You can’t think your way back home
“I’m a talking head, fully disconnected from my body. So I don’t know what I feel.”
That quote came from my own mouth when I started yoga teacher training, which I enrolled in 6 or so years ago, in part to learn how to listen to my body. I had a lifetime of learning to ignore my own body. I’ve had to learn how to shift from the overthinking that guided my decision making to aligned embodied choices.
As I say to my clients, it’s a shift from “what do you need to do?” to “how do you want to feel?"
Making the changes in your life - whether it’s the career part or the personal part - requires a recognition that the inner work involves both the brain and the body, and the understanding that complex issues cannot be solely resolved through intellectual means.
If you’ve spent your life or career in overing mode, like I had, it’s likely you have tuned out your body’s cues to such a degree that you might not even be aware of them. This is why it took a massive physical breakdown for my body to get my attention.
Hacking your calendar, learning how to say no to meetings and how to time block, and the like are important tools when you’re shifting out of overing mode. These are easier changes to make and a good place to start. But logistical changes are often brain bandaids. They are important bandaids, though, because they can create time and space in your day to do the next layer of work: getting back home in your body.
Remember: learning to come back home to your own body can’t be solved by intellect alone.
Some of what I’ve learned in my own reclaiming is that embodiment practices paired with mindfulness practices help to flex the brain’s neuroplasticity and can reduce anxiety and overing patterns. Embodiment work allows you to tap into your innate powers of intuition, creativity, and self-healing, which is why it’s a core element of my upcoming program, Reclaim You. (We'll get started in February. More to come on that.)
Embodiment is about learning to take up the space in this world. Being embodied is how you learn to come back home to yourself. How you reclaim yourself.
Probably feels easier said than done, right?
Especially if you’re feeling particularly burnt out – or burnout’s companion: rust out. Rust out is where your passion, energy, interest, and patience have dried up and gotten a little crusty around the edges.
Sound familiar?
If so, sign up for my free upcoming webinar. (Don’t worry, it’s not until after the December holidays and winter break). On January 19 at 11am MT, we’re going to talk all about rust out, what it means for you and your relationship to work, and learn some solutions and pathways to shifting into a more intentionally aligned and embodied life and work.
