Breaking Free of Feeling Stuck and Like Nothing Ever Changes + Guided Meditation

The Healing Sanctuary
The Podcast

Welcome to this week's episode of the free edition of ​The Healing Sanctuary! Today, we're talking about the feeling of being stuck in a rut. This is one of the most frustrating feelings I know, as it quickly builds momentum and sucks all motivation and joy out of me.

If you're in a place where you feel like you're just completely stuck, and you know how the rest of the week, your year, or even your life is going to go, then this one is for you! We're going to dive right into shifting you back into the energy of new possibility and potential. And then we're going to do a guided meditation that will help you to feel rejuvenated, renewed, and reconnected to the natural movement and change that is within you and available to you at all time.​

These public episodes are provided as a service to all who are on a healing journey, in need of some support, and in the process of awakening to their powerful inner self. You can find the private, members only version of The Healing Sanctuary here!

The Healing Sanctuary: Meditation & Empowerment · Breaking Free of Feeling Stuck and Like Nothing Ever Changes + Guided Meditation

Below, you will find a transcript of this episode (it's based on my notes and is not an exact replica of the episode, there are a few differences). If you know someone who would benefit from this talk, please share it! You can find me on all the podcast apps, including Spotify and iTunes, under The Healing Sanctuary. These podcast episodes are free resources for anyone who needs it, and separate from my membership service.

The Healing Sanctuary: August 30th, 2022
Breaking Free of Feeling Stuck and Like Nothing Ever Changes + Guided Meditation

Hello, and welcome to The Healing Sanctuary! I’m your host Melissa Field, and this week we’re going to be talking about feeling stuck or in a rut. We’re going to talk about ways to shift your inner perspective so you feel less stuck and open back up to flow, and then we’re going to do a little meditation and reflection. If you aren’t able to meditate, just pause the episode when you get to that part and come back to it when you can.

One of the most frustrating feelings I know is feeling stuck and like nothing is changing or happening in my life. It’s a very suffocating and depressing feeling, and it tends to build momentum on itself. The more things stay the same, the more depressed I feel, and the more depressed I feel, the less I do to get out of my rut, and the less I do the more stuck I feel, on and on until I feel totally drained of energy and disconnected from my inner self.

I was recently stuck in that cycle of “nothing ever changes” myself, and what got me out of it was something entirely unexpected. This last Sunday, I went outside to drink my morning coffee, and there was a random duck swimming back and forth in the pool.

This would be less surprising if I lived on a large property out in the country, but I live in the middle of the suburbs. It was such a strange and unexpected site that I had to ask myself if this was actually happening. It was funny and weird and the first thing that had made me feel surprised and delighted in a long time. Here was this duck, happy as could be, eating bugs and acting as if this happened every day. To start my day off with something so unexpected was the mental shift I didn’t know I needed.

So often in life, we think we know what’s going to happen in a day from the moment we open our eyes. We think we can predict each day, and because we live from a place of confirmation bias, if we believe nothing ever changes, then we’ll see only the information that confirms this and disregard all else. We begin to feel as if life itself is predictable, and not only can we predict how each day will go, we can predict the next year, the next ten years, maybe even the rest of our life.

This is a depressing place to be in, because it doesn’t allow in any magic or surprises from the universe. And as that little duck reminded me, being surprised by life is essential to our happiness and sense of well-being. We need the Universe to surprise us, because what we can predict about our day, our year, or even our life is based on very limited information. We ourselves cannot see every possibility, but the infinite intelligence of the Universe can, and if we’re not open to the surprises that are beyond our perception, we lock out the truly magical moments of synchronicity that you cannot explain, but that take your breath away when they happen.

However, to receive something unexpected, something that is far beyond what we ourselves can see, we have to be open to it from an inner place. We have to align ourselves energetically with the possibility that there are things bigger and better than what we ourselves can see, and we have to trust that the Universe is guiding us to them, step by step. What we believe and energize in our inner world is reflected back to us in our outer world. This is often called the law of attraction, but another way to put it is to say what you see within you, the Universe sees also, because the Universe is you. The Universe is a mirror to your inner thoughts and beliefs, and so if you see stuckness and stagnation and a lack of change, then the energy of the universe, the energy that composes all of life, will align itself to match your inner world, because that’s how powerful you are.

