Episode 23 - Doing Less Equals Living More with Hannah Lynn Tackett
By Jessica Garrison
The F.E.E.L Podcast’s latest guest, Hannah Lynn Tackett, is a stubborn and optimistic woman who shares her experience with burnout after putting everyone else above herself. This led her to the world of holistic health, and she’s been living her best life ever since.
Hannah mentions something that I feel is so important to share when discussing the connection between physical and mental health, and that’s body cues versus emotional cues. The physical cues of burnout are usually noticed first, such as a headache or feeling fatigued all the time. An emotional cue could be resentment towards the people you love, though we don’t tend to take notice of this until the damage is already done. Personally, I think the emotional cues are harder to identify, and that’s why they get ignored so often. It can be difficult to find the right words to describe how you’re feeling—you might not even realize you’re feeling a certain emotion until it manifests itself in a physical way.
As Hannah says, it’s crucial for us to tune in to our emotions and be able to see the red flags for ourselves before digging a deeper hole. For example, if you’re feeling short-tempered with someone in your life, it could be because you’ve spent too much time with them lately and you need a mental break, or there is something deeper within that is causing you to lash out. Even if you don’t know exactly what emotion you’re feeling, that’s okay. It’s still beneficial to communicate how you’re feeling and maybe even how your body is reacting to something, rather than pushing it down further inside yourself.
Another thing I want to mention from this segment is the idea of “training” people to help you. At first I didn’t understand how this was possible because how are you supposed to train someone who has their own thoughts and ways they want to do things? But listening to Hannah further and thinking about it, we do this all the time. We teach people how to treat us and we can train them to help us. An example I can think of for myself is when I’m upset or crying, I tell people around me how I like to be comforted or what makes me feel better and over time, they learn and do it on their own. It isn’t like you’re controlling the people around you—you’re just communicating to them.
Burn out is something we all deal with at one point or another in our busy lives, but it’s comforting to know that there’s women like Hannah who have not only learned how to deal with these problems, but also offer to help other women who may be struggling. Her episode is full of treasures to hold onto for any situation you may need help for. Let us know what your favorite part of the episode was and/or what your biggest takeaway was. I know Hannah will continue this important work as she continues to say yes to what makes her feel more alive.
Ways to Engage: Continue to check in with your mind and body, especially during times of high pressure or stress. Remember the physical cues of burnout will most likely show up first, but also be sure to pay attention to the emotional cues your body may be giving you. Write them down if that helps or discuss it with someone close to you. Listen to what your body is telling you and take care of yourself in the way that you need most.