RickThrivingNow on Nostr: Complete this sentence with the first memory that comes to mind: "I just can't ...
Complete this sentence with the first memory that comes to mind: "I just can't believe that..."
Guess what. That memory LIKELY is wrapped in shock in your body-mind.
How do know? Because anything where we are saying to ourselves, "I just can't believe" says we're protecting ourselves — from overwhelming pain, terrifying reality, or clarity about a change we need to make.
When we say "I just can't believe it," we're really saying "I refuse to accept this reality." This natural shield protects us from overwhelming truths until we're ready to face them. While this buffer (a type of freeze) serves us initially, true healing only begins when we're ready to gently unwrap the shock and process it. Which needs to happen.
Physical shock caused by loss of blood is life threatening. Immediately! Call 911!
Emotional shock caused by loss of connection to reality and our body is life threatening, too. It just happens over time, experienced as depletion of will to live, chronic anxiety, and chronic disease.
Cathy and I get it. This is hard stuff. The skill of recognizing we've got shock in our system is both essential to healing and super challenging.
Unwinding shock is a natural part of the process, same as healing and stitching a deep wound. Maybe you will need professional support for the Big Stuff.
We can, however, start with "small" shocks. The disorientation we feel when we hear that something happened to people we don't know but it 'kicks us in our empathy' (ouch!).
Or, the dismay when someone we love does something very human but unexpected, where our reaction is "I can't believe that they ____!"
In my own healing journey, I needed to learn how to unwind shocks from my body-mind over smaller betrayals and dismays and repulsive behaviors before I could, well, unwind the deep wounds.
My theory is that when we find ourselves being shocked repeatedly over stuff not directly impacting our survival right now... it can be a "calling out" from deeper wounds to use these shocks to help us build skill, stamina, and resilience. And yes, a circle of support, too.
Example: If I find myself reacting with shock to my kids doing things that virtually all kids do... yeah, it's pointing to a deeper shock draining my capacity to parent with acceptance.
If this sounds useful for you to explore right now, Cathy and I invite you to join us tomorrow. We'll spend 90 minutes (with short break) tending to the skills that help to unwind. And, we'll be 'accepting' together that unwinding shock is something we wish we didn't have to do... like dealing with a cut to help it heal and avoid getting infected. Emotional shocks deserve the same kind of tending.
We hope you'll choose to join us... Everyone gets the recording who signs up.
https://www.thrivingnow.center/t/unwinding-shock/1449
Guess what. That memory LIKELY is wrapped in shock in your body-mind.
How do know? Because anything where we are saying to ourselves, "I just can't believe" says we're protecting ourselves — from overwhelming pain, terrifying reality, or clarity about a change we need to make.
When we say "I just can't believe it," we're really saying "I refuse to accept this reality." This natural shield protects us from overwhelming truths until we're ready to face them. While this buffer (a type of freeze) serves us initially, true healing only begins when we're ready to gently unwrap the shock and process it. Which needs to happen.
Physical shock caused by loss of blood is life threatening. Immediately! Call 911!
Emotional shock caused by loss of connection to reality and our body is life threatening, too. It just happens over time, experienced as depletion of will to live, chronic anxiety, and chronic disease.
Cathy and I get it. This is hard stuff. The skill of recognizing we've got shock in our system is both essential to healing and super challenging.
Unwinding shock is a natural part of the process, same as healing and stitching a deep wound. Maybe you will need professional support for the Big Stuff.
We can, however, start with "small" shocks. The disorientation we feel when we hear that something happened to people we don't know but it 'kicks us in our empathy' (ouch!).
Or, the dismay when someone we love does something very human but unexpected, where our reaction is "I can't believe that they ____!"
In my own healing journey, I needed to learn how to unwind shocks from my body-mind over smaller betrayals and dismays and repulsive behaviors before I could, well, unwind the deep wounds.
My theory is that when we find ourselves being shocked repeatedly over stuff not directly impacting our survival right now... it can be a "calling out" from deeper wounds to use these shocks to help us build skill, stamina, and resilience. And yes, a circle of support, too.
Example: If I find myself reacting with shock to my kids doing things that virtually all kids do... yeah, it's pointing to a deeper shock draining my capacity to parent with acceptance.
If this sounds useful for you to explore right now, Cathy and I invite you to join us tomorrow. We'll spend 90 minutes (with short break) tending to the skills that help to unwind. And, we'll be 'accepting' together that unwinding shock is something we wish we didn't have to do... like dealing with a cut to help it heal and avoid getting infected. Emotional shocks deserve the same kind of tending.
We hope you'll choose to join us... Everyone gets the recording who signs up.
https://www.thrivingnow.center/t/unwinding-shock/1449