And with this power, this power that comes from your inner world, you can create experiences that give you the illusion that nothing ever changes, and that every day is the same. There is nothing in this Universe that can override your free will, and so if you determine, with complete conviction, that you are stuck and this is just how it is, then you will have that belief mirrored back to you. And even though this is only a belief, it will feel overwhelmingly solid and like a fact, because beliefs are the foundation upon which we determine everything about ourselves and the world.

I say this is only a belief, because in reality, things are literally changing every second, both inside of us and outside of us. We believe nothing is changing, but there is no way for that belief to be actual reality. The truth is, it’s not possible for you to open your door and step out into the exact same world twice. The world is constantly changing and moving, and there is never a moment that will happen again that will be exactly the same as this one. The bugs will be in different places. The plants will have changed, people will walk and drive and move about. Even if we tried to replicate one exact moment, one nanosecond of time, it would be so complicated and involve so many trillions of moving parts, it would just be impossible. Things are always moving and changing, whether we take notice of it or not.

It's like that quote by Heraclitus (heh·ruh·klai·tuhs) “No person ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and they’re not the same person.”

Another expression similar to that one, that has always helped me when I’m stuck in a rut, and fixated on the feeling that nothing ever changes and never will, is the phrase, “In every moment, I am reborn.”

I love this phrase so much, because it’s so simple and yet so profound. With every breath we take, in every moment, we really are breathing life back into our body. Without the breath, we would cease to exist, because our breath is our life. In every moment, with every breath, we are reborn.

And with each rebirth, a new world exists within us. Just as you cannot open your front door and walk out into the same world twice, you cannot take a breath in and exhale as the exact same person. In every second, you are going through an infinite number of inner changes, and so the feeling that you aren’t changing, that nothing is changing within you, is entirely an illusion.

For example, by the time I finish this sentence, 50,000,000 cells in your body will have died and been replaced with others. And not only that, but each one of those cells are as complex and intricate as a Boeing 747. You are literally creating worlds within you in every second. There is nothing more mysterious or miraculous in this Universe than you, right here and now. You are an ever changing, ever evolving, organic being that is in a constant state of flow and movement within.

Just consider the fact that even aside from how often new cells and new life is being created within you, your inner world is constantly flowing and in movement. Your blood is flowing and circulating and moving endlessly. Your breath is also flowing and moving, pulling in the new and pushing out the old.

And not only is your blood flowing in an endless movement, but in every second, about a million red blood cells die and an equal number are reborn. The idea that you are stagnant or stuck or not moving is a perception based on a feeling. The reality is, you are movement. And when you remember that, when you remember that movement and change is so natural to you that you don’t even notice it happening, you start to open back up to the beautiful and unexpected changes that are possible in each moment.

Right here, in this moment, there are an infinite number of possibilities available to you. You can reach for the one that feels routine and boring, or you can reach for the ones that are like doorways to entirely new lives. It’s all available to you, but as I said before, nothing can override your freewill and your powerful inner beliefs. You are powerful, and when you direct that power into new opportunities and new experiences, you begin to understand that the energy of the Universe really does bend to your divine will.

If you are open and receptive to change, and you believe it’s within you and around you at all times, then you’ll be receptive to movement and flow in your life. It’s important to note that wanting to believe something and actually believing it are not the same thing. Sometimes we want to believe in change, but we don’t experience it, and so we doubt that our beliefs and inner desires are actually powerful. If this is something you’re experiencing, that’s a pretty common place to be in. Oftentimes, we need to hear something a few times, in a few different ways, before it starts to sink in, and so just by listening to this, you’re on your way to getting it.

