A Story for Anyone Feeling Worn Out and Exhausted

Photo by Doğukan Şahin on Unsplash

One of my clients is worn TF out.

He’s tired. Exhausted even. It’s not surprising–Earth School can be draining, especially if you haven’t yet signed up for the “I’d like to learn my lessons through joy” track.

What he’s going through is about as Earth School as it gets: two of his values are in conflict and it’s creating tension.

He works at an office that’s currently understaffed (sound familiar?) and he’s struggling to navigate it.

On one hand, he is deeply devoted to putting life ahead of work. He spent a few years putting work first, chasing money and promotions, and it resulted in misery. He burned out, crossing the line into high-functioning depression, which is why he came to me for help. He’s since drawn a hard line: no more. Life comes before work, no matter what.

On the other hand, he’s fiercely devoted to his team. This guy is about as team-player-y as it gets. If you’re into astrology, his North Node is in Aquarius…in the fourth house, no less.

So he’s struggling. Realistically, he could log eight-hour days with no consequences. He could show up, do his work and go home. He wouldn’t get fired, his paycheck would keep landing in his bank account.

But he’d be the only one doing that AND it would mean more work for someone else. Part of this client’s charm is that he’s intensely aware of his good fortune. He only lives a few minutes from his office and doesn’t yet have children. Some of his coworkers commute TWO HOURS EACH WAY and have families.

If he did less, it would fall on one of those people to do more. He’s not okay with that. In fact, he finds it morally repugnant.

Freaking systems, right? If only we had built healthier work structures in the first place and didn’t land in this mess, where every office is understaffed so that broken systems can fall apart and be replaced by a better ones (fingers crossed).

Fortunately, this guy is wise. He’s already figured out what he wants to do about the situation, but his solution is going to take time. It can’t happen overnight. So he signed up for a shamanic session.

“I want some help recharging,” he said, telling me that he was going to log the longer hours in the short-term, but has begun the process of switching roles so that he could get back to the balance he cherishes.

He then blew his intention in a cuya, a special stone that’s used in a shamanic illumination, before laying down and getting comfortable so I could work on his energy field.

About Shamanic Energy Medicine

A brief interjection here: if you want a tidy explanation of how shamanic energy medicine works, I openly admit that I can’t provide one. I’m comfortable with ambiguity and mysticism, so I don’t personally spend much time worrying about that. I don’t understand how the Internet works or how flicking a switch results in a light turning on, yet I’m perfectly comfortable using both on a daily basis.

The best “maybe this’ll help” summary I’ve come up with is this: imagine that you decided to devote yourself to mastering meditation. At some point, you would develop the ability to dive deeply into your inner world, recognizing and understanding thought patterns, emotional hang-ups, and areas where you’re stuck, blocked, or otherwise blind. Your future self would be able to see things with more clarity than your current self and it would aid you tremendously.

Now imagine that, while you spent the next however many years (or decades) working towards mastering meditation, you had a tool that could give you a sneak peek of the promised land so that you could start to have greater peace now.

That’s where the kind of shamanic energy medicine I study comes in. In a session, or on a retreat, you’re able to get a sneak peek of the peace, calm, contentment, and insights you’d develop after years and years of disciplined practice.

Is it a silver bullet that magically fixes everything in your life? No.

Is it still pretty freaking awesome? Yes.

Back to the Story

As my client lay there, focusing on his breath, I did an energetic deep cleanse, like a dentist clearing out every last speck of infection when treating a cavity. With the help of his Spirit Guides (don’t worry if that’s too weird for you right now), I held open a sacred space where he could relax deeply and let things go.

And he did. He released and released and released.

He let go of all the heavy “ugh” that was weighing him down and spent a lot of his session feeling like he was flying down a ski slope, light, energized and happy. He found his flow.

Then he brought that flow back to his conscious state and, in less than an hour, felt recharged.

The Point

Why am I sharing this?

1) I like to talk about shamanism every chance I get.

2) What this client asked for help with is tremendously important and universally applicable. This isn’t a story about him. It’s a story about all of us.

How many of you can relate to being worn TF out?

I certainly can.

Hopefully, you can also relate to finding and implementing solutions for your problems, just like this client did. He knows what he needs to do to get back to prioritizing his inner peace and has committed to doing it. But (big BUT) his solution is going to take time. Like I said earlier, it’s not going to happen overnight.

So he needed some help in the interim. He needed to find ways to recharge while he was still in the thick of it.

He’s accepted that he may not be living a level 10 life over the next couple of months, but he doesn’t want to be stuck at a level 3 or 4 life. He wants at least a 7. And that’s doable. Very, very doable.

So he asked for help. Because that’s what wise people do.

Now I’m telling you about it because I hope that you do the same. Get some support when you’re in the draining transition phase. Get support anytime you’re worn out. Actually, remove all of the conditions: get some support, period.

Shamanism works for me, but if that’s not your jam, don’t worry about it. Find something else. Ideally, find something that includes other people. Rugged individualism makes for captivating leads in romance novels and movies, but it doesn’t work very well in the real world.

And that’s it. Story over. Here’s to hoping that at least a few people reading this have some energy and aren’t on the edge of burnout. And here’s to my client, for asking for help when he needed it. Well done, mate.

Interested in learning more about Shamanic Energy Medicine? Visit this page.