Soul Joy: Ditch Burnout and Fall in Love with Life

Soul Detox: The Art of Energy Management for Helping Professionals

• Dr. Julie Merriman • Season 2 • Episode 24

Share episode

Send us your thoughts!

Dr. Julie Merriman explores the concept of decluttering your energy as a vital component of sustainable, holistic self-care for helping professionals. She examines how professional helpers constantly absorb, process, and navigate various forms of energy that can become cluttered and lead to burnout.

• Energy clutter manifests as mental noise, emotional residue, unclear boundaries, environmental chaos, and physical tension
• Symptoms include feeling drained despite rest, difficulty focusing, irritability, procrastination, resentment, physical symptoms, and loss of joy
• Impact of unmanaged energy clutter leads to reduced effectiveness, impaired relationships, and loss of meaning in your work
• Mental decluttering strategies include mindful breaks, thought downloads/journaling, and single-tasking
• Emotional decluttering requires rituals of release, conscious emotional expression, and self-compassion practices
• Relational decluttering involves boundary setting, conscious communication, and conducting energy audits of relationships
• Physical and environmental decluttering focuses on workspace optimization, movement, proper rest, and nature connection

Visit juliemerrimanphd.com to subscribe to the weekly email for more resources on preventing burnout and compassion fatigue and the free bonus PDF she creates for you each week.

Speaker 1:

Hey y'all, I'm Dr Julie Merriman and welcome to SoulJoy. Souljoy podcast is your dedicated space for fostering growth, effectiveness and well-being. Today we're diving into a concept that is profoundly practical for every single one of us decluttering your energy, because this is a very necessary component of sustainable, holistic self-care, also known as wellness. All right, hello, hello, welcome back to the podcast. I am so glad y'all are here with me. So real, quick home chat. I'm really excited. Kelly and I are loading up and headed to California this week. I get to go to the EMDR conference there in Anaheim and I am excited. It took me a few years after my PhD to get into conferences again. Phd burned me out so bad. Really it's been a lot of years. But anyway, I'm excited to get back into the conference scene and I'm all about EMDR. I love using EMDR with internal family systems. I just think that is such a fun modality and I'm excited to get some more training in it this week. And I'm really excited that Kelly, since he's retired as a state trooper and he's just doing the full-time farming and ranching, he's available to travel with me. So that's a little extra treat for us. So anyway, back to the show.

Speaker 1:

Okay, professional helpers. This podcast is dedicated to preventing and overcoming the occupational hazards of this career that we've chosen. And specifically, y'all I'm talking to you about burnout and compassion, fatigue, and we're going to sprinkle a little bit of vicarious trauma in there too. So y'all know, as helping professionals, we are constantly taking in, processing and navigating various forms of energy, right, I mean, I feel it Like earlier at church a gal walked in who's usually real, bubbly and just full of energy, and I just felt, in fact I said to her I was like man, your energy feels a little bit off, and she shared she had some health issues going on. But my invitation there is that as professional helpers, we are always reading others' energies, giving our energy. It's not just a spiritual idea, it's a very real mental bandwidth and there's an emotional capacity and a physical vitality and y'all even relational dynamics in this that define our work. We absorb client stories, we manage complex caseloads, we navigate team interactions and we hold space for profound human experiences. But y'all, what happens when that energy becomes cluttered, stagnant, and I'm sure y'all felt this I know I have overwhelming what happens when we accumulate mental, noise, emotional residue or unclear relational boundaries? Y'all it can lead to depletion, overwhelm and ultimately burnout, which is why this podcast is here. I don't want us burning out. In this field, the work we do is so important.

Speaker 1:

So, y'all, just as physical clutter can make our space feel chaotic, I know when I go in the kitchen in the mornings. That's why I make sure dishes are done and the kitchen is kind of clean or orderly before I go to bed. Because when I walk into that kitchen in the morning and if there's clutter anywhere or everywhere, it really messes up how my day starts. That's that physical clutter I'm talking about. So I've made I mean, it's something I do I make sure the kitchen's clear in the morning. I have my coffee already pre-made, so when I walk into that kitchen in the morning I just push the button to start and it really helps my day start better because I start with some. There's not emotional baggage in there, there's not a bunch of physical clutter that makes the space feel chaotic for myself. So what I'm inviting is, just like physical clutter can make things feel chaotic, energy clutter can obstruct our clarity and diminish our compassion and hinder our ability to show up as our best selves for our clients and our family. I mean, I'm talking about the workspace, but you can translate this into your home space as well.

