Channel Your Energy Into Your Clothes
Something fascinating about getting dressed that I have noticed is that there is an underlying belief that it has to be done from this beautiful happy place, and if you aren't feeling that way when you get dressed you are doing something wrong.
I think this belief is dripping in toxic positivity, because as I've mentioned before you cannot always be happy, so why do we expect that when it comes to our clothes? Like there is a final destination where everything about your wardrobe is perfect and you're always happy about it. This belief alone can make it seem like enjoying clothes and personal style is an impossible feat.
That's why this week we are talking about channelling your energy into your clothes, whether it’s anger or happiness, or any other emotion.
Before we dive into the how, I want to talk about something you may be experiencing right now with your clothes.
If you find yourself going into your closet, trying to put together an outfit to wear, not liking it, getting frustrated, and then giving up and wearing your favourite leggings and top...
It might seem like the frustration is making you give up, but somewhere between the initial frustration of not liking what you initially tried to put together and giving up by putting on pieces you tend to rely on is most likely a sneaky thought that you could be missing. It usually sounds something like, "Why do I bother?" or "I don't have time for this." which leads us to feel either defeated or discouraged.
It is once we are having these feelings that we "give up" and leave our closets.
So if you are noticing that you are leaving your closet in things that you don't love wearing, ask yourself what you are telling yourself in those moments.
The truth is you may not have time to mess around in the morning with your clothes, but if that is true for you and you are feeling frustrated why have you not set aside time to find at least one different outfit to wear to alleviate the frustration?
It's mostly likely because you are not just feeling frustration, but discouraged or even defeated.
And if you already feel like you have given up why would you set aside the time to change it?
Something to consider, before jumping in: are you really just feeling frustrated or have you given up from feeling discouraged?
How do I know you probably aren't acting from frustration?
Because the outfit you would create if you were truly acting from a place of feeling angry most likely is not the leggings you always go to... Through doing this work on myself and with many clients, when you fall back on your leggings as a last resort outfit it is usually coming from a feeling of giving up, discouragement, or defeat.
If you feel like you have given up don't worry.
Although I highly recommend looking at last weeks blog post for advice and implementable practises on this, something you can do right now is just ask why you've given up and explore that for yourself and see what answers come up for you.
The thing is we are constantly channelling our energy into what we wear.
So if you are noticing you're wearing the same outfit that makes you feel like you've given up, that makes you feel blah, lazy, or disconnected changing your outfit or trying to wear different things most likely won't solve for the energy you are projecting. Which is how we get frustrated when we don't like other outfits we try to put together. Our energy does not align with the new outfit.
Think of it like an energy / outfit matching game.
The goal isn't to get you to pretend to be joyful, because your energy won't lie and you'll see it and feel it in what you end up wearing. Either by the outfit matching your energy, or you feeling uncomfortable in what you're wearing because it isn't aligned with how you truly feel.
The goal is to actually notice how you are feeling when you are going to get dressed and not make it mean something has gone wrong. To honour the feelings you have and channel them into your clothes instead of trying to avoid the feeling and giving up.
You don’t always have to try to change what your experiencing in your life. Some days you are going to be feeling angry, overwhelmed, or sad and on the flip side some days you will feel happy, inspired, or confident: you can draw on all of these powerful emotions, you don't have to change them to feel good about what you are wearing.
The key is to ask yourself what you need in that moment or how can you honour that feeling in your clothes.
For example, when I am having a bad day and I am angry and pissed off (and it doesn't even have anything to do with my clothes sometimes) I most likely will not gravitate towards leggings... oddly enough my brain wants me to look like a killer when I'm having these emotions (if I stay with them and don't avoid them) so my outfits tend to be on the darker / powerful side (ie: monochromatic powerful black dress pants, bodysuit, and blazer) and even though I'm in a bad mood the alignment with my clothes allows me to still feel comfortable in them, instead of tacking on a layer of disappointment.
Another example is when I am exhausted or stressed, these emotions usually have me wondering what would actually support me in helping my body feel comfortable. Although this can sometimes look like fun leggings, it often also looks like wearing a favourite dress too (one piece / comfortable). The difference here is that the leggings are a first choice to honour how I truly feel, not a last resort.
On the flip side if you are feeling super cheerful in the morning, looking for pieces that really align with that. Whether it is bright colours or loud details, whatever cheerful means and feels like to you, picking clothes that match that.
Maybe you are feeling confident one morning so you decide to give the item you never wear a try.
Maybe you are feeling beautiful or pretty and you want something feminine to wear to fully embody that emotion.
The point is that you can get dressed from any emotion, as long as you aren't running from it.
You are constantly channelling your energy into your outfit choices whether you realize it or not. The feeling of disappointment is what is aligning with the leggings that feel disappointing to wear. The leggings are just the unconscious result of feeling disappointed and not realizing you are getting dressed from that energy.
Feeling exhausted because you are letting the fear of feeling the emotion (anger / frustration) hold power over you instead of using the power of the emotion is what gets in the way of ditching your leggings for the day.
The key is noticing how you are actually feeling, allowing the feeling to be there, and then deciding if it's the energy you want to embrace while you get dressed.
I repeat there is nothing wrong with getting dressed from negative emotions, if it helps you stop feeling so much resistance in your clothes.
If you notice and allow an emotion like anger, or sadness, but you decide that you don't want to channel that energy in your clothes, you can process the emotion and intentionally decide what energy you do want to channel into your clothes instead.
This looks like noticing how you are feeling before going into your closet, and feeling the vibration in your body, but then taking the action of asking yourself what energy you want to actually channel into your outfit today.
Maybe it's calming energy, maybe it's empowerment, or hope, or love.
You get to decide what feels the most real to you in that moment.
There have been many moments when I go into my closet and feel disgusting for example.
I would first process that emotion (if you want to learn how to do this book a consult call, this one thing changes your life) and then ask myself how I actually wanted to feel in my clothes. Sometimes I just wanted to "feel better", sometimes I realized I wanted to feel sexy, and other times I wanted to feel joy... Each of these emotions produces a completely different outfit, which is why it is important to ask yourself how you actually want to feel in your clothes each day.
It's such a simple question and so overlooked.
If you take on thing away from this, it's to ask yourself how you're feeling and if you want to channel that energy and emotion into your clothes each day.
It only takes a few moments, but it could be the difference between wearing an outfit that disappoints you, and wearing something different that is aligned with how you actually feel or want to feel.
Try it out!
Love & Trust Yourself