Are You Really Stuck or Free? Come Back to Your Body to Find Out
Are You Really Stuck or Free? Come Back to Your Body to Find Out  
Podcast: Talks with Dr Shafer
Published On: Sat May 18 2024
Description: Bringing it Back to Your Body: Heavy or Light, Stiff or Flexible, Stuck or Free Heavy and light, stiff and flexible. We can feel all of these things at different moments. One moment we are nimble and light, and it is as if we could spring from leaf to leaf, climbing higher and higher towards the heavens, no fear of falling, only focused on reaching the warm blue expanse above us. Next, seemingly without reason, we can feel weighed down, tethered to the earth, encircled by stones and shadows, unable to move a millimeter as our limbs feel stuck in the mud, while the wind blows and sand stings our eyes.  What is the overall difference in our mindset when we are experiencing something positive versus something negative? Our minds are hard-wired to focus on the negative to keep us safe. Has that food gone bad? Your mind won't let you forget the pain of food poisoning for a long time, if ever, because it wants you to remember that lesson and avoid such danger in the future. But in many situations, our mind's focus on danger prevention creates fear and avoidance that are harmful, not helpful. While we may rejoice for a moment over a victory such as getting a new job, completing that chore we have been putting off, or starting that new business and getting our first customers, our brain sees little benefit in focusing on these wins long-term. Instead, when we succeed, our mind goes on to the next step. That success felt good. How can we build on it and achieve it again? Our positive experiences lead to the secretion of happy neurochemicals in our brains, and we seek out experiences to get the next positive feedback. Our negative experiences trigger fight-or-flight type nervous system responses, which our bodies then remember to avoid repeat negative experiences. The drive to avoid pain can be all-encompassing and act as a distraction from seeking positive reinforcement. We can only focus on one direction, after all. So if our head is turned, looking over our shoulder at the mistakes and pitfalls of our past, we can't possibly  focus effectively on working towards today's and tomorrow's accomplishments. A way to help us come back into the present moment from our past so that we can determine where we want to direct our energy moving forward from this moment is to focus on how we feel in our body. How does this memory make us feel? Can we process it and release what is no longer serving us? Picking up on a single word such as Stuck, can help us.I feel stuck. What does it feel like in your body to feel stuck? Literally, I feel like I am in molasses. What would it feel like to pull yourself out of that molasses? That would feel... freeing. How would it be to be free?It would be a completely new experience. From the perspective of yourself in this moment, feeling free and new, where do you want to go? We are free. Our circumstances or controlling people or situations may make us feel that we are not, and limiting beliefs in our minds may echo and cage us, but the truth is, it isn't a cage, it is more like a hamster wheel. There is a way out. But you have to choose. You have to stop running the unwinnable race, stop heading in the same direction that isn't taking you anywhere, step off of the wheel, and choose your path. It isn't easy. But it is possible. And that is the power of coming back into your body, into the present moment, and choosing in an embodied state where you want to go from here. Heavy or light, stiff or flexible, stuck or free. You get to choose what you believe you are, and that is what you will be.  We Hope You Enjoy Today’s Episode. Please Like And Subscribe To Get The Next Inspiring, Growth-Focused Episode Of Talks With Dr Shafer Follow And Rate The Podcast To Help Spread Dr Shafer's Message Of Growth, Healing, And Reclaiming Your Story To As Many People As Possible! You can learn more at ⁠www.drshaferstedronova.com⁠ Little House Of Dreams Entertainment, 2024.  All Rights Reserved.  Music Credit: Shafer Yost, Impulse