When Your Mind is a Yes, but Your Body is a NO.

Our bodies possess a profound wisdom, woven intricately like a tapestry, bearing the imprints of memories, knowledge, our wounds, emotions and the stories of our past. By working somatically, one can go deeper than mind-based practices to reveal some of the patterns and narratives that guide our lives, often unconsciously.

Have you ever felt “stuck.” Or perhaps, you’ve felt like your mind was telling you one thing but your body was saying another.

I’ve learned that a lot of “stuck-ness” is in our autonomic nervous system.

Simply put, if your system does not feel safe enough to move into that expansion you desire, then anytime you attempt to move forward, it will lovingly come online to protect you in the form of fight/flight, freeze or shutdown. No amount of affirmations, visioning, or trying to push your way forward will work effectively if your nervous system isn’t on board.

In the video above I share a personal story of my own experience with not being able to move forward in the way that I wished. My system’s go to response was to “flee” in the form of procrastination which looked a lot like perfectionism. My mind wanted to move towards expansion but my body was giving me signals to move away which then led to thoughts such as, “That project needs a little more tweaking.” “Once I take THIS training then I’ll be ready.” “I don’t have the exact credentials I need yet.” There were several others but you get the picture.

With the use of compassionate inquiry, understanding around what was actually happening and somatic tools and exercises, I’m was able to bring awareness to my inner experience, respond appropriately and slowly and compassionately bring my system back to a felt sense of safety so that I could take the tangible steps toward expansion.

So for those of you beating yourselves up, or thinking that you’re lazy, or feel like you’ve lost trust in yourself and your ability to move forward in a real meaningful way, please know you are not alone and you aren’t doing anything wrong.

Learning to come into a relationship with the body and its cues allows us to understand the language of our emotions and our inner experiences. When we have understanding we can then bring more empathy and compassion to our experiences which allows us to respond to our needs in a way that truly supports meaningful change.

With love, Tania