced through ritual or ceremony.
*Practice: A Mindful Moment of Pride”
Pause and let your body settle into a comfortable position. Notice your breath, allowing it to become an even steady stream with the inhale roughly the same length as the exhale. Notice your naval rising and falling. Notice the cool air entering your nostrils and warm air exiting. Now connect to a time you felt proud of yourself. Who was there? What went well? What do you appreciate about how you showed up and the qualities you demonstrated? How do you feel inside reflecting on that moment?
Practice: Journal Prompts What went well today? What are you proud of? What are you grateful for? What made you smile?
Self-Care is Not Selfish
Though this is gradually shifting, women have been socialized to focus outwardly on caring for and meeting others’ needs, often at the expense of their own. I also see deeply sensitive and empathic people of all (and no) genders oriented towards other-care, because of their gifted attunement abilities and efforts to secure important relational support. Self-care or self-tending has been perceived historically as selfish. In fact, taking space to connect with ourselves to meet our needs, enlist support, replenish depleted energy stores, bolster boundaries, and foster self-love, only allows us to better support our loved ones and communities. We need space to fill our cups, put our own oxygen mask on, etc. Space allows us to love from resource rather than from depletion. Self-care is other-care.
Boundaries to Protect Our Space
Boundaries are a form of space crucial to our wellbeing. Prentis Hemphill, therapist and somatics teacher, notes “boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.” I think of boundaries as essential for each person’s wellness and sovereignty. As sensitive deep-feeling people, it’s easy to merge and lose ourselves in caring for the wellbeing of another. This pattern of self-sacrifice though well- intended and caring, can result in a loss of self or self-abandonment. We need differentiation for health egos, to have a clear sense of our unique selves- a feeling of “this is me, this is not me.” I had a therapist once who invited me to place what was mine, and what was my mother’s imaginally in two separate piles; This is an incredibly helpful practice to create definition if you notice taking on a loved one’s “stuff.”
In practice, boundaries can look like getting enough sleep, saying no to a dinner or request, letting go of a friendship, booking a massage or nail appointment, and ultimately being clear about what you're physically and emotionally available for. Many of my clients struggle to set boundaries- they are incredibly difficult and can understandably spark discomfort! We can worry that the other person will see us as cold, unhelpful, bad, that we aren't fulfilling our role as (wife, partner, friend, etc), that the other person will be mad at us or that they will struggle more without us. It’s important to see boundaries not as hurting or detaching from a relationship, but as strengthening it sustainably. We are not keeping help from someone, but becoming more available to help enduringly. Boundaries are protection to guard our energy and emotional prana “life force,” so that we can show up with more vitality and love, and with less resentment and irritation. When we neglect our boundaries, or let another infringe on them repeatedly, anger and resentment can fester, eroding the relationship. When we state our needs firmly, with love and respect, boundaries actually serve the relationship- not to mention they model self-care is important and give the other person permission. On an energetic level, we can practice consciously letting the other’s energy return to them. There are many rituals that can create this energetic boundary within, like cutting the chord ceremonies or writing letters we might not send. It can be helpful to consider one’s limiting beliefs, preventing us from setting boundaries, and to repeat mantras that support adopting the boundaries we need to thrive.
*Practice: Repeating Affirmations to Help Shift Negative Beliefs*
Can be done in the morning to set a tone for the day, in the evening, or anytime when need to feel resourced.
I protect my peace
I am deserving of rest and allow my body to rest when it needs to
Prioritizing myself is productive
My well-being is a priority, and I am committed to nurturing it
I find joy in taking care of myself
I am patient with myself & trust I am growing & improving everyday
I belong here and am allowed to take up space
I trust my self-care helps me better care for others
My self-worth is not determined by my accomplishments
My life is abundant and full of X & X (i.e peace, good friends)
Countering Culture’s Pressure to Effort, Rush, & Do
The back body practice listed earlier counters the dominant energetics of consumerism and social media, which at every turn call us to lean forward to press, to buy, to like something or someone; it also counters the overarching energetics of capitalism, which pushes us to rush, compete or produce. There's grasping, efforting, and doing that Western culture emphasizes and values over resting effortlessly. Buddhism extols an attitude of “non-attachment” as an antidote to suffering, and indeed space. The constant bombardment of images, content, goods, and news in social media is also a powerful cascade of stimuli that we can become passive to or consumed by. Pratyahara is a yogic practice of withdrawing the senses from external stimuli and going inwards; Stopping the senses from reacting to external objects can help free the mind from sensory distractions & disturbances. Also, in Ayurveda, we don’t just digest food, we digest everything we take in through our senses. When we learn to cling less to less, especially to things, our contentment might grow, with the trust that we have enough and don’t need external validation. We need to give ourselves more space, between meals & bites, between meetings and tasks, between us and our phones, and between desires and purchases, so we have space to digest and settle our bodies and spirits.
*Practice: Live in The Moment*
Once you become aware of your thoughts, you might notice how we are often living in the past, ruminating over what could have been done differently, or in the future, trying to control and predict life outcomes. Rarely do we allow ourselves to be in the present, which is perhaps my favorite way to intentionally find space. Our very breath has built in spaces to rest, right after each exhale. These pauses can be built-in sanctuaries for our awareness. When we take time to focus on the space between our inhales and exhales, something amazing happens. Our mind eventually begins to focus on the present moment. By practicing this, we then gain more space before responding to difficult thoughts, feelings, and urges.
