As I work with clients I heartily encourage them to love themselves through caring for this incredible organism that they are. We are a body. You can enjoy the idea and feeling of being a spirit too, if you like, but what we know for sure is that this body is the thing that allows us to have a life, here and now, on this Earth. Unfortunately people (including me) sometimes feel that it is a drag 'having' to care for the body. It has all these constant 'needs' and gives us 'pain'. Yeesh!
MINDSET
This mindset is understandable. We are all busy and important people and we lose sight of the truth of life. We get caught up in 'doing' so much that everything we 'do' becomes a means to an end - an obstacle to achieving our goals!
GOALS!
This goal orientated way of being is great for getting shit done. The unfortunate side effect is that life things become chore-some, instead of awe-some. That sucks. Again, I find myself in this state sometimes - overly focused on the goals and neglecting my beautiful body.
THE BODY FEELS FOR A REASON
When we remember that the body feels so good with self care we love to look after it. Stretching, exercise, eating well - all these things feel very easy.
When we also remember the Polyvagal theory we can really care for our body in a way that helps our underlying state. We have three states of reacting to the world - Parasympathetic (rest and disgust), Sympathetic (Threat activation or Fight/flight/Fawn) and Dorsal Vagal (overwhelm/ shut down - Freeze, Flop,) . With the awareness that these require responding with different ways of breathing, posture, movement, voice - upregulating or downregulating and that these are skills and disciplines that take time and practice - this can be seen as a chore or a fantastic insight. The first thing I do is raise my awareness with a code word - a traffic light. If I realise I'm 'activated' I say 'amber' to myself and take a moment to slow down and regulate my nervous system. When I say 'red' it's because I realise I'm feeling despondent and shut down, so I first do some activation movement and breath and then calm down to a 'Green' state.
CHORE-SOME OR AWE-SOME
The chore-some mindset says "Oh jeez! I'm so broken, it's so much work, it's endless!" We all fall into this sometimes.
The awe-some mindset says "Wow! I'm so adaptable, my body works so well, it's always growing and changing!" This is the one I like to remember and practise.
So I invite you today to meet your body with love and enjoy the incredible wisdom that is holds and communicates via feelings. If you need help with this let me know and come work with me 1-1 or in a group.
Big love,
Neil
PS. here is a video of Peter Levine loving his work of trauma healing
MINDSET
This mindset is understandable. We are all busy and important people and we lose sight of the truth of life. We get caught up in 'doing' so much that everything we 'do' becomes a means to an end - an obstacle to achieving our goals!
GOALS!
This goal orientated way of being is great for getting shit done. The unfortunate side effect is that life things become chore-some, instead of awe-some. That sucks. Again, I find myself in this state sometimes - overly focused on the goals and neglecting my beautiful body.
THE BODY FEELS FOR A REASON
When we remember that the body feels so good with self care we love to look after it. Stretching, exercise, eating well - all these things feel very easy.
When we also remember the Polyvagal theory we can really care for our body in a way that helps our underlying state. We have three states of reacting to the world - Parasympathetic (rest and disgust), Sympathetic (Threat activation or Fight/flight/Fawn) and Dorsal Vagal (overwhelm/ shut down - Freeze, Flop,) . With the awareness that these require responding with different ways of breathing, posture, movement, voice - upregulating or downregulating and that these are skills and disciplines that take time and practice - this can be seen as a chore or a fantastic insight. The first thing I do is raise my awareness with a code word - a traffic light. If I realise I'm 'activated' I say 'amber' to myself and take a moment to slow down and regulate my nervous system. When I say 'red' it's because I realise I'm feeling despondent and shut down, so I first do some activation movement and breath and then calm down to a 'Green' state.
CHORE-SOME OR AWE-SOME
The chore-some mindset says "Oh jeez! I'm so broken, it's so much work, it's endless!" We all fall into this sometimes.
The awe-some mindset says "Wow! I'm so adaptable, my body works so well, it's always growing and changing!" This is the one I like to remember and practise.
So I invite you today to meet your body with love and enjoy the incredible wisdom that is holds and communicates via feelings. If you need help with this let me know and come work with me 1-1 or in a group.
Big love,
Neil
PS. here is a video of Peter Levine loving his work of trauma healing