CONNECT:

Coaching and bodywork for folks that give so much they often forget to give to themselves. I'm here to remind you that you do your best work, love most fully, and support others to the fullest, when you have support first. Giving yourself the gift of self-care is truly the most loving thing you can do for the world. Crazy, right? It took me awhile to learn this lesson but yowzers, let me tell you, my life completely shifted when I implemented this simple truth; you cannot pour from an empty cup. Cliche, yes, but cliches exist because they are so clearly accurate.

meet amy

2/21/2025

Getting Unstuck

Are you feeling stuck? In a rut? Does life feel dull and repetitive? Are you angry? Frustrated? Numb?

The quicksand feeling of “stuckness” is a totally normal human experience…probably even more common now as the pandemic robs us of many of the things that bring us joy and threatens our safety in a very real way.

We’re socially trained to look externally for the solution…”If I just make more money, get a new car, switch careers, move, everything will be better”. Lately, I’ve thought, “when there’s a vaccine” and “if only I had an RV” more times then I can count.

Here’s the reality, those “ifs” and “whens” rob you of power. Yes, there is much that is beyond our control. Yes, these are scary and unprecedented times. Yes, that feels like shit.

But guess what? It feels like shit because your focus is on what is out of your control and that will make anyone feel terrible.

You do have the tools to feel better and as you shake off what you can, you take your power back. As you take your power back, you have the energy to build the life you want both individually and collectively.

Getting unstuck is an inside job.

Your state of being is an ongoing cycle of feelings and thoughts amplifying each other.

You cannot THINK your way out of feeling stuck. Rather, you have to FEEL your way out of the “stuckness”.

It’s even in our language: “Shake it off”, “Move through it”, “Wash that man right outta my hair”….To get unstuck we must engage the body.

And there’s some real science as to why…

The vagus nerve is something of a superhighway connecting your body to your brain. It’s been established that only 20% of the information exchanged comes from your brain down, the great majority of the information (80%) is sent from the body to the brain.

Our bodies are essentially running the show but very few of us are listening. We are carrying the issues in our tissues and staying stuck in these stress cycles. We tend to focus on changing only our thoughts but since the body is controlling the “superhighway” of information and the body is where our emotions originate, they will override our thoughts every time until we get the body on board.

The good news is the body is always ready to help.

Slow down. Breathe. Feel. Think about where in your life you feel stuck and notice where that shows up in your body. Let your body tell you it’s story.

Then ask yourself how you want to feel. Imagine it. Embody it. Really creatively feel into that desired feeling. If you’re seeking joy, when was the last time you felt joy? What were you doing? How can you create that feeling in your body?

When I’m stuck in a self-defeating cycle, my body is tense and unmotivated. I start to feel small, and dis-empowered, like life is happening to me while I watch. I’ve learned to recognize these signs and interrupt them. I know that means I need to MOVE to move past it.

I want to feel like this….open, receptive, expansive, uninhibited, free.

I can’t just tell myself to feel free. I can recite mantras for days but I will keep swirling until I bring the way I want to feel into my body.

The quickest way for me to feel that freedom and get engaged with my life again is to turn on some music I love and just dance it out. My body shakes off the stuck and the yuck with each groove and my spirit gets a little bit lighter with each note.

Does this solve the problems of the world? No.

What it does is turn the tide of my experience so I can creatively engage in my life again and remember who the fuck I am. I am a passionate person who cares deeply about the world and when I show up for my life, I make real change in the world in a 1000 small ways. That is inspiring to me and keeps me on track until it doesn’t and then I go about the work of freeing myself again.

What does your body want? How do you want to feel? I invite you to approach this as a playful experiment.

And please remember, don’t judge yourself for being stuck. It’s a part of being human. We are conditioned to live in our brains and it’s crazy confusing up there.

Our bodies are much more straightforward.

Our bodies are great communicators.

Play around with listening. I bet it’ll help you get unstuck.