Feelings - Part 3

Hey, you.

How are you feeling? 

Really. 

Take a moment to feel about that question. 

Close your eyes if you'd like. Take a soothing breath. And start scanning your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Did you identify areas of tension? Areas of warmth? Weird responses anywhere? Notice them. Connect with them. What feeling is it?

Body scans can become a relatively quick process... but much like all things, they take practice, intentionality, and time to do.

Time.... we have a lot of different pulls and demands on our time. The stress of life keeps us moving, doing, and numbing. To the point where even a quick body scan can seem like something we don't have time to do. 

One possible reason is because if we connect with something that needs our attention, we might not think we have the time or the skills to attune to it. 

So the brain offers a “solution!” We numb ourselves to our feelings or how we're actually experiencing the world. The brain thinks (a little brain pun for you there) that numbing is easier than feeling - because feeling might threaten your safety. So numbing from our feelings becomes a protective response - or so the brain thinks.

A problem with this is when we numb instead of feeling it teaches the brain that feeling is a threat. And since the brain is pattern seeking, the more we numb, the more it reinforces the narrative that it's dangerous, risky, or unsafe to feel.

One of my favorite aspects of therapy is walking alongside individuals as they begin to challenge their thoughts (that they never actually believed anyway). 

For those who have fallen into the "feeling is a threat" narrative, therapy can help you work to challenge that narratives (honoring that it might have once been protective) by starting to pair feeling/healing/processing work with felt safety.

Nothing shuts down a false narrative of the brain like proving it wrong!

If you're noticing you're numbing more than feeling or you're ready to change an old protective skill and introduce more safety while feeling, reach out to a Wild Hope therapist for a consultation to see if therapy feels like a helpful tool on your journey.

Wishing you well,

Jessica