Mind & Body
Your body is fast. The mind needs time
When somatic shifts feel revolutionary, it's your mind that can pull you back
When you’re doing somatic work & working with your body, you experience physical changes, feeling unblocked and relief that you probably haven’t experienced ever before.
And this is revolutionary: for your system, for people around you and for your life at large!
That’s why I love doing this work: the body can change fast.
You have control over the state of your nervous system, once you know how to work with it.
Sometimes it just takes 15 mins to intentionally breathe or make some movements to experience a profound shift - both of sensations within your body & your mind’s perspective.
However, it often happens that the mind needs much more time to catch up with these changes. The mind’s role is to keep you in the familiar comfort - so after you experience the shift, your mind may get scared and want to withdraw back to safety.
Switching back to your usual roles - victim, perpetrator, saviour... - is part of a journey when you’re navigating deep transformational waters, as these roles are something the mind’s deeply comfortable with. It’s been living within this reality for years, kept you safe alive by now, for god’s sake! So it doesn’t appreciate any drastic changes.
However “good for you” these changes are, they’re going to be uncomfortable.
So your work is not only to allow the state of your nervous system to change, but also to track where your mind goes through these processes.
I like to think of this process as going over a hill. There’s transformation on the other side of it: you’ll see a beautiful view at the hill’s peak that will inspire you to move forward, show you new horizons and change you forever.
However, you need to push through the initial resistance as you climb up to that peak - and this isn’t always pretty. Many times, it’s sweaty, you keep catching your breath and encounter obstacles on the way.
As you go through this process & push up that transformation hill, just like during an actual hike, you have to just keep walking, going up one step at a time.
You have to keep doing your somatic & nervous system work continuously, as a daily practice, over time - to allow your mind to catch up with the changes and feel safer & safer to accept the fact that the reality it created for you - or your perception of it - may not actually be real.
Guess what, there’s a possibility that things you see around you aren’t actually real?? The chair you’re sitting on now? What you notice when you’re looking out of the window? How deeply uncomfortable can this be?
And yet, this is your mind’s experience when you try anything new.
But in fact, you’re so much bigger than just your mind.
You have your awareness & consciousness, or as some people call it “the higher self” - that which allows you to watch your thoughts, see where your mind goes & allow these thoughts to pass.
So be compassionate to yourself. And keep showing up to do your somatic practice, whatever it is. Trust that, step by step, both your nervous system & your mind will align.
And from this magic point you’ll actually be able to create new reality for yourself.
You’ll see so many more options available to you than before.
And this time, you’ll actually be able to choose differently - and feel good (and not as frightened) about it.
Maybe you’ll feel a little scared (who doesn’t!), but also resolute & grounded in the fact that the change does bring you fresh exciting energy that lands well within your nervous system. And this energy will be a powerful resource for you to create a new, upgraded life for yourself and those you love.
Keep showing up: you’re exactly where you need to be right now*, and it’s all part of the process.
*P.S. I remember how deeply triggering & uncomfortable this phrase was just a few years ago when I started the work - and here I am now, truly backing it up :) If I could do it, you definitely can too! Let me know where you are now on that hill. x
Sasha Lukavchenko
