Day 313 of 365 - More Body Wisdom
Given the impact of the car vandalism which I reported on a couple days ago, it left me pondering what to learn from it, aside from having an opportunity to rant about it. If you have been following me this long, you won't be surprised at my need to look from another perspective. Once again, the synchronicity of what showed up in my inbox was very helpful.
First, there was a video blog from nervous system expert Irene Lyon, talking about how and why highly sensitive people become that way. What that refers to is, people who are particularly sensitive to various stimuli in their environment, as well as the energies and emotional vibes being given off by people around them. As she describes, this can be a blessing or a curse depending on whether or not your nervous system is well regulated. This was relevant to how I, and others, reacted and continue to react to having our cars vandalized. (I highly recommend checking out Irene Lyon's very understandable posts on how our nervous system regulation influences how we live our lives. You can easily find her in an internet search or on YouTube.)
Then, a really wonderful interview with yoga teacher Seane Corn showed up, talking about the bigger picture of how our personal narratives and behaviors influence the collective. She reminded me again that what is happening in the outer world is also a reflection of what is happening in the inner world. While that may seem like a big leap, it really is not.
What happens in life gives us an opportunity to examine the stories we identify with. Related to our nervous system development and regulation, any kinds of events in our past that have overwhelmed our ability to cope become imprinted in us, along with the nervous system and physical response which protected us in some way at the time. Over time, the body contracts and builds an energetic armor and tension which influences our automatic behavioral responses to events in the future.
If we have either unconsciously or consciously learned ways to discharge the stressful energy around an event, we can integrate the experience. If not, that energy remains suppressed in our system and shows up in our reactions to future events. Whatever we learned to do in the past to feel better when stressed or threatened is a reinforced response, even though it may not actually serve us very well in the long run. The body reverts back to what it knows. Our experiences inform our beliefs about life, about other people and our safety in the world.
When we feel victimized by an event like vandalism for example, it creates a sense of separation, an us/them mentality. My automatic response might be to tense up, get angry, demand justice and more security from others. There is nothing 'wrong' with feeling those feelings, but if I remain in that loop of anger and ranting, I continue to trigger old stress responses. On another level, I can choose to look at what stories I tell myself about situations like this and about how my reaction may be related to past experiences of feeling hurt or offended by others or when I felt unsafe. I can actually learn more about myself and the ways that I influence my own sense of internal safety.
For example, my pattern of response in a crisis of any kind, is to initially respond by doing concrete things to 'clean up' whatever mess was created. This gives me a sense of control over my environment and helps me to feel better in the moment. So, I energetically swept up the broken glass in and around the car soon after we learned about it. It is only later that I feel more of an internal emotional agitation. As a result, I may overreact to something seemingly trivial later. So, that's a learning for me.
What both Irene Lyon and Seane Corn are teaching, is the importance of learning about and acknowledging our triggers, how to ground ourselves and manage our feelings, ultimately learning how to better regulate our nervous system so we can respond to situations rather than react. This is not a quick fix scenario, whereby I can just 'get it' at mental level and make a decision not to react. It's a practice over time of learning to pay more attention to my responses and being willing to take responsibility for the work of change.
Both these teachers emphasize the importance of learning through embodied practices, the kinds of activities that help us become better aware of where and how our body contracts and stores stress. Starting with looking at our physical responses can lead us to ways of recognizing the underlying emotions and releasing the contracted and stored energy of old patterns. This can create space for new ideas and ways of responding to situations in the future.
One of the very interesting things I learned from Seane Corn's presentation was, how the sense of agitation I might feel at some level during a yoga class or some other kind of body focused practice, could lead me to some stored underlying emotion which is seeking release. If I'm willing to pay more attention, instead of turning away from it, the body will reveal information to me. That was a fascinating insight for me.
So, once again, the body does not lie. Though there are many times I do not much like how my body is behaving, it has many gifts to share with me. I am a physical, energetic, emotional and spiritual being, all integrated within this body that carries me through life. I'm not just a mind attached to a body. It's good for me to have these reminders of that.