Speaker 1:

Today, I want to explore with y'all what energy clutter means in our unique context, context how it shows up in our daily professional lives and offer practical, actionable strategies to clear the channel, creating space for what truly matters and protecting your vital resources for sustainable impact, because that's big right. We want to have sustainable impact so that we're continually making good clinical decisions with those folks that entrust us with their lives. And I'm not being overly dramatic. I mean it's a big deal. I don't care if you're a therapist or a doctor or a nurse or a teacher, or however you show up in the helping professionals realm. It's a big deal how we interface with others' lives.

Speaker 1:

So it's important to take the time to define energy clutter in a way that resonates with our professional experience. We're talking about the accumulation of anything that drains, obstructs or weighs down your mental, emotional, relational or even physical resources. So there's a lot at stake, right? We need to think about a lot of different avenues and I don't know. I mean, I'm a seasoned professional now. I'm embracing that, but those of y'all that I mean maybe you're a seasoned professional, maybe you're a newbie, new professional and I'm um for what I just mentioned the energy clutter that you know. We're looking at mental, we're looking at emotional, we're looking at relational and we're looking at physical resources.

Speaker 1:

As a new counselor, I didn't think about those depths, which is why I stumbled, and if you read my book Insert in Pursuit of Soul Joy, I really stumbled and I was terribly impacted by burnout, because I didn't take time to deconstruct this and really look at all the ways that I was showing up to help others. And so I invite you, as you listen to the podcast, to really look at it with beginner eyes. And again, as I shared, I'm seasoned. So I myself am looking at this with beginner eyes because I think it serves us, regardless of how long we've been in the profession, that we take time to not think well, I already know that, because maybe we don't. I think, if we will allow ourselves to show up with those beginner eyes, we can look at things that maybe we've been doing for 30 years and look at it differently and really garner some benefit for not only us but for our clients and for our families. So I just invite you to think of energy clutter in these following ways there's mental clutter, and that's the endless loop of thoughts rumination about past cases, worrying about future outcomes, decision fatigue, distracting thoughts that pull you away from the present moment.

Speaker 1:

Then we have emotional clutter, and this is holding on to client emotions, unresolved feelings from difficult interactions, carrying resentment towards a system, a colleague carrying resentment towards a system, a colleague, maybe even a client, or suppressing your own legitimate emotional responses. And I'm going to put a break and we're going to hover here just a hot minute. If any of these things come up for you, you have not done anything wrong. That's why we seek supervision, that's why we seek consultation. We are human and we're going to have human responses. Our codes talk about the importance of seeking supervision and consultation, and if we're finding ourselves in a real heavy place of emotional clutter, I really invite you to find someone to seek supervision with and consultation, so that I mean that's. I just wanted to pump the brakes about that for a hot minute because I don't want shame. There's no reason to feel upset about anything that might come up. It's an opportunity for growth. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Then there's relational clutter, and this would fall under unclear boundaries, with clients or colleagues maybe taking on others' responsibilities, maybe some of our people-pleasing tendencies, because those of us in these professions tend to have those Now and I'm sure we've worked on those, because good therapists, good doctors, good nurses, good helping professionals keep ourselves in therapy right. So we're working on these things on a regular basis. But also this could be unresolved conflicts or engaging in draining social interactions, so that would be relational clutter. And then there's environmental clutter. Like I talked about my kitchen, if I don't have it orderly when I wake up in the morning, that is a environmental clutter for me. And talked about my kitchen if I don't have it orderly when I wake up in the morning, that is an environmental clutter for me and it's not a good way to start the day. So there could be disorganized workspace.

