I’ve been stuck in a little bit of rut lately. I know you’re probably thinking how? Because I just wrote about an awesome trip to Panama. While I’m making the best of enjoying life, I’ve been having ongoing pain in my hips. This has been a constant struggle the last few weeks, which has caused me to have lower energy levels. I haven’t been able to practice yoga, I’m not sleeping as well and overall it has been affecting my writing and work. Sometimes when were out of balance or we are feeling stuck, it can really have an impact in other areas of our life.

I’ve had to take a step back in the past couple weeks to re-center and regroup around this physical pain I’ve been experiencing. So, I thought I would share from the heart on what I’ve been practicing and what I’ve been learning to help get me unstuck. Here are my 4 tips for getting unstuck.

1. Be gentle.

Being gentle on ourselves not only includes physical gentleness but also mental. For me, I’ve been in physical pain so I’ve had to rest and sort of put physical activity on the back burner. As I’m easing back into things this week, I’m realizing I need to be very gentle with myself. I started with some gentle yoga and stretching to ease my body back into motion.

However, the other area that I recognize I need to be gentle in is how hard I am on myself. The perfectionist in me wants to be going hard-core with my yoga practice and exercise. When I can’t perform at that level, I beat myself up mentally. So, this week I’ve been at practice with being gentle on my body and with myself.

When we’re feeling stuck, the harder we are on ourselves the harder it is to get back into things. So, the next time you’re feeling a little stuck, practice being gentle and let the gentleness ease you back into comfort.

2. Take a step back.

We need to take time to reset because sometimes pushing ourselves creates more stress. Even though I wanted to go harder, I realized that my body was asking for rest and it needed some healing. So, I took a step back and I allowed myself the space to rest and repair. I stopped going to yoga, I sat with the heating pad and I incorporated stretching and lots of sleep in to my daily routine. I also gave myself permission to go a little easier on work to help alleviate stress. Using a holistic approach is key.

Sometimes when we’re feeling stuck physically, emotionally or mentally, it’s really our bodies’ call for rest. When we allow ourselves to take a pause and we don’t resist the rest, that’s when we set ourselves up to experience the reset we most likely need. So, the next time you’re feeling stuck allow yourself time to take a step back, rest and push the reset button.

3. Realize how or where you may have created the block.

This is a really big piece of becoming unstuck. We always need to take some time to reflect on where the block may have been created. When we begin to understand the block, we can work to dissolve it.

For me, I have been experiencing this energy block in a physical form. I have been feeling pain in my hips and have not been able to move about at my usual pace. I’ve taken some time to pinpoint where this might have started, how it might have happened and I’ve paid attention to what parts of my life it has affected.

When we take time to understand how we became stuck in the first place it gives us insight on how we can begin to move forward. Talking through things with a family member, friend or professional can help give you insight if you’re having a hard time finding the origin. Which leads me to my next tip…

4. Ask for and seek help.

Asking for help and seeking it out is so huge. It can be a very humbling process, but it’s also one of the most instrumental.

I’m a life coach and I’m practicing to become a yoga teacher so for me to ask for help in this part of my life was a little difficult, but I wanted to feel better so that’s exactly what I did. Not only that, but I realize we are all a work in progress so for me to ask for help only makes me offering help better. My helpers include working with  my therapist, a Reiki healer, doing Active Release Therapy and saying a whole lot of prayers to my main man upstairs.

By asking and receiving their help, I have been able to overcome a lot of the pain that I was feeling which has also created a release in other areas of my life that this pain in my hips was inadvertently disturbing. Not only that, but their perspective and questions have helped me uncover more about the initial onset of my rut.

If you’re feeling stuck, I encourage you not to be afraid to ask for help. In asking for help and seeking it, you always receive new perspectives, techniques, ideas and an overall vantage point for your situation.

These are just a few simple practices that I’ve been implementing in my own life as well as practicing with my coaching clients that have been helping tremendously. When I started applying these tips for getting unstuck to my own situation, I’ve experienced release, enlightenment and the ability to move forward and become unstuck. I hope this message serves you. Namaste.