I’m 47 and my healing journey really started to click for me when I understood how the ANS (autonomic nervous system) and the survival parts of our our biology worked, through the practices of somatic Therapy, embodied enquiry and movement (dance, yoga, etc).
I'm telling you that because so many of us believe we should already be somewhere by a certain age.... but that is so not my experience....we are where we are when we are..
I have needed to give myself A LOT of permission to not get things right or fix myself (self confessed perfectionist here) and even more permission in slowing down, which is the opposite of what my system has wanted, and I had to do this in small doses or what's known in Somatic Therapy as titrating, and I really understand why now.
Slowing down has been an art and a work in progress because I am not talking about slowing down as in collapsing out of exhaustion or catharsis, or needing medicinal support, I’m talking about slowing down in a conscious aware, staying with what comes up next kinda way.
Are you also someone who notices empty space and looks for the next thing to do?
I also want to say being up and active is also great, we just need to be able to flow between the two, otherwise we end up stuck, either in total shutdown or forcing a shutdown from too much up energy... I hope that makes sense.
Somewhere along the line I realised it wasn’t “me" or "I” slowing down, it was slowing down my body, the survival impulses (fight, flight, freeze and fawn) of my system, and my bodies need to move to the next thing to avoid feeling....something.
This is WHY slowing down can feel so fucking uncomfortable?
There is always a really good reason for that feeling of discomfort, and exploring that (while staying with the body) is part of the healing pathway.
Embodied enquiry involves methods and processes that I have learned through Somatic Therapy, Parts Dialogue, Diamond Approach and other bits and pieces that cultivate an internal and embodied awareness, and at the heart of it is that universal thing…. Presence and Love.
I always knew that our wisdom lay in the body or soul, (I am still learning and fascinated by the nuances of that, the body and its systems being such an intricate and mysteriously intelligent part of the universe) and even though I have been practicing and teaching yoga for 20 + years I have veered away from fully embracing the deeper philosophy of yoga, eastern philosophy and non-duality because it seemed to reduced the body (sensations desires etc to being an enemy).. something to be mostly bypassed on the road to enlightenment.
When we dive into the tissue and beyond, so much of what we need, what can be healed, remembered and integrated is what leads us to wholeness, to our fullness and into a beautiful co-creative dance with life…. and for me that has given me TRUST.
I'm sharing this with you because I believe there is something really magic in the practice of letting our body guide our unfolding, our remembering of our perfection, our innocence and our innate wisdom, and to do that we need to really slow down and become curious, and we need to do this as a practice. I am really keen to make a space for you to practice that, so if you are someone who would love to know yourself more, to feeler safer in your world, to trust yourself, trust your heart and trust in life more, im inviting you to join me.
Details are below, its free, its online and you are so welcome to join me.
Part 2 coming soon........