Speaker 1:

Take a hot minute, look around your office. What are you seeing? If you're seeing it, sweet friend, your clients are seeing it when they walk in and it sends a loud message. So we want to have a nice, tidy, organized workspace. Maybe there's an overflowing inbox. That could be snail mail or your email, or maybe a chaotic digital life that adds to mental load. Talking about the inbox in your email box, look at your. I invite you to close all your windows on your computer screen and see what all is on that home screen. That's you know. It's important to take the time to organize our environment.

Speaker 1:

And then there's physical clutter and that's a sense of low vitality, chronic fatigue that doesn't resolve with rest or holding physical tension. From stress, physical clutter will get you. I'm a very somatic therapist. I want to take my clients into their bodies. So even if we're on a virtual session, I'm going to take my clients into their bodies. Where are you holding that stress? Where are you feeling that feeling? I think that's eminently important. Lots of great neuroscience to back that up. Love the polyvagal theory as well.

Speaker 1:

But when I look at physical clutter and anxiety talk about that holding physical tension I invite all of y'all to think about how you're doing that for yourself. And I want you, just right here, right now, we're all going to take a big, deep breath, we're going to exhale, and I want you to squeeze your shoulders to your ears just as tight as you can. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze a little bit longer. Big exhale and just let your shoulders drop. And do you feel that difference, right From the tension to the release that is available to us at any time during the day. I invite you to try that for yourself between each session Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze and release. Getting in touch with all that physical tension is important because you're going to be able to identify what is that stress from. Why are my shoulders so tight? Why in the world is my neck so tight? And I'm going to put a period there. I could go on and on about that, but I invite you to do that for yourself. I'm sure you take your clients through lots of somatic exercises. You need to take yourself through that as well.

Speaker 1:

So see, what I'm saying is essentially, energy clutter is any accumulation that prevents the free flow of your life force impacting your ability to be fully present and effective. How does this energy clutter manifest itself specifically for us, the helping professionals? Well, you might recognize some of these signs and symptoms below, and again, before I do any episode, I spend a lot of time behind the scenes researching and getting things together for you because I think it's important. So these are some things that I researched that could be impacting you when you look at energy clutter. So there could be it could be that you feel drained even after a full night's sleep or a weekend off.

Speaker 1:

Perhaps there's difficulty focusing or concentrating during sessions or tasks. Maybe there's an increased irritability. Maybe you're feeling impatient or emotionally reactive with clients, colleagues or loved ones. Perhaps you've noticed some procrastination or feeling stuck and unable to start important tasks. Maybe there's some resentment building toward clients or your organization or even the profession itself, that cynicism that comes up that can kind of lean towards some of that vicarious trauma, which, anyway, those are just things to be aware of.

Speaker 1:

Perhaps there's experiencing physical symptoms like chronic headaches, persistent fatigue, muscle tension like I was talking about in your neck or shoulders, and a gradual loss of enthusiasm, purpose or joy you once found in your work. Oh honey, when I was fully impacted and on my knees burning with burnout, I lost hope, I lost enthusiasm, I lost my way, I lost myself. I really resonate with that particular point that I just made. And then the final point being blurred boundaries where work thoughts spill endlessly into your personal time. You know you're not able to be present with your loved ones because you're so worried about clients or notes you didn't get done, or you know an insurance renewal that is hanging over you. I mean it just goes on. But all of those, my friends, all of those are symptoms of cluttered energy. So if any of these resonate with you, my friend, it's a clear signal that it's time for some energy decluttering and I'm of the firm belief any of us are going to benefit to take the time to do a little energy decluttering. See, the impact of unmanaged energy clutter is significant. It's a direct pathway to burnout, as I told you about mine, and this is the most critical risk for us as professional helpers.

Speaker 1:

Compassion, fatigue, burnout I think really are big. Really are big. Beyond that y'all it leads to the following Reduced professional effectiveness, and none of y'all want to do that. You've worked way too hard to get your education. You've worked way too hard to build patients and caseloads and clients. You've worked way too hard to build your practice. So reduced professional effectiveness is just not something we want to stand for.

