STOP & LISTEN

I hit a wall, but really, I felt like I’d been hit by a Mack truck. It was summer & I was supposed to be out living. I had plans for camping, hiking, kayaking, lounging lakeside, and dancing under the stars…and even more importantly, sharing my growing holistic health practice with the many people who are need of healing hands in Sonoma County. I felt like this was where my heart was at and what I should be doing, but unbeknownst to me, my body had other plans.  

I had been in no car accident. I didn’t trip and fall or get hurt in a gator wrestling mishap. Yet, suddenly, I was in excruciating, debilitating pain. I had, however, been under a fair amount of emotional stress, which precipitated my pain. It was all consuming. It was my body saying: STOP.  LISTEN.  What I heard it say is: you don’t have to carry such a heavy load. What I heard it say is: you are busy taking care of everybody else, and now it is time to take care of yourself. 

What was remarkable to me is that the set-up for this breakdown of my body was all there, bubbling just under the surface, but I was too busy trying to “do it all” to notice. Playing the many roles in our lives, trying to keep all the plates spinning, wearing the many hats of our identities—we all experience overload at times. When we do, that which is bubbling just under the surface rears its head. That can look like many things—from emotional outburst and mental breakdown to illness or physical pain. 

Hitting a wall is hard to do. We have expectations and obligations, and no one wants to disappoint. But please remember this: your first obligation is to yourself. So BE KIND…TO YOU. We are all human with our frailties and strengths. Maybe we don’t have to have it all together all of the time. The world won’t explode if we show a few cracks in our façade. We can be vulnerable, and still be amazing and strong. That vulnerability needs to be addressed, and not suppressed.

It took me some time. I rested, a lot. I did a lot of soul searching. I went toward my pain instead of running away from it. I enlisted in the help of several angelic and amazing wellness practitioners. Eventually my pain subsided. I lost some things, wages, and definitely my cool. I gained insight and a better way to relate to myself and move through the world. I got back to doing things for other people, and the things that I love.

When you reach overwhelm, STOP and LISTEN. What is it your body has to say to you? What is your path back to harmony?

Cultivating dynamic stillness and profound awareness,

Alicia Berg, CranioSacral Therapist and Visceral Manipulation Specialist