Energy and Boundaries Series: Protect, Restore, and Thrive. Part 3: “Replenishing Your Energy: Restorative Practices for Daily Life”
Part 3: “Replenishing Your Energy: Restorative Practices for Daily Life”
As holistic therapists, we’ve seen firsthand (not only in the clients we work with but also in ourselves) how the demands of modern life can leave us feeling drained, scattered, and disconnected from ourselves. True restoration goes beyond just taking a vacation, getting enough sleep or changing jobs – it’s about cultivating practices that nourish the body, mind, and spirit. In this blog, we will explore restorative approaches and daily practices that can help you replenish your energy on a deeper level. Practices that address the emotional, physical, and spiritual toll that boundary struggles have taken on you. Whether you’re navigating stress, low energy, or emotional overwhelm, these tools will empower you to create a sustainable rhythm of renewal, so you can feel grounded, vibrant, and fully present in your daily life. Let’s discover what it means to truly restore from the inside out.
Understand Your Energy Drains
When you live without clear boundaries, your nervous system often operates in a state of hypervigilance. This constant state of “giving” depletes your energy reserves, leaving you emotionally, physically and spiritually exhausted. Healing begins with self-awareness, acknowledging where you’ve been overextending and recognizing that it’s okay to prioritize yourself.
Practice Grounding Rituals
Unresolved pain, psychological wounds and trauma causes disembodiment which grounding practices can help with. Grounding brings you back to the present moment and helps you feel anchored in your own energy.
Morning Grounding Exercise: Try starting your day with a physical grounding practice of your choice. This could be something simple like starting your day by getting into and feeling your body via some stretching, or it might be listening to guided meditation focused on physical grounding, or perhaps it’s attending a yoga class before heading into the rest of your day.
Breathwork:Try box breathing (inhaling for 4 counts, holding for 4, exhaling for 4, holding for 4 - repeat for 1-5 minutes) to balance your nervous system and reset your mind.
Create an Energetic Boundary Practice
Boundaries aren’t just verbal; they’re energetic, too. Learn to tune into and feel your own energy, and when needed, use visualization and body-based tools to protect your energy.
In the Moment: Connect your spine to the back the chair your sitting on (literally lean back), imagine a glass wall or window screen in front of you that filters out the yuck and lets in the goodness, hold a pillow in front of you or cross your arms to protect your vulnerable, tender front body
Daily Visualization: Imagine a golden bubble of light surrounding you, acting as a shield against draining energies . Set the intention or repeat the mantra: “I choose to give from overflow, not depletion.”
Guided Meditation: Search for and find a recording of an energy clearing meditation and use this daily or as needed.
Cultivate Restorative Movement
Your body holds the tension and stress of unmet needs and overriding boundaries. Gentle, somatic practices can help release this energy. It is also incredibly healing to find a daily embodiment practice where the aim of the movement is to connect to your body, be present with yourself and move in a way that feels good or releasing.
Yoga for Boundaries: Focus on heart-opening poses (like child’s pose, puppy pose, fish, camel pose) to release guilt, and grounding poses (like tree, mountain, table top) to build inner stability.
Somatic Shaking: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, shake your arms, legs, and torso gently for 2-3 minutes. This practice helps discharge pent up stress.
Supportive Connection- Prioritize and spend your time in relationships that are affirming, safe and supportive. You’ll be able to notice these relationships because you will feel understood, safe to share openly, uplifted and possibly even energized afterwards.
Compassionate Boundary Setting - These affirming relationships are often the best place to start practicing compassionate boundary setting. Remember, boundaries don’t have to be harsh. For example, you can say, “I’d love to help, but I’m at capacity right now,” or “I need some time to recharge.”
Declutter Your Life - Clear out physical clutter and say goodbye to obligations or relationships that no longer serve you.
Prioritize Emotional Processing
When you’ve been people-pleasing for years and not setting boundaries, repressed emotions – anger, sadness, resentment – build up. These emotions are the messengers of your needs that got dismissed, overridden and ignored. It’s important to recognize that the exhaustion you’re experiencing doesn’t only stem from over-extending and over-giving, it also stems from years of emotional and psychological needs going unmet. Finally, being present to receive the needs these messengers (emotions) were trying to bring you and then releasing these emotions by meeting your emotional and psychological needs is crucial for healing.
