Episode 712: 5 Ways to Recenter When You’ve Lost Touch With Yourself (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT712 – 5 Ways to Recenter When You’ve Lost Touch With Yourself

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

[00:00:34] Megan Porta   

Hello food bloggers. How are you today? I hope you’re great. Welcome to this mindset focused episode of Eat Blog Talk. Today’s topic is a bit of a personal one. Honestly, most of them are. This is something I have been just sitting in lately. So we’re going to talk about what to do when you feel like you’ve lost connection with you when you have lost touch with yourself. As you know, life can get so noisy.

[00:01:06]   

We can say yes to too many things. Especially as women and entrepreneurs. Even when we know better, we tend to take on roles or worries that we are not meant to carry. We keep going, we keep pushing and performing and then one day we look up and wonder where did I go wrong? Or more truthfully, where did I go?

[00:01:33]   

And losing touch with yourself can happen really quickly. Up until a few weeks ago, I was on top of 2025. My self care routine was solid. I was working out consistently, I was meditating every day. I felt more grounded than ever heading into Flavor Media Summit, I was so determined not to repeat the burnout that I experienced last year and it just felt like I was doing everything right. Then came a trip to Florida that I took with our youngest son Sammy for Chess Nationals. I had told myself that it was going to be a relaxing and fun trip and parts of it were really fun. It actually was a really fun trip for the most part, but it was not relaxing. But it also unexpectedly drained me.

[00:02:28]   

Like completely drained me. Coming off of hosting a big event like Flavor Media, I just don’t think I realized how fragile my system was. The second we got home I knew something was off. Like literally the moment I walked in the door, I was suddenly over emotional about the weirdest things. I wanted to go to bed and just sleep constantly.

[00:02:57]   

I didn’t have any motivation to do the things that normally light me up. Like work, walking, hanging out with my family, sitting in my hot tub. None of it sounded good. This was a huge red flag because it reminded me of the burnout I experienced last summer, a period of time that I definitely do not want to go back to.So I just really closely paid attention.

[00:03:26]   

I took some very intentional steps and after a little over a week, I’m about 10 days out from getting home from that trip. I feel so much better. I am not 100%, but I’m definitely back on the path of reconnecting with myself. If you are feeling something similar, if you just feel like you’ve lost touch with yourself recently or that’s happened in the recent past, just know that you’re not alone.

[00:03:52]   

There is a way back and I’m going to talk through five things that really helped me reconnect with myself this past week when I really needed it the most.

[00:04:01]   

Number one, stop and listen. This one came first, and it’s not easy. The day after we got back, I was at my desk trying to prep for an interview. My brain was so foggy. I felt off in just about every way I could have felt off.

[00:04:20]   

Then suddenly a physical symptom popped up that I had not experienced since I worked at a corporate job back in my 20s when I was completely burned out. The second this happened last week, I shut everything down. I knew it was my body trying to get my attention. That moment of really stopping and listening to my body helped me realize just how far I drifted from myself.And like I said earlier, this happened really quickly.

[00:04:53]   

A tip for this point is to just build in daily check ins so you aren’t blasted with this from the sidelines unexpectedly. Just simply ask yourself, how am I really feeling physically, mentally and emotionally? Then listen with no judging. 

Number two, remove the things that don’t feel aligned. After listening, the next thing I did was text my assistant and I had her reschedule the interview.

[00:05:23]   

I then cleared my calendar for the rest of the day and I looked ahead and I identified three things that felt kind of heavy and misaligned. These are things I knew I could power through, but at what cost? Saying no to those things was a way of honoring myself, and it was so important for me to do that in the process of reconnecting.

[00:05:47]   

A tip for this point, when you feel that overwhelm start to creep in, pick three things that you can take off your plate, even if they’re really small. I promise relief will come faster than you think.

[00:06:00]   

Number three, rest. Like really, really rest. Not just for an hour or maybe even not just a day, but for as long as it takes to feel even a little bit rest. Last week I paid really close attention to my energy. If I felt up for a walk or a few hours of work, I would do it.

[00:06:20]   

But if I didn’t, I did not push. This is very different from how I used to operate. I used to pride myself on pushing through, getting stuff done. You can do it. But I have learned that that is a fast track to losing touch with myself.

[00:06:39]   

Rest is not a weakness. Rest is recovery. And when we’ve stretched ourselves too far, we need more of it than we think. A tip for this point. Try doing a rest audit for the next handful of days.

[00:06:53]   

Pause before doing anything and ask yourself, will this restore me or deplete me? And then go about your day accordingly. Number four, grace and reframing. A few days into resting last week I found myself in my basement staring at my whiteboard, the one where I track progress and wins. And my first reaction was frustration. I thought things to myself like, I was doing so well.

[00:07:26]   

My momentum is gone. What have I let happen? But then I caught myself and was able to reframe it. I then started telling myself things like, look what I’ve done this past month I hosted a big conference.

[00:07:41]   

I took a big trip with Sammy to Florida. Managed work and home and life and family on top of that and other things thrown in there. The rest is part of the work. I’m still making progress. It just looks different than it did in February and January and any other month.

[00:08:03]   

Giving myself the grace I needed helped me to soften back into alignment, which is a major piece of reconnecting. When you have lost touch with yourself, you need to have that compassion. A tip for this point. Replace every negative self comment that you have for yourself or think to yourself with a truth.

[00:08:25]   

I’ve lost all momentum can become.

[00:08:28]   

I am honoring my body’s need to pause.

[00:08:33]   

Number five: Take ownership of your energy. This one is hard for me, but it’s very empowering when you can actually do it. I had to stop blaming the trip or the calendar or Flavor Media or the exhaustion, and instead take responsibility because I’m the one who created the schedule. I’m the one who chose to keep going and pushing and take all the trips.

[00:08:59]   

I’m the one who ignored the early warning signs and it’s okay that I’m here.

[00:09:04]   

But taking ownership allowed me to say, I can now make a new choice. And that is how a shift is made when we lose touch with ourselves. The only way back is through honest ownership. A tip for this point is if your energy feels off in some way, journal on this question. What choices have I made that led me here and what new choice can I make today?

[00:09:29]   

That is all I have for you in this episode. Losing touch with yourself does not mean that you are broken or that something is wrong with you. It means your system is signaling a need for reconnection. It’s an invitation to you to come back home to yourself. And that is a beautiful thing.

[00:09:46]   

Let’s recap the five steps to recenter when you’ve lost touch with yourself. Number one Stop and listen. Your body knows before your mind does all the time. Number two remove what is misaligned. Let go of anything that is weighing you down.

[00:10:05]   

Number three Rest. Really, truly rest. Your energy is worth protecting. Number four grace and reframing. Your progress does not disappear when you pause promise and number five take ownership of your energy.

[00:10:20]   

You are not stuck. You are so powerful. I will acknowledge that this process is not always easy. It requires intention and reflection and so much grace. But without these moments of realignment, we can stay stuck in those cycles that burn us out and do even worse things.

[00:10:38]   

I’m super grateful that I listened this time and I hope that if you need to, you will as well. I hope this is a good reminder for you. Also hope that you just really enjoyed this episode and I’m grateful that you are here listening. Thank you for being here and see you next week.

[00:10:55] Outro   

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self care episode. These mindset episodes are now available on YouTube, so watch it over there. Search Eat blog talk on YouTube and we’ll see you there.