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Hi! I'm Cami

Overwhelm - There's just too much.....

Published 11 months ago • 3 min read

Do you find yourself going to overwhelm and thinking there's just too much?

Do you get flooded with all the thoughts in your brain that seem to be too much and come too fast?

Does the emotion seem to come too fast and so you shut down?

Or do you skip the emotion all together and just go straight to a shut down, numbed out feeling in your body?

Maybe this is because you can't even explain all the "too much", you just know there is....

This too much, to quickly, overwhelm from either our thoughts, emotions or both can cause us to go into the dorsal state of our survival system.

The survival part of our dorsal state is the freeze or shut down phase and then we do all sorts of things (eating, social media, netflix, shopping.....) to either numb it all away, ignore it or pretend it's not happening.

We do these coping strategies because we want to be distracted from our present experience or to feel alive again. They provide us some form of energy or dopamine rush that wakes us up, distracts us or a little of both.

The thing is, because these coping things we turn to are sources outside of us.....

The energy we get from them is not sustaining energy that offers lasting regulation (meaning energy that gets our body and nervous system out of a freeze state and back into healthy movement).

We are still in the freeze state and it is masked with this energy from outside of us that gives us something to focus on other than being present and sitting with the numb, frozen, not in our body experience.

We don't have to let these cycles continue.

We can offer ourselves energy from within us that actually helps our nervous system move out of freeze, to sympathetic (movement) and into ventral (connection with ourselves and others). Once we start some movement within us, we have access to the capacity (also within us) to sit with ourselves and be able to move in and out of a feeling or sensation with choice and intentionality.

Last week I offered the tool of "Touch A Dorsal Moment" to help us get back to mobility in our bodies. And if you are just joining my newsletter, you can find that Here @ April Showers...or Snowstorms...Bring May Flowers.

Today, I'm sharing "Coming Back to Life".

Isn't that a cool title for a tool. I didn't come up with it, I got it from Deb Dana. And I love it. Coming back to life is how I've felt so many times along my healing journey. I didn't know how much I had numbed and disassociated from myself until I started come back to my body and my life.

"Coming Back to Life"

This is how it works.....in 4 steps:

First, start by imagining a small movement. What feels doable to you in the moment?

I like to start with my hands or feet. It's helpful to imagine movement from inside my hands or feet first and before I move them....

The Second step is to just sit with the energy that starts to build. It builds as I imagine all the muscles, ligaments and blood that will be in use when I start to move them. And remember to breathe. I often need the reminder at this point to take an inhale.

All of this helps your system come back to life with intentionality, awareness and self love.

Third step, start slowly moving. I like to start slowly wiggling my fingers or toes. And I pay attention to how that feels from the inside out or if that's hard to focus on, I like to look at them and go from the outside in. I also notice the energy. I am letting all that energy that was built up before I moved, facilitate the movement of my fingers or toes now.

What small movement speaks to you?

The Fourth and final step is to let the movement get as big as you are ready for. Maybe you start rolling your wrists or reaching your arms over your head. Maybe you start lifting your feet up off the floor are start walking. Continue to track the energy you are creating as you increase your range of motion.

What does it feel like for you to use your own energy to come back to life?

The goal is to start small and then build on that, knowing that we move out of dorsal and find our way back to ourselves by moving slowly and consistently.

When you want to rush, can you ask why and see what it looks like to slow down.

We can be patient and persistent in our efforts to come out of freeze.

Remember, ❤️

You Matter. Your Healing Matters. You Are Worth It!

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P.S. My $99 Embodiment Session are Available Now!

In the 55 minutes we have together, I will offer you exercises and tools to connect to your body. We will coach on anything that comes up in your mind and body.

So, If you want to try some embodiment tools or just need some self care, check out my availability Here.

If you are one of my current clients and want to do a 55 minute Embodiment Session, let me know and I'll give you the code to get on my calendar for free.

If you are a past client, you can get a $25 discount. Just send me an email and I'll give you the code.

Photos by Dev Asangbam on Unsplash & Troy wade on Unsplash

Hi! I'm Cami

I am a Trauma Informed Embodiment Coach. Healing is possible for women who have trauma. Big T, Little T, Complex, Sexual, Religious, any form of trauma. Check out my content and ways we can work together.

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