Speaker 1:

When your energy is cluttered, your judgment can be impaired, your presence is diminished and your authentic empathy may feel way less accessible. And then y'all there's impaired relationships, and I'm talking both in the office and at home, professional and personal. These are going to suffer when you're operating from a place of chronic depletion and resentment, and y'all we don't mean to get there and y'all we don't mean to get there. I mean, I'm coming from a place of where I have been there, have that t-shirt, probably have more than one, if I'm honest and decided to dedicate my profession to helping other helping professionals not hit that burnout and compassion fatigued place because it's so miserable. The last one we want to think about what it leads to is this loss of joy and meaning, and this is a really sad place to get to. Having been there, we can get our way, find our way back, but the very work that once brought you fulfillment can begin to feel like an insurmountable burden. You just can't imagine wanting to get up out of bed and go and do what you need to do. You dread looking at your calendar. There's dread everywhere. It's just a terrible place to be. That's that loss of joy and meaning. So, reduced professional effectiveness, impaired relationships, loss of joy and meaning those are directly related to cluttered energy.

Speaker 1:

So how do we begin the process of clearing this energetic clutter? First, I'm going to take you through some things I've come up with, but I really want to invite you to hop over to Amazon or my website and buy my book In Pursuit of Soul Joy. Maybe find a couple of other colleagues and you'll go through this as a group. It is a very actionable book. It's not something you're just going to read. You're going to read, you're going to read and work and you're going to move to a different place, emotionally, mentally. I really invite you to do that for yourself.

Speaker 1:

But how do we begin the process of clearing this clutter, energetic clutter? It's a continuous, multifaceted practice that involves intentional choices and small, consistent actions across different dimensions of your being okay. So, first and foremost, mental decluttering, quieting the noise, right, I want you to take mindful breaks throughout your day. These are short pauses. You close your eyes, you place your hands on your belly. I want you to put one on your solar plexus, one on your sacral chakra and just follow your breath for one to two minutes. You can do that between clients. I'm telling you, you're going to show up so different for each client if you do this for yourself and if you do this for yourself before you leave the office to go home to your loved ones, you show up different.

Speaker 1:

And as you're breathing with your hands on your belly, I want you to notice thoughts with zero judgment. I want you to notice thoughts with zero judgment. Just let them pass, just be curious. There is not a bit of judgment to be had. Thoughts aren't real right. Our brain will come up with all kinds of crazy thoughts. Oh, I could write a book on the crazy thoughts my brain has generated. Creative person here. Just because we have the thought does not mean it's true. It is absolutely invited and practiced and necessary to notice that thought without judgment and just let it pass and notice your breathing and just relax and allow yourself to just be Okay. So those are your thought downloads. That's how we're quieting the noise. I'm sorry, those are mindful breaks. We're about to do thought downloads, but we're looking at quieting the noise, right? So thought downloads slash journaling are another great way to quiet the noise.

Speaker 1:

So at the end of the day or when your mind feels overloaded and we're all unique, we're all different my biorhythm might do it in the morning, yours might do it at night, someone else's might do it at lunch. It's when you need it, when you're feeling overloaded, you simply write down every thought, worry or task that's swirling around in your head. You want to get it out of your head and on the paper, because this can provide immense relief, and I know a lot of y'all might prefer to type. But I'm going to beg you to get a pen or a pencil and a piece of paper and kinesthetically write that thing down or write those thoughts out. There's just something cathartic about actually using. I think it connects your mind and your brain, mind and brain, your body and your brain when you allow yourself to write that out. But and I also call it a brain dump Sometimes I will encourage my clients, I encourage myself set a timer for five minutes and just write, just dump it all out. It's very cathartic and I highly recommend you try that.

Speaker 1:

The next trick to try to quiet the noise because, remember, we are mentally decluttering is single tasking right One thing at a time. Single tasking right One thing at a time. When possible, focus on one task completely before moving to the next. Close unnecessary browser tabs, silence notifications. This reduces that cognitive overload and allows for deeper presence. Okay, so that is under the topic of mental declutter. I can't talk Mental decluttering, okay.

