A Lesson from a Falling Cat

Often when we endure long periods of chronic stress, overwhelm, or chronic pain, we become very used to living in a tense body, always braced. Many of us learn to fully tune out our bodies as a means to push through or just survive.

I, myself, tuned out my body for almost 10 years, trying to run from the tension and chronic pain. It wasn't until I started listening to my body that I was able to start hearing what it had been trying to tell me: "I am overstressed."

The tension it was holding and where, the pain, all of it was my body trying to communicate a problem that it was no longer capable of handling on its own. Slowly, I was able to sit with my body, listen to it, and breathe into the tension it was holding to slowly start to release.

So many of us are living in a braced body, not because we want to, but because chronic stress teaches us to hold our breath, ignore pain, and pretend we're fine.

But healing starts when we stop resisting the fall. When we stop trying to hold it all together and let the body speak.

Your body's tension isn't betraying you, it's protecting you. And when you start listening instead of pushing, you'll realize it's been trying to help you all along.

One thing you can try this week

Before you reach for a "tool" or try to "fix" your body, take a five-breath pause. Feel where you're bracing. Breathe into it, let it soften, even just a little. Like a cat in free fall.

I'd love to hear from you. Where in your body have you noticed yourself tensing or bracing lately? Hit reply and let me know.