The Power Of Getting Back Into The Body

In a world that teaches you to suppress, repress, escape and distract from your emotions...dare to fully FEEL them and unlock the power of the present moment.

I spent so many years of my life running from myself and my emotions.

This manifested into trying to shrink my body and make myself small by restricting foods, overexercising, constantly criticizing every part of myself, and trying to be anyone besides myself. Always berating and covering myself up...my arms were too hairy, my stomach wasn't flat enough, my face was too fat, my arms weren't thin enough...the list went on and on.

What I've now come to realize is that this was stemming from younger parts of me. I have multiple memories from my childhood, such as:

• getting called on in class and not knowing the answer

• having to read in class and fumbling my words

• feeling left out on the playground

• getting called gorilla arms by a boy on the school bus

• getting made fun of for the scars on my legs from itching my mosquito bites

• my crush in grade school choosing another girl over me

• repeatedly getting cheated on by my boyfriend in high school

• receiving a text that if I gained weight, that person wouldn't be my friend anymore

and the list would grow through my childhood and teenage experiences.

I was running from the emotions of not feeling good enough; not feeling like I belonged or fit in; feeling fear of judgment and how I was being perceived; feelings of being too quiet, not knowing enough, feeling stupid.

I was processing all of these feelings in my HEAD, which was keeping me stuck in a loop of the stories that I was telling myself.

But the power to truly HEAL lies in getting back into the body.

• Gaining an awareness of where these beliefs are stemming from

• Identifying the emotion that is arising + where you feel it in the body

• Breathing + Allowing yourself to fully feel the emotion that is coming up

• Expressing + Releasing

As a society we have become so disconnected from our bodies. We are constantly being stimulated and made to be in our logical, analytical, thinking minds.

We have learned unhealthy coping mechanisms that we turn to when uncomfortable emotions in the body arise. Turning to food, alcohol, drugs, social media, porn, sex, gambling, tv, constant busyness...and distracting ourselves from what is actually coming up for us, keeping us STUCK in the same cycles and thought patterns.

Stored trauma, emotions and energy get stuck in the body when we do not express them. It manifests as a tightness in the chest, a weight on the shoulders, a knot in the stomach, a pressure in the head, a soreness of the throat, the grinding of teeth, an ache in the back, a sickness in the body.

We are taught to talk through, rationalize and intellectualize our emotions, rather than fully feeling them. Your conscious mind may have suppressed trauma that happened to you growing up, but your body and nervous system remembers. You cannot talk your way through or out of trauma, it has to be felt and released through the body.

Whenever you are feeling triggered or feeling an intense emotion, it's not coming up from out of nowhere. It is something that happened to you, that was said to you or felt by you growing up, that was never fully processed mind and body. It is that younger part of you that needs to be seen, acknowledged and loved by you.

Your triggers are your greatest teachers. They are showing you where your deepest healing work can be done. When you are triggered, allow yourself to FULLY FEEL what is present for you. It is triggering a younger part of you that needs your attention.

Ask yourself when triggers and emotions arise:

EMOTE

• What emotion am I feeling?

• Where am I feeling it in my body?

• Does it have a shape, a color, a texture?

EMBODY

• BREATHE long deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth to create safety in the body.

• While breathing, lightly tap on the part of you that is feeling tight, or massage the area, or do some shaking.

EXPRESS

• HOLD SPACE for yourself. Set a timer for 60-90 seconds and allow yourself to fully feel what is coming up for you, in whatever way feels good for you.

  • If it's anger or rage, allow yourself to scream into a pillow.

  • If it's sadness or grief, allow yourself to cry.

  • If it's frustration or overwhelm, allow yourself to stomp on the ground.

  • If it's fear, allow yourself to jump around and shake your body.

RELEASE

• Breathe, long deep belly breaths and come back to the present moment.

It only takes 60-90 seconds to fully feel and process an emotion. The more you suppress an emotion, the more it will bottle up and inevitably ‘explode’ in an inappropriate reaction or manifest in some level of anxiety, depression, body pains, sickness, etc.

In order to truly HEAL and BE in the present moment, expression through the body is the most integral step. You must feel and release stuck, stagnant, stored energy that is weighing heavy on you and keeping you stuck.

It's time to stop trying to shrink yourself, making yourself small, pushing your emotions to the side. It is time to get back into the body...FEEL, EXPRESS AND RELEASE so you can avoid turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms and instead step into your fullest authentic expression and live in the present moment.

Allow yourself to fully feel each emotion as it comes up. BE EMBODIED.

EMBODIED is to get back into the body. To breathe, to feel your emotions, to let them flow like water. Let them come up, feel them, then let them go.

If you're curious about learning more about this process, I am currently offering a free 30-minute Inner Child Meditation + Embodiment Practice. I would absolutely love to take you through this...it is the most profound work I have done yet! Learn more about this below.

Sending you love and light,

Holly