Dear friend,
I think we’ve all been there. Stress is piling up. Things are happening fast. The past is encroaching on the present, and it’s all jumbling together. All of the sudden we find ourselves saying and doing things we swore we never would. Or maybe, we discover ourselves stuffing our face in front of the TV, numb and shut down and we have no idea how we got here, and no sense of where to turn next. Or maybe we catch ourselves in a moment of harsh acting out, against ourselves or someone else, and we are almost shocked at our own inner ferocity.
These states are difficult to acknowledge in ourselves; it’s even more difficult to turn toward the feelings with curiosity and care.
As we’ve been talking about recent weeks, the body has incredible wisdom in helping us take in complex life experiences, process them, integrate the learning, and compost and release what doesn't serve us. Similar to how our bodies miraculously know how to take in food, break it down, pull out nutrition to use for energy and cell renewal, and then expel the waste, our bodies also digest life experiences and emotions, pulling out learning and wisdom, and releasing what doesn't serve. In this process, we develop an increasingly nuanced and integrated self understanding (self in relational and social context, that is), and we become increasingly present, wise and nimble in our engagement with our lives.
However, if our lifestyle—or our culture—doesn't allow for adequate reflection, processing, and healing of emotions and experiences, or if we are accumulating experiences and emotions more rapidly than the body can process them—it’s like we’ve overeaten and the body can get overwhelmed and even shut down.
We are in Week 4 of Body Temple Time. This week we will practice one of my favorite tools for when I feel TOO FULL TO LISTEN. Either to myself or anyone else.
To be clear, even very charged emotions will dissipate, integrate and release if we have the wherewithal to Notice and Nurture them where they live in our bodies. But sometimes when we are really triggered, it’s just too hard to settle down and tune in. That’s when this tool is especially helpful.
