Ok, I get it. Work is unfulfilling, exhausting, or all-consuming. All you want at the end of the day is go home, plop in front of your favorite electronic device, and lose yourself in binge-watching or scrolling. If a friend were to ask you how you’re feeling, and you chose to be honest, you’d probably reply, “not much.”
Every so often though, you may ask yourself, is that really all there is? Collapse on the couch nights and weekends, checking out from your life, only to return to work more exhausted than when you left? If I were to ask you, right now, to check in with yourself physically, would you be able to identify sensations?
To be truly alive is to be embodied, all senses awakened. We often avoid feeling, because we believe that if we open that Pandora’s box, we would be overwhelmed by our fears, our anger, our shame. Yet, there is another way.
Through my years of practice, I’ve been able to guide thousands of people as they cast aside the numbing actions blocking their vitality. These are the steps:
Finding your “rest and digest”: we also use the term regulation. You may be familiar with the term “fight/flight/freeze,” and if you’re interested in this course, you probably find yourself moving from one of those f’s to another. However, a healthy body also knows how to slow down, feeling truly calm and at ease. They rest deeply, and enjoy a healthy appetite. Getting regulated is the first step towards healing.
Finding that which pleases you. Why is this important? Because if we’re going to get into our bodies, we need to offer our bodies opportunities for comfort and joy. Otherwise, why would our bodies trust us to delve into the stress that they hold? Resourcing allows us to move past our hypervigilance with the resounding message that life can also be sweet.
Learning the stress dance. Many of you have worked with personal trainers. Some of my best coaching trainers have been the folks at the gym that taught me reps and honoring my limits, while building up my strength and flexibility. They’ve never suggested that I move immediately from couch potato status to running a marathon in a day. Instead, they’ve gradually advanced me to increased health using specific and effective practices. Here, we learn how to move into our stress then back out again, into a more grounded and settled state, known as “pendulation.”
Building resilience. Simply put, our ability to return to that “rest and digest” state with ease. This aids us in recovering from any stressor, so that a momentary conflict doesn’t ruin the rest of our day.
Finally, now that you no longer need to numb out to deal with your stressful day, what do you want to do with your vital energy? Let’s come up with a plan for how you want to spend the energy and the curiosity about what your life can truly become.
This course will take place over eight weeks and consist of both group classes and material in video form to enhance your experience between classes.