Recently I’ve noticed a LOT of common themes in my clients and prospective client conversations, as well as tuning in to the collective energy

I will be writing about these in the coming months

Today we are going to talk about the term “checking out”

Have you ever heard the phrase “check out”?

I used to be a professional at this.  I was checked out by drinking alcohol to escape, by social media scrolling, smart phone addiction, working long hours without any breaks, as well as simply shutting down and isolating myself.

What does “checking out” mentally mean?

For all intensive purposes (since I know there are a flew slang phrases out there), let me clarify the definition of this phrase

Checking out defined:  Simply put, feeling mentally checked out means that a person’s mind has disengaged from their surroundings. They may physically be present, but their thoughts and emotions are elsewhere. Mental checkout is a behavior that people might use to cope with overwhelming situations.

In other words, the lights may be “on”, but no one is home.

You aren’t present in the moment.  You may be worried about something you just did or did in the past or worried about something coming up in the future.

In my shadow work certification, as well in my own deep, deep healing around this very theme in my life (also known as disassociation), I have seen this as a huge problem in society now that I am much more aware of how common it is

Checking out essentially means you can’t focus, you aren’t able to be “present” during conversations and it can show up in MANY ways in our daily lives.  While some of it can be harmless, too much of it can be major self sabotage and cause pain and suffering, health issues, financial issues, relationship issues, career challenges and more

It can also be often confused with multi tasking – when one is taking on more than one thing at a time and not really doing any of them well…..so one is in autopilot mode and going through the motions of life due to overwhelm.

I was so good at that, that I even got addicted to “overwhelm” and overcommitted myself to too many things/people due to “checking out”.

I would say “Yes” to things because I was so checked out, I didn’t even realize what I was saying yes to!

I did this mostly driven from unprocessed grief/trauma emotions that were stuck in my body, shut down my heart and made my mind go crazy!   

If I didn’t keep “BUSY” or finding ways to “check out” or numb, I couldn’t sit still or didn’t want to be “present” to those emotions or feelings

It had become so unconscious, there was no way of stopping and changing that response to life (at least not by myself)

Then, within a few months I would get sick and have to shut down and rest OR I would have burnout and just simply shut down to the world, my family, my friends and isolate myself. 

Or I would lean heavily on alcohol or people pleasing tendencies to get me thru

I would find myself over promising and under delivering.  I didn’t have any healthy boundaries.

It was a vicious cycle!

Can you relate to any of that?

If not, keep reading

“Checking out” can be super simplified

Have you ever read a chapter of a book (or even a paragraph) and then honestly don’t recall a word of it – or didn’t retain it’s meaning?

Or maybe you paid a bill consistently late – even though you had the money?

Or delayed an important conversation with a loved one or boss?

Or kept avoiding working on your health goals?

Or had a conversation with a loved one and then completely had to ask them to repeat themselves again because you missed what they said?

This essentially, when happening daily and in many areas of our life, is a trauma response and is something you often need the help of a therapist or a trauma informed (or shadow work) coach to help you undo and retrain your unconscious mind to alleviate or work through.

For me, it was a combination of breathwork, meditation work, saying NO more often, setting healthy boundaries with work/social media/alcohol, etc.

I also utilized the help of microdosing psilocybin and ayahuasca over a year’s time to help open up parts of my brain and heart that were shut down.  CLICK HERE if you want to read more about that.

Over time with ALL of that, I started opening my heart and chakra centers more and more, I was able to slowly wake up and be more present.   Once I listened to my heart more, I was able to say YES to life and NO to thigns that were distractions or not serving me.   

I also read the book “The Presence Process” by Michael Brown.  You can learn a bit more about that by CLICKING HERE

Also more down time for myself on the evenings and weekends and giving myself intentional alone time, so I didn’t burn out and be good for nobody, including myself.

It gave me time to be alone with my thoughts/feelings/emotions and gave them the space to be seen/heard/felt and appreciated.

That was all they wanted in the first place

My inner child and adult self wanted to be acknolwedged

And while getting that from others can be helpful (we all deserve community and those who love us to hold us), the BEST person to do this for us…..

Is our adult Self.

It all starts with being PRESENT with our own needs and honoring that spaciousness within our hearts/minds/bodies

I encourage you to find ways to be able to create space for that in your life now

It could change your life (and everything around you!)

Does any of this resonate with you?

Do you have a “check out” methodology that isn’t serving you anymore?

Or maybe you are addicted to things that help you check out or shut down and you are tired of those behaviors

Are these methods causing you pain and suffering?

Maybe you are afraid to just BE with yourself and these emotions/feelings/thoughts?

And you want support and accountability to help you navigate that?

Then reach out to me at support@microdosingforhealth.com and allow me to guide/help you through it

We can have a no strings attached free discovery call to see if working with me inside of my practice can help you shift for the better

Life is so much more enriching when you are PRESENT and remember why you came here to this planet (which was to be a human BEING, versus a human DOING)

Here’s to you living out loud and shining your light – while being your highest and best version of your authentic Self.