Speaker 1:

Second, the emotional decluttering. This is where we need to process and release. So rituals of release would be the first thing to look at. You want to create a simple end of day ritual to symbolically leave at work. This could be changing out of your work clothes, a brief walk listening to a specific song, maybe a short debrief with a supportive partner or friend. Whatever it might be. It's your ritual and you do it daily and that triggers to your brain it's the end of the day. We're leaving this behind and we're transitioning back to my loved ones. And then maybe you have an end of day ritual where it's the end of the day. I'm transitioning to sleep. Maybe that's where you have a gratitude journal where you write down three things you're grateful for for the day, or you and your loved one, I don't know. Maybe y'all share what happened to the day. It could be anything, but it's something that triggers your brain. It's the end of this and we're transitioning into this other.

Speaker 1:

The next one would be conscious emotional release. So allow yourself healthy avenues for emotional release. Y'all cry. Crying is a great release. There is no shame in crying. I know we might have gotten messages in our childhood about crying, but crying is a necessary physical release. So cry when you need to Engage in vigorous physical activity.

Speaker 1:

I have a punching bag out in my garage and I love to go out there If I'm really upset. That energy has to move through me. I can't just talk about it, I've got to physically move it. So punching and screaming in my punching bag is an amazing release for me and I feel so much better. I think that's why I'm so addicted to exercise Addicted, okay, I'll go with it, but I have to have my exercise at least five times a week. It needs to be pretty vigorous. My body craves that and I believe it's a way that I release a lot of emotional clutter that would otherwise overwhelm me.

Speaker 1:

Then there's processing difficult feelings in supervision or therapy. That's very important. Don't suppress, but process with intention. And next, when we look at emotional decluttering, we want to name and nurture. So when difficult emotions arise, acknowledge them. I'm feeling frustrated right now. Ain't nothing wrong with that. That's a good thing. Even better, if you can identify that feeling, that's great. Then offer yourself a moment of self-compassion.

Speaker 1:

Kirsten Neff, n-e-f-f, has a great website about self-compassion. I believe she's out of University of Texas in Austin I believe it doesn't matter Some Texas university where she has researched. I know y'all already know about her, but I'm going to share again. She has researched all about self-compassion. She's done a lot of great work, has a phenomenal website. If you're not sharing that with your clients. I pray that you do.

Speaker 1:

Clients need to know about self-compassion. I can't tell you how many clients have looked at me like I have four eyes when I talk about self-compassion, because it's something they've never even considered. She's also got a great book. I know when I teach I need to add it. Well, at the other school I taught for I had added it to the professional orientation class. When our new you know, newbie counselors are just coming into the program, I wanted them to learn all about self-compassion because I think as counselors we need to know it for ourself and be able to teach it to others. But if self-compassion is not a concept you're really savvy with, I highly encourage you to look up Kirsten Neff's work. It's great.

Speaker 1:

But name and nurture difficult emotions and then offer yourself self-compassion. Difficult emotions and then offer yourself self-compassion. So that's emotional decluttering, processing and releasing rituals of release, conscious emotional release and name and nurture. Okay, you name that feeling and you nurture yourself for having it. Then there's relational decluttering. That's clarifying connections. Boundary setting that's a big connections Boundary setting Whew, that's a big one. Oh, my Landa, that is such a big one.

Speaker 1:

Revisit your boundaries. Are they clear? Are they clear for you? Can you name them? Are they clear for your clients? Are they clear for your colleagues? Are they clear for your supervisors regarding your time and availability and emotional capacity? Are they clear with your loved ones? Are they clear with your friends?

Speaker 1:

It's highly important that you are very assertive, not aggressive. Assertive about your boundaries, with zero apologies, zero apologies. Your boundaries make you a better therapist, physician, nurse, teacher, whatever helping profession you come in at. Boundaries make you better. And I'll tell you what else. Your clients, your patients, the people you work with, need those boundaries. Saying a firm, kind no when necessary is important, is a powerful act of energy preservation, act of role modeling for those who need to see that and act of kindness to you and others. Because when we're going around saying no, when we prefer excuse me when we're saying yes, when we prefer to say no, we do not show up in our best person. It's best that you use selective yeses and offer no's for when it's not right for you. Firm boundaries are good.