De-cluttering for More Environmental Space
Perhaps the most tangible and pragmatic of steps to create space is beginning with our environment. Decluttering through re-organizing our homes and pantries can be a step in creating external environments conducive to internal emotional space. We can practice letting go of material objects. I invite some of my clients to put away 3 things or to organize one shelf or drawer when stressed. Notice what happens to your internal environment when your outside landscape has more space. In addition, when we’re stressed, our brains are primed to focus on threats and stressors and operate from a scarcity mindset that there’s not enough or we need to do more. In peaceful spacious environments, our nervous systems settle; We can better appreciate the abundance of our lives. This works both ways: When we appreciate the abundance of our lives through regular gratitude practice, we can boost mood, reduce anxiety, depression and stress, not to mention support immunity, heart health and sleep quality. Also, by intentionally donating goods, we communicate to our psyches that our lives are so overflowing, as we are sharing the plentifulness. In addition, our prehistoric human ancestors found comfort in wide open spaces, a sentiment embedded in our bones. Imagine a favorite vista you’ve been calmed or awed by. Did you pretty quickly settle into easefulness? This decluttering might look like closing out tabs, deleting emails, or just limiting social media consumption.
Creativity and Art
Donald Winnicot, a famous psychoanalysis, perceived art to be a “third type of reality” or “potential space,” where we can to know our unique selves as separate from caregivers and separate from external societal rules- a playground of sorts to practice creative living. He said “creativity is then the doing that arises out of being.” When we think creatively, we are activating the right side of our brain. Something beautiful happens when our right and left brain communicate, there’s an integration. Making art, writing stories, playing music and other creative endeavors, allow for a the flow of energy and information across senses and across brain hemispheres. Our experience isn’t linear in these spacious moments, but multi- dimensional and multi-sensory. Sleep scientist, Mathew Walker states that “such information alchemy conjured by REM sleep dreaming has led to some of the greatest feats of transformational thinking in the history of the human race,” extolling how sleep can enhance problem-solving and creativity.
The act of externalizing what’s on the inside also can give us space to see challenges, emotions,etc from a new perspective. The art process can also offer opportunity for unstructured play, play that doesn’t have an agenda or goal, where even adults are free to explore, create, and discover without rules or instructions. This type of spacious learning is crucial to helping children develop empathy, learn about their strengths and preferences, learn social skills, develop critical thinking etc. I have seen firsthand that something magical happens when adults return to these liberating and joyful moments of spacious becoming, before we were taught wrongly there was “good art” and “bad art,” and can tend to their inner-child.
Space in The Rhythm of Life
Space is built into us and the natural world. It is evolutionarily pleasing to humans. When we look at wide open vistas, it’s comforting, because cavemen learned to associate crowded places with potential danger. Wide open vistas feel safe, and for more Pitta-dominant (fiery) people, living in environments with open spaces is cooling and balancing. Nature teaches us space is crucial to sustained growth; Flowers don’t just bloom and expand without small moments of contractions. Many plants like oak and maple trees take a long time focusing their energy on growing extensive root systems, so they feel stable, before experiencing rapid growth; Providing adequate water and nutrients during the initial root development stage is crucial for optimal growth later on. Seasons also call us to take space; Winter calls us to rest and slow so we have the energy for the vibrancy of Spring. Bears align with this energy, hibernating & entering a state of reduced metabolic activity before re-emerging & exploring in Spring.
We must learn from nature’s wisdom, by taking to re-set and refuel the major growth taking place within us, and by strengthening our root systems; We can pour energy into self-care routines and social supports preventatively, anticipating upcoming periods of busyness or expansion (hello upcoming holidays). I may sound like a broken record, but if we don’t replenish our energy stores, it can lead to burn out, exhaustion, poor immunity and sickness, impaired sleep, disruptions in mood, disruptions in hormones and eventually physical manifestations. Charging ahead and striving from a depleted place isn't only inefficient, it’s not kind or respectful to ourselves.
There is Such a Thing As Too Much Space
In Ayurveda, the elements of air and space are more prominent in the outside landscape during Fall, and these qualities can be mirrored in our internal landscapes. Too much space can present internally physically as gas, bloating, constipation (from dry air), or mentally as indecision, anxiety, fear, and a lack of clarity. We might feel more spacey, withdrawn or isolated from those we love, or unable to take purposeful clear action. Air & Ether elements that run dry, cold, light & mobile, can be balanced by the Earth & Water elements and corresponding qualities of stable, wet, slow and heavy. It’s an important season to bring in stable, consistent rhythm, cozy self-care practices like baths and hot oil massage, reading in soft blankets, slow restorative yoga, and to eat warm cooked, nourishing foods. Thus, having the right balance of space is important, and knowing when we’ve swung too far in any one direction, which ironically, requires space to ascertain.
Thank you for taking the space to read this article. I invite you to now to walk outside, take some deep breaths, and reflect on how you might want to create space each day to enliven and balance your body and mind.
