I was listening to a podcast the other day. Business related stuff. This guy was telling his story as a 20-something who dramatically and quickly changed his career from a corporate gig to a successful copywriting entrepreneur. Although it was inspiring (those entrepreneurial wins land well in my mind) that wasn’t what grabbed my attention the most.
The backstory started in the office of his seemingly cush corporate gig. He was landing high-end deals, climbing the ranks and making bank at a pretty young age. He played the game well and had quick success right out of the gate. But he was working for the man and his world –his inner world– was telling him he was cut out for something different.
He recounted the story in such a way that made it easy to tell his body was trying to get his attention. He went on to say he wanted to bang his head into the brick wall of this posh corporate office just so he could feel something.
He was numb.
Have you ever wanted to so desperately feel SOMETHING?
Somewhere buried in grave numbness lives a gnawing. A part of you that is clamoring for recognition and expression.
Something inside of you is so unaccessible the only perceived way to access it -whatever it is- is through intense forced sensation.
When the body or mind is numb, the level of intensity that is required in order to feel can spiral into dysfunction if it’s reached through aggressive behaviors or self-infliction.
In an attempt to forage though the void of numbness in hopes of finding sensational sustenance can lead to a vicious cycle when the desire to feel something that satiates your soul is not met.
Of course being numb can happen at varying degrees. But it is worth the effort to at least be curious about how numbness may be affecting you.
Think this could be you? In relation to Myofascial Release, Myofascial self-care and bodywork consider this:
- Do you prefer all elbows all the time because no pressure is deep enough?
- Maybe your mind is easily distracted because the sensation doesn’t grab or sustain your attention?
- Does your Myofascial self-care arsenal of tools consist of hard, heavy, spiky, sharp and aggressive objects?
- Is it true that you need to feel beat-up in order to be woken up?
Well, my friend, heads up because that’s a red flag from numb nation.
Whether it’s a physical or emotional numbness, you may begin working with it simply by posing some questions to yourself and really taking an honest listen.
- Start by being curious about what lives before force?
- What’s being held in those places that have been cut off from sensation?
- Are there messages from the body that can be heard with lighter pressure?
- Body-wisdom resides in the tissues that don’t offer feeling, how may you notice it?
Working through numb takes curiosity, sensitive awareness, patience and a willingness to feel sensations you need to work to find.
Back in our earlier MFR days a good friend of mine had said, “I never knew there was so much hiding beneath ‘nothing’.”
The fascial system is an amazing asset to be in cahoots with. To better know its language is to better know yourself.
~Renie
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