Speaker 1:

I could go on and on. I've got a podcast on this. If I were, I should be such a professional podcaster and be able to tell you which episode that is. But I do have a podcast specifically on the art of saying no, and in my book I have a whole chapter on it. It's an art and it's one worth knowing.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so when we look at other ways for relational decluttering, there's conscious communication. Be clear about your needs and expectations. Address small relational tensions before they become large resentments. All this garbage, as my daddy would say, all this garbage about oh, I don't like conflict. Yeah, that is our business, and I know being able to offer conflict. Well, that's not the right word, it's confrontation. We need to be able to confront our clients in a very healthy manner, because that is therapeutic, and I invite you to bring that into your own life. Being able to address conflict and confront it and be upfront with it is so much healthier than dreading and just doing something you don't want to do at all because you want to avoid conflict and you're miserable. That doesn't make a bit of sense. Conscious communication, be clear about your needs and expectations and, my friend, I invite you to get clear and right with yourself first, and then it's going to be a lot easier to take it to external sources.

Speaker 1:

And then there's energy. There's an energy audit for your relationships. So this is when you reflect on which relationships consistently energize you and which ones consistently drain you. Invest more intentionality in the former, your energizing relationships. Set stronger limits or distance with relationships that drain you, where appropriate. Now we could have a whole podcast on this. Y'all are consummate professionals. Y'all are adults. You will use your as I used to tell my children your upper-level thinking skills to discern that there's some people we need to release with love from our life, right, and then there's sometimes we're in a work situation where we just have to make the best of it, but audit your relationships for energy. Which ones drain you? If you can't rid yourself of them, then minimize your exposure to those. And the relationships that energize you fill your cup full with those. Okay. So, relational decluttering we're clarifying connections and that is boundary setting conscious communication and doing an energy audit with your relationships.

Speaker 1:

And then y'all there's physical and environmental decluttering, which helps to create flow, and I talked to y'all about how I need my kitchen in the morning as I go to start the coffee pot. I'm sure you all have a certain something or a feeling about when you first walk into your kitchen or wherever you go to get your coffee or tea or kombucha or whatever you start your morning with how you want that space to feel and look right. So when we look at physical, environmental decluttering and creating that flow, we want to optimize our workspace right. We want a tidy, functional desk, a clear digital space that can help reduce mental clutter. You want to organize files. You want to clear your desktop and you want to manage your inbox. You want your notes done. You want to make sure you have a really rocking EHR. I'm assuming most of y'all are into an EHR now. Maybe there's a few dinosaurs such as myself who prefer some pen and paper type of files. But I have begrudgingly gone to an electronic EHR, although sometimes I have to scan my notes, my handwritten notes, into my EHR. But anyway, that still counts for optimizing my workspace and getting things organized.

Speaker 1:

Next we want to look at movement and somatic release. Of course I'm a big somatic gal. You want to engage in regular physical exercise activity. It's not just for physical health, I believe. I mean I get on my Peloton bike. Let's see, I walk with the dogs for a couple of miles one morning, I do weights the next, well, I do weights in Peloton bike. Well, anyway, you don't want to hear all that. That's boring. But my invitation there is that I don't know I'm doing it because I want bigger biceps at 62. I don't know this is going to happen, but I do it for my physical health. It helps release stored stress and stagnant energy in my body and it will help you as well.

Speaker 1:

Practices like mindful movement, yoga I mean there's all kinds of yoga. If you have some health issues and you're not able to get on the floor, there's chair yoga. I used to teach water aerobics and for my it was a very gosh. At the time I thought they were elderly. They were probably my age looking back. But there's lots of different ways for us to get physical activity. And don't negate how wonderful a walk is Hopefully an outdoor walk where you get some vitamin D and explore the beautiful world the good Lord has created for us. Explore the beautiful world the good Lord has created for us. But you want to move, yoga, walking. There's a plethora of movements at your hand. That didn't really make sense, but you know what I mean that you can get to. And then you want to prioritize rest and nourishment. These are foundational.

