On a recent episode of Influencers Radio with Jack Mize, Bodyworker and Coach Aldene Etter discussed how she is helping busy professionals increase their productivity and enjoyment of life by slowing down.
Being an overachiever, over-doer, overthinker, or over-giver can leave a person feeling drained, in pain, tense, overwhelmed, numb, empty, stuck, and resentful.
According to Aldene Etter, the inability to slow down can actually interfere with the ability to be productive. It can also have a detrimental impact on relationships, health, and spiritual growth.
During the interview, when asked why it is that some people just can’t seem to unwind, Aldene explained, “Because it feels unsafe when they slow down. It’s the unknown of who they’re going to be if they’re not going-going-going, doing-doing-doing. For many of us, there’s often a lot of adrenaline and cortisol racing through the body. Then whenever we have the experience of slowing down, it stops. And we don’t feel that great. So there’s the physical part of it that doesn’t feel good if you’ve been going-going-going, and then you stop. And then this sort of the mental-emotional aspect of the unknown. Who you’re going to be if you’re not seeing yourself as the doer, always on the go. And feeling like when we slow down, we start to feel our emotions, but if we’re busy, we’re probably avoiding them. And for many people, feeling emotion is uncomfortable, and it feels unsafe.”