First, there was a video blog from nervous system expert Irene Lyon, talking about how and why highly sensitive people become that way. What that refers to is, people who are particularly sensitive to various stimuli in their environment, as well as the energies and emotional vibes being given off by people around them. As she describes, this can be a blessing or a curse depending on whether or not your nervous system is well regulated. This was relevant to how I, and others, reacted and continue to react to having our cars vandalized. (I highly recommend checking out Irene Lyon's very understandable posts on how our nervous system regulation influences how we live our lives. You can easily find her in an internet search or on YouTube.)
Then, a really wonderful interview with yoga teacher Seane Corn showed up, talking about the bigger picture of how our personal narratives and behaviors influence the collective. She reminded me again that what is happening in the outer world is also a reflection of what is happening in the inner world. While that may seem like a big leap, it really is not.
What happens in life gives us an opportunity to examine the stories we identify with. Related to our nervous system development and regulation, any kinds of events in our past that have overwhelmed our ability to cope become imprinted in us, along with the nervous system and physical response which protected us in some way at the time. Over time, the body contracts and builds an energetic armor and tension which influences our automatic behavioral responses to events in the future.
If we have either unconsciously or consciously learned ways to discharge the stressful energy around an event, we can integrate the experience. If not, that energy remains suppressed in our system and shows up in our reactions to future events. Whatever we learned to do in the past to feel better when stressed or threatened is a reinforced response, even though it may not actually serve us very well in the long run. The body reverts back to what it knows. Our experiences inform our beliefs about life, about other people and our safety in the world.
When we feel victimized by an event like vandalism for example, it creates a sense of separation, an us/them mentality. My automatic response might be to tense up, get angry, demand justice and more security from others. There is nothing 'wrong' with feeling those feelings, but if I remain in that loop of anger and ranting, I continue to trigger old stress responses. On another level, I can choose to look at what stories I tell myself about situations like this and about how my reaction may be related to past experiences of feeling hurt or offended by others or when I felt unsafe. I can actually learn more about myself and the ways that I influence my own sense of internal safety.
For example, my pattern of response in a crisis of any kind, is to initially respond by doing concrete things to 'clean up' whatever mess was created. This gives me a sense of control over my environment and helps me to feel better in the moment. So, I energetically swept up the broken glass in and around the car soon after we learned about it. It is only later that I feel more of an internal emotional agitation. As a result, I may overreact to something seemingly trivial later. So, that's a learning for me.
What both Irene Lyon and Seane Corn are teaching, is the importance of learning about and acknowledging our triggers, how to ground ourselves and manage our feelings, ultimately learning how to better regulate our nervous system so we can respond to situations rather than react. This is not a quick fix scenario, whereby I can just 'get it' at mental level and make a decision not to react. It's a practice over time of learning to pay more attention to my responses and being willing to take responsibility for the work of change.
Both these teachers emphasize the importance of learning through embodied practices, the kinds of activities that help us become better aware of where and how our body contracts and stores stress. Starting with looking at our physical responses can lead us to ways of recognizing the underlying emotions and releasing the contracted and stored energy of old patterns. This can create space for new ideas and ways of responding to situations in the future.
One of the very interesting things I learned from Seane Corn's presentation was, how the sense of agitation I might feel at some level during a yoga class or some other kind of body focused practice, could lead me to some stored underlying emotion which is seeking release. If I'm willing to pay more attention, instead of turning away from it, the body will reveal information to me. That was a fascinating insight for me.
So, once again, the body does not lie. Though there are many times I do not much like how my body is behaving, it has many gifts to share with me. I am a physical, energetic, emotional and spiritual being, all integrated within this body that carries me through life. I'm not just a mind attached to a body. It's good for me to have these reminders of that.
great post and thanks for sharing your personal observations.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jody!
ReplyDelete