How to change your inner belief system is something that has to be covered in its own episode, but I just want you to know for now, that you can do it, you can rewrite the stories you tell yourself. And just know that being open to the idea that you can change the story within you is enough for today. You don’t need to resolve everything in your mind in this very second. You just need to trust yourself, and trust that this is a step on your path, and trust that the next step that is right for you will show up in the right way and at the right time.

I want us now to do a little bit of reflecting and meditating. If you’re not in a place where you can close your eyes and follow along, just pause this and come back to it when you can.
So if you are in a place where you can sit quietly for a moment, go ahead and find a comfortable place to sit. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Continue to breathe slow and relaxed through your nose.

Bring your awareness fully onto your breath. Begin to notice the soft sounds your breath makes as it rolls in and out.

And now notice the subtle ways your body moves as you breathe. Notice the gentle rise and fall of your chest with each breath.

And now I want you to bring your awareness fully onto your body. Become aware that you take up space, in this room, and just feel the presence of your own self. Feel the way your breath interacts with the space around you.

And just start to bring that awareness inwards. Begin to visualize what’s happening within you right now. See your lungs moving within your chest. See your heart beating. See the blood flowing through you with each powerful beat of your heart.

And now I just want you to imagine that you hit a pause button for your entire body. Everything within you freezes right where it is. All of the millions of things happening within you halt. All of the complex tasks, from cell division to tissue repair stop, and you can see that the vast complexity that is you is so  more than a human body. It is an entire Universe. There are more cells within your body than there are stars in the sky, and each one of those cells holds mysteries we are just beginning to understand.

Now imagine that you release the pause button, and everything within you returns to life. Trillions and trillions of processes and subconscious activities resume, and the Universe that is within you resumes its millions of movements and motions that are somehow all in balance and in flow with each other. The movement and change within you is so harmonious, and so effective, you don’t even notice it happening, and it keeps everything from your heart beating to your cells regenerating. You are life. You are movement. You are miraculous.

And now I want you imagine that you get up, open your front door, and take a few steps outside. With this miraculous body, you take a few deep breaths. You look out at the world, and you notice all the subtle movements happening. The wind in the leaves. The dragonflies in the air. The flower bud preparing to open.

And once again, you hit pause, and the entire world freezes right as it is. And you notice how utterly still and quiet it is. Without everything humming along as it usually does, you notice the absence of all that life and movement. You feel what the world would actually be like if nothing was ever happening.

And then you hit resume, and the world comes back to life, and the wind flows through the trees, the birds chirp and fly by, and you take a deep breath, breathing in that air that is free flowing, always in motion, always circling around the entire planet thanks to the air currents.
And now bring your awareness back onto you in the space your in. Bring your awareness back onto your breath. Feeling your breath flowing in and out of your body. Feeling how each breath out cleanses you and releases the old. And feel how each breath in renews you and refreshes you.

And just take a moment now to reflect on change and flow. You can think about what we’ve talked about in this episode, or just let your mind go where it wants to. Just feel open to the knowing that things are always in movement, change is always possible, and there are new possibilities available to you, right here and now.

And when you’re ready, fully bring your awareness back to yourself and the space you’re in. Ground yourself back into this present moment. And when you’re ready, open your eyes.
We’re going to finish today with that meditation. If you have time and you enjoy journaling, now could be a great time to do some writing and some further reflecting. You might also want to go for a walk, because when you put your body in movement, you get a lot of natural momentum going. And if neither of those things work for you, just do something you normally wouldn’t. It doesn’t matter how small. A small change in your routine can ripple out and lead to big changes in your life.

Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of The Healing Sanctuary. I’m your host, Melissa Field, and I’ll be back next with another. In the meantime, if you enjoyed the meditation we did together, and you’d like to experience more of my meditations, I invite you to come try The Healing Sanctuary. It has over 100 meditations and visualizations that are all deeply healing and uplifting and empowering. You can find this by going to the link in my episode notes, by going to my website at melissa-field.com, or by finding me on Instagram @meditate_with_melissa.
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I want to thank you again for spending some of your day with me, and if you know someone who would benefit from this episode please share it! I hope you have a great day and I’ll see you again soon.