Speaker 1:

Without adequate sleep, healthy food and hydration, all other energy management strategies are an uphill battle, a moot point and y'all, it's pretty basic. I mean, we all have different sleep needs. I need about eight, seven to eight hours. That's optimum for me. You want to eat healthy, right. Less processed foods, more green stuff, stuff that the good Lord made right, that man hasn't made into something else. And then hydration. I think we all walk around with a Stanley Cup or some kind of water bottle of some sort. It's really easy. These are not expensive practices, it's very practical and y'all, we also want to monitor our substance intake. We also want to monitor our substance intake, you know, if it's something to help us sleep, or if it's cracking a beer with your buddies, or wine, whatever it might be. Everything in moderation, right.

Speaker 1:

It's when it's going too much and you're feeling your body responding that, oh, my body isn't liking this. Listen to your body. My grandmother always told me my body was my temple. I mean from, as that's some of the first words I remember Boone B saying to me my body was my temple and on Judgment Day, the good Lord was going to ask me what I had done with it. And I and he had given me gifts, and I better have used those gifts which, look back, what a great thing, for I mean, really it was a beautiful thing she was telling me, because what she was saying was take care of your health and do something with your life right. So I think that that prioritized rest and nourishment really resonates back to what Boomby, my grandmother, told me oh so many years ago. She's a wise woman.

Speaker 1:

And then nature connection Spending time outdoors can be a really powerful way to recharge your mental and emotional batteries, connecting you to a larger, more abundant energy source more abundant energy source. So you know, I've got lots of episodes where I'm helping you walk through grounding, where you go outside barefoot and ground. I think that's very important. Walking outside, as I mentioned, is important, just going out and playing your puppy dog. I've got Nigerian pygmy goats. I may be leaving out something in there. Anyway, they're precious little goats that are small and I go out and just watch them at times because they're just so fun. We've got a fire pit out there by where the goats come in to sleep at night and I just sit out there and watch them and all kinds of joy from that. So it doesn't have to cost you anything y'all. It's just a matter of prioritizing how you take care of you with the 24 hours we have in a day.

Speaker 1:

So, physical and environmental decluttering, creating flow. Optimize your workspace, movement and somatic release. Prioritize rest and nourishment and nature connection. So see, decluttering your energy, it's not a one-time event. Nothing we do is right. It's ongoing. It's not one and done. It's a continuous, compassionate practice. It's about regularly sweeping away the dust and debris that accumulate from the demanding nature of your work. By creating space mental, emotional, relational, physical you protect your most vital resource yourself. A decluttered helper is a more present helper, a more compassionate helper, a more resilient helper and, ultimately, a more compassionate helper, a more resilient helper and, ultimately, a more sustainable helper. This active investment in your energy allows you to show up with more clarity, more vitality and a deeper, more enduring impact for those you serve.

Speaker 1:

So, okay, I have, I'm going to change things up just a little bit and just see what happens. But I'm going to change things up a little bit Instead of going through the activity that I have created for you I realize it makes the podcast a little long. You may be in your car like girlfriend, I cannot get to this Click, I'm done with this episode Instead of walking you through the activity that I've created for you and I have. It's a great. It is a great PDF I created for you. I'm trying to find the name of it, oh, anyway, I've created a great activity for you and I hope that you find it's something that is valuable. So I'm not gonna worry about the name of it, but it's basically a way for you to be sure that you have decluttered Well, it's my energy declutter audit and I've got a plan for you there.

Speaker 1:

But I'm going to invite you to please subscribe to my email list For me to be able to continue to do this. I really need subscribers and folks to go in and review this podcast. Really would appreciate it. You, this podcast, really would appreciate it. And if you will be so kind as to sign up for my weekly email where I'm going to send you this podcast and I'm going to send you the free PDF, bonus PDF, weekly, please hop over to my website and get on my email list wwwjuliemerrimanphdcom. I've got a blog over there. I've got some other freebies that I think bring quite a bit of value, so I really would invite you to sign up for my email list. I'm going to say it one more time wwwJulieMerrymanPhDcom. So okay, friends. Okay, so I thank you so much for hanging out with me today and I hope to see you next week. So that's all for this episode of Soul Joy. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, take a moment to clear the channel. Protect your peace, keep thriving in your role.