How noticing small changes in your body, emotions and energy can help you return to balance
Have you ever finished a meeting, conversation or social gathering and suddenly thought:
“Why am I so tired?”
Perhaps the meeting went perfectly well.
Nobody argued.
Nothing obviously bad happened.
Yet afterwards, something feels different.
Your shoulders feel heavier.
Your energy has dropped.
Your mind keeps replaying part of the conversation.
Or you simply don’t feel quite like yourself.
We often put all of this under one big word:
Stress.
“I’m stressed.”
“I’m exhausted.”
“I feel overwhelmed.”
But lately I have been thinking about what might be underneath that word.
Sometimes, before trying to make ourselves feel better, perhaps we need to become curious about what actually changed.
Our reactions can happen before we notice them
Imagine you have just finished a business meeting and feel completely drained.
You might assume:
“That was a tiring meeting.”
But what actually made it tiring?
Was it the amount of information you had to process?
Did somebody make you feel pressured?
Were you nervous about how you were being perceived?
Did something annoy you, but you didn’t express it?
Did you disagree with something but stay quiet?
Were you trying hard to please everybody?
Did you say yes while something inside you wanted to say no?
Or perhaps nothing emotional happened at all and your body was simply tired.
We don’t always know.
Our responses can be so quick and automatic that sometimes the body has already responded before our conscious mind has understood what happened.
A comment.
A facial expression.
A particular tone of voice.
An expectation.
A memory.
Something changes inside us.
We continue with our day…
and only later realise:
“I don’t feel the same as I did this morning.”
This is why developing awareness of ourselves can be such a valuable part of self-care.
Before trying to shift it, notice it
This idea came back to me recently during an integration meeting with some of my Reiki students.
It was lovely to catch up and hear how they had been practising and exploring Reiki in their everyday lives.
Interestingly, hearing their experiences also brought me back to the basics.
Sometimes students contact me when something unexpected has happened.
They might say:
“Naomi, I’m really upset.”
“I’m panicking.”
“Something happened and I don’t know how to shift this feeling.”
Of course, when something feels uncomfortable, our natural reaction is often:
How can I get rid of this?
How can I stop worrying?
How can I stop feeling angry?
How can I become calm again?
But my first reminder is often much simpler:
Before trying to shift it, notice it.
What happened?
What am I actually feeling?
Where do I feel it in my body?
What changed in me?
What do I need right now?
We don’t always need to find an immediate answer.
Sometimes the first step is simply becoming curious about ourselves.
Not every uncomfortable feeling needs to be fixed
This is something I have learned through my own life too.
It can be tempting, especially when we have many self-care or healing tools, to immediately reach for something to make an uncomfortable feeling disappear.
But discomfort isn’t necessarily a sign that we are doing something wrong.
Anxiety, frustration, tiredness, sadness or irritation may contain useful information.
Perhaps I have taken on too much.
Perhaps I need a boundary.
Perhaps I have been trying to please somebody.
Perhaps I haven’t rested enough.
Perhaps something has touched an old emotional pattern.
Perhaps I’m worrying about something I cannot control.
Or perhaps I simply need a good night’s sleep!
The purpose isn’t to analyse every tiny emotion.
That can become another form of overthinking.
Instead, I think of it as gently checking in with myself:
Where am I right now?
中庸 — returning towards the centre
There is an idea I have been returning to recently:
中庸 — chūyō.
It can have a deeper philosophical meaning, but in my everyday life I think of it very simply:
Coming back towards the centre.
Not forcing myself to remain perfectly balanced.
Because who manages that? 😊
I certainly don’t.
I’m a therapist, but I’m also a wife, mother, friend and business owner.
People I love experience difficulties.
Unexpected things happen.
Other people’s emotions can affect the atmosphere around us.
My own emotions and energy naturally move too.
Some days I feel very centred.
Some days… definitely not!
And I don’t want to create another pressure by telling myself:
“I’m a therapist. I should be calm.”
That isn’t my idea of wellbeing.
For me, the practice is:
Can I notice when I have moved away from my centre?
And then:
What might help me return?
Balance is not a fixed place
I think we sometimes imagine balance as a destination.
Once we have done enough yoga, meditation, therapy, Reiki or personal development, perhaps we will finally arrive there and remain peaceful.
But life doesn’t work like that.
Life moves.
Relationships change.
Work changes.
Our bodies change.
Our hormones change.
Our circumstances change.
Good news can move us just as much as difficult news.
So perhaps balance is not about becoming completely still.
It is more like continuously adjusting.
Moving away.
Noticing.
Returning.
Moving again.
Returning again.
That is why self-awareness is so valuable.
The sooner we notice a change, the sooner we can ask ourselves what we need.
A simple practice: Notice → Name → Need
You can experiment with this yourself.
You don’t need a special meditation room or an hour of free time.