Therapy or Coaching: Work with a therapist or coach to reconnect and re-embody so you are there to receive your emotions. Heal unresolved wounds and shift protective patterns that keep you stuck in a cycle of depletion.
Journaling: This doesn’t have to be polished or professional, bullet points are completely okay – make it as easy as possible for yourself! Getting into a weekly or daily practice of tuning into yourself and writing down what you are thinking and feeling is a powerful way to build connection with yourself, understand yourself better and therefore give yourself opportunities to receive and meet your needs.
Nourish Your Body
Boundary struggles often leave us disconnected from self-care. Replenish your energy by…
Nutrition & Hydration: No, not with weight loss as the focus but with true nourishment as the focus – think vitamins, minerals, nutrients, drink roughly half your body weight in ounces of water, electrolytes, etc.
Nature Connection: Spending time in and connection with nature is another great way to nourish your mind, body and spirit because humans are part of nature and spending time in it can help reconnect you to your own rhythms.
Body Work: This depletion is not just taking place emotionally and mentally. Your body is the vessel through which you experience life, so tending to your body is key in healing from the toll boundary struggles have taken on you. Take regular warm showers or baths, prioritize spending your money on massages, craniosacral therapy, reiki, acupuncture and/or aromatherapy.
Rest
Rest is essential after living in overdrive for decades. Remember, rest is not just about sleep; it’s about international stillness and restoration so the nervous system can relax back to a balanced, homeostatic state for extended periods of time.
Daily Mini-Retreat: Dedicate 10-15 minutes to quiet time/alone time, free from screens or interruptions. This could be meditation, sitting with a cup of tea, or simply staring out a window.
Evening Ritual: Create a calming bedtime routine that you practice every evening around the same time. This routine will signal to your brain and body that it’s time to wind down, let go and sleep.
Seek Support
Healing from boundary struggles often requires a supportive community or therapist who can guide you in reprogramming these patterns.
Therapeutic Support: While traditional talk therapy has its purpose, many people often need more experiential forms of therapy to help them process the deeper wounds that contributed to boundary challenges which then led to deep depletion or burnout. Modalities like EMDR, somatic psychotherapy, IFS and art therapy are supportive methods to healing the nervous system and releasing old, deeply ingrained patterns of behavior.
Community: Because we are social beings, healing also needs to happen within a collective atmosphere. While individual healing is great, you’ll notice that your inner system also needs to experience safety and support in a group. Join groups or workshops focused on healthy communication, connection and healing.
Celebrate Your Wins
Each step toward setting and maintaining boundaries is an act of self-love. Celebrate small wins, like saying “no” to something you didn’t want to do or carving out 30 minutes for yourself. Even though this might seem silly or childish to a part of you, celebrating the wins along the way can add to your motivation to keep going and help you get in touch with the progress you’re making which feels energizing.
Reflect and Reassess
Healing isn’t linear. There will be some steps forward, then some to the side, perhaps a couple backwards, followed by many steps forward, followed by a much needed break. As you begin to replenish your energy, take time to reflect on how you feel and adjust your practices as needed. What was once needed at one point in your healing and growth journey, may no longer be needed at this point in your healing and growth journey. Remember, boundaries are living, breathing things – they evolve as you do.
A Final Word
Replenishing your energy after decades of boundary struggles is a journey of self-discovery, reclamation and self-love. It’s a commitment to showing up for yourself, recognizing your limits, and embracing practices that align with your whole being – body, mind, and spirit. The journey to restoration is deeply personal, but it’s also universal in its importance. By weaving these restorative practices into your life, you are not only healing from exhaustion but also rebuilding your energy reserves, establishing stronger, healthier boundaries, which allows you to cultivate a sustainable foundation for vitality, joy, and resilience.
So, yes, it really is possible to thrive again as an adult. Remember, your energy is your most precious resource – honor it, protect it, and let it guide you toward a life of balance and fulfillment.