Body lies vs. body wisdom

Dear One,

Sometimes, your body lies.

Just like your thoughts can tell you stories that are outdated, fabricated, or plain false, so can your body. The mind makes cognitive errors. The body makes somatic errors.

Your body can trip false, erratically-wired alarms of danger, abandonment, rejection, hopelessness, pain, tension, shutdown, collapse, defensiveness, and more. These outdated alarm systems might be based on your very real past that is being superimposed on your present. These vintage alarm systems may no longer be up-to-code with your current capacity, abilities, and objective safety.

I'm not talking about times when your alarms are going off appropriately and responding effectively to current threat. I'm talking about the mis-firing of alarm bells in the body, out of proportion with the "here and now".

Some examples might be:

One wrong look from someone whose opinion matters to you, and your heart is off to the races.

A certain punctuation sequence in a text message, and the anxiety switch flips to set off a vibrating current under your skin.

A verbal interpersonal boundary encroachment, and your body shuts down without access to words.

But how to tell the difference between the body alarm mis-firing, and the body being ... right?

Just like your thoughts need practice to be able to differentiate between triggered thoughts and wise-mind thoughts, your body needs practice to differentiate between triggered sensations and wisdom in the body.

In fact, your trigger sensations are likely based in wisdom from the past. There's just new body wisdom, based in the present, that needs development.

If the yoga mat is where you hone, strengthen, and develop your body wisdom, join me. And if there are other spaces where you can practice differentiating between past versus current body wisdom, I hope this serves as a reminder to practice.

Re-training my own body alarm systems alongside you,

~Alex

PS: If you do the Instagram thing, let's connect at @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister. And ... I always love hearing how these newsletters land with you. Send me a note if you're so inspired!