When you notice that you suddenly feel different, pause for a moment.
1. NOTICE — What changed?
Ask yourself:
“When did I begin feeling different?”
What happened just before?
Maybe you received an email.
Finished a meeting.
Spoke to a family member.
Scrolled through social media.
Agreed to something.
Walked into a particular environment.
Or perhaps there is no obvious reason.
That’s okay too.
You don’t have to force an answer.
2. NAME — What am I actually feeling?
Instead of automatically saying “I’m stressed,” become a little more specific.
Am I:
Nervous?
Pressured?
Annoyed?
Disappointed?
Sad?
Frustrated?
Overstimulated?
Uncertain?
Physically tired?
You don’t need the perfect word.
Simply naming what you notice can help you understand yourself a little better.
3. NEED — What would support me now?
Then ask:
“What do I need?”
Perhaps it is:
A five-minute pause.
A walk outside.
Movement.
Music.
A glass of water.
Food.
Quiet.
A conversation.
A boundary.
A good cry.
Sleep.
Reiki.
Or perhaps you realise:
“I need someone to support me.”
That is valuable information too.
Self-healing doesn’t mean doing everything yourself
This is something I feel strongly about.
When I use the words self-healing, I don’t mean:
“I should be able to fix myself.”
Self-healing is not another responsibility to add to an already long list.
For me, it means becoming more connected to myself.
Learning to recognise my own signals.
Having simple tools that can support me.
And knowing when I need to receive support from somebody else.
Sometimes I can support myself with a morning walk.
Sometimes movement changes my energy.
Sometimes I need music.
Sometimes meditation.
Sometimes I need to talk something through.
And one of the tools I return to again and again is Reiki.
Why Reiki has become one of my everyday tools
One of the things I love about Reiki is its simplicity.
I don’t need equipment.
I don’t need to travel anywhere.
I can place my hands on myself, become quiet and give myself a little time.
For me, Reiki isn’t about forcing myself to feel differently.
It creates an opportunity to stop doing and start listening.
What is happening in me?
What does my body need?
Can I simply be here for a few minutes without immediately fixing anything?
Sometimes I feel a shift.
Sometimes I simply become more aware of what I need to do next.
The important part is that I have paused long enough to hear myself.
Why I teach Reiki personally
This is also why my approach to teaching Reiki is very personal.
My Reiki courses are tailored to the individual.
Of course, we learn the foundations and practices of Reiki.
But I don’t believe learning should stop with techniques or a certificate.
I want students to discover:
How does Reiki fit into my life?
How can I use it when I’m busy?
What can I do when I’m emotional?
What happens when my Reiki practice brings something unexpected to my awareness?
How do I continue developing trust in myself?
This is why integration is an important part of how I teach.
After learning something new, we need time to live with it.
To practise.
To notice.
To ask questions.
To have experiences.
And sometimes to come back and say:
“Naomi, something happened. What do I do now?”
Those conversations are not separate from the learning.
They are part of the learning.
Reiki isn’t only for the peaceful days.
Sometimes it becomes most valuable when life isn’t peaceful.
And sometimes you don’t need another tool
There is another side to self-care.
Sometimes you have already done enough.
You don’t need another exercise.
Another podcast.
Another book.
Another technique.
Another thing to remember to practise.
Perhaps you have spent the whole week caring for everybody else.
Thinking.
Organising.
Working.
Solving problems.
Holding everything together.
And something inside you simply says:
“Can somebody look after me for a while?”
Sometimes self-care means doing something for ourselves.
And sometimes self-care means allowing ourselves to receive.
Both matter.
What do you need today?
Before you move on with your day, perhaps stop for just a moment.
You don’t need to close your eyes.
You don’t need to meditate.
Just notice yourself.
How do I feel right now?
And perhaps:
What changed?
What am I feeling?
What do I need?
You don’t need to fix everything today.
One small act of awareness may be enough.
A walk.
A boundary.
Five minutes of Reiki.
A little rest.
Or asking someone for support.
Because wellbeing isn’t about staying perfectly balanced.
Life moves us.
Emotions move.
Energy moves.
And little by little, we can learn to notice ourselves and find our way back towards centre.
If you need support
If you’ve been overthinking, overdoing, carrying too much or simply feeling that you need to reset, you are welcome to come and see me.
I am at HomeWellness on Tues and Saturdays, offering hands-on bodywork and mind-body-energy support.
You don’t need to decide exactly what you need before you arrive.
Come as you are.
We can listen together to what your body, mind and energy need that day.
And if you would rather learn a self-healing tool that you can use for yourself, I also offer personalised Reiki training, tailored to your needs, your experiences and your everyday life.
Sometimes we need to receive.
Sometimes we need to learn how to support ourselves.
And often, we need a little of both.
Notice.
Listen.
Support yourself.
Receive support.
Return. 🌿
With love,
Naomi Sato