I'm a Badass with Boundaries! (Part 1)
Say it Again, Only This Time Louder
Hello my Beautiful, Powerful Ladies,
Welcome to part one of our series on Reconnecting to Self and Boundaries. This will be a message of empowerment for all. Lately, I’ve seen women experiencing much loss and heartbreak, leaving us feeling robbed of happiness. This series is about healing wounds and building empowerment through reconnecting to ourselves. In energy healing, patterns emerge to tell us what needs to be repaired. Today, let’s explore how combining somatic experience with building boundaries can help us reclaim our power and bring joy back into our lives.
One of the most remarkable qualities women have is our immense capacity to hold space for those around us. Unfortunately, this often gets misconstrued as an obligation to sacrifice our own needs for the sake of others. This can lead to a belief that we must lose ourselves to maintain harmony or keep others happy. (If you missed last week’s newsletter on limiting beliefs, you can check it out here.)
Many women find boundaries confusing or difficult due to societal and cultural pressures – and though we hold immense space for others, we are often overlooked- leaving us feeling defeated or lost. These feelings can manifest in various ways: people-pleasing, struggling to say no, overextending ourselves, emotional exhaustion, difficulty expressing needs, harboring resentment, lack of personal time, guilt, tolerating disrespect, burnout, feeling used, and the sense that nothing we do is good enough- even when achieving significant goals.
All of these feelings can lead to us storing emotional wounds in our bodies, causing disharmony and even potential illness. Because our culture often overlooks the fact that women hold immense space for others, we can feel taken advantage of. The ability to hold space is a superpower, and most of us lack the knowledge to harness this power. It is something to be celebrated and- dare I say- feared. So let’s own it, loud and proud.
It's time to redefine the narrative!
We will use somatic experience to heal past wounds and reconnect with our present selves. Since these wounds fester in the body rather than the mind, we will need to bring awareness into our physical selves to understand what gives us strength and what drains our energy. When it comes to healing something from the past, analyzing what happened repeatedly will only create negative reinforcement in your brain, trapping you in trauma loops- reliving and re-wounding.
You can officially give yourself a break. Somatic experience is a potent tool for cultivating a resilient and balanced life because it heals our nervous systems. It also allows you to become more familiar with YOU and how things make YOU feel. Somatic experience is powerful for grounding and reconnecting to ourselves, thus reducing the anxiety and fear surrounding previous wounds. It is the best tool for calling ourselves home and creating a real sense of safety in our lives.
Exploring somatic experience with a trained companion can be the most powerful path to healing and reconnecting to yourself. If you’re curious about how this approach can support you, I’m here to chat. Feel free to reach out.
Next week, we’ll explore why boundaries are a force for positivity and how to start crafting them for ourselves. In the meantime, let’s look at a simple, at-home process to release those stored wounds in our bodies and ground ourselves.
Get comfortable in a silent space where you won’t be disturbed. Be still. Breathe and try to quiet your mind. Begin to feel into your body. Notice where you feel any pressure, tightness, pain, tingling, numbness…any feeling under the sun. Allow these feelings to be present without judgment, shame, or blame. Observe your body until these feelings dissipate.
I encourage you to connect with your body every day to anchor yourself and begin to really understand your needs on a deeper level. Numerous resources are available on this empowering topic. If you’re curious, a notable book to get you started is “The Body Keeps the Score,” by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
Stay tuned for part two, where we’ll dive into the power of boundaries and how to establish them for a more empowered life.