Resistance is a powerful force that has a way of convincing us that acceptance is impossible and surrender means we’re just quitting.
For over four years, I’ve taught tens of thousands of people about their nervous systems. I am one of the “Nervous System OGs” — I talked and taught about trauma awareness and healing at the intersection of the nervous system and consciousness before “nervous system healing” was trendy.
However, I observe and feel that there is a gaping hole in the healing space…
At one point in “the healing journey,” do we move out of the doing and into the space of BEING with whatever is happening, accepting what is, and surrendering to the flow?
Yeah, I’m serious about…
NOT consuming more info…
NOT striving to learn more nervous system tools…
NOT exhausting ourselves trying to control and change situations, circumstances, and people into something different…
And INSTEAD…
Pausing, taking a breath, and acknowledging, “This is what’s happening. Whether I like it or not, this is what is.”
Instead of skipping over what’s happening to try to fix it or make it different than what it is, have you paused to honor what is actually present?
I think we’re so quick to be faced with discomfort, difficulty, sadness, frustration, hopelessness, whatever it is, and immediately think, “What can I do about it?! I have to do something about it!”
And maybe you do have to do something about it. You’re not totally without choice, agency, and the ability to affect change in your life.
What would it feel like to slow down and accept what is?
What could it feel like to embody Acceptance and Surrender?
What would or could be different about your life, relationships, and even your relationship with yourself if the all-consuming fires of controlling and fixing that which is out of your control were put out with the cool waters of deep acceptance and surrender?
What if all there is to do is grieve that it’s happening and it’s really sad and hard and you wish you could change it even if you can’t?
In our doing, in our inability to be present with and accepting of what’s happening, in our rushing to do something about it, we bypass our very real feelings and our very sacred bodies.
Of course, we can’t surrender! Once we’re in the energy of compulsively fixing and doing something about it, we can’t surrender. The ego is attached to making the outcome different, to fixing and changing that which may very well be beyond our control.
This, then, cements certain stories we have that keep us in victimhood, stuck in powerlessness and desperation, exhausting our resources, and living out of Authenticity.
We need to share our experiences about this. Everyone goes through this. We don’t talk about it enough.
Resistance is a powerful force that has a way of convincing us that acceptance is impossible and surrender means we’re just quitting.
THIS IS WHAT’S HAPPENING
Join me every Wednesday in July 2024 at 1 PM US/Central for a new offering called This Is What’s Happening.
🌀 community discussion about our resistance to acceptance and surrender
🌀 challenge the stories we have that surrender = giving up = weakness.
🌀 curious space-holding for folks to explore presence with resistance
🌀 coaching that lovingly calls out limiting beliefs and ego stories that keep us from embodying acceptance and surrender
THIS IS WHAT’S HAPPENING consists of…
- five 90-minute group calls each Wednesday in July (7/3, 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31) at 1 PM US/Central
- lifetime access to all recorded calls
- a group Voxer channel for sharing, support, and community-building
Week 1: Bring your situation/circumstance/worry to this call, and Lindsey will hold space for you and curiously explore with you any resistance you have about accepting what’s happening, including your vulnerable fears. You will be held in safety as you have the embodied and somatic experience of staying consciously present instead of bypassing your feelings and body by jumping into controlling, fixing, resisting, and more.
Week 2: Let’s go deeper into resistance! Lindsey will guide and facilitate the curious exploration of resistance, where we feel it in our bodies, and meet it openly and without judgment. We will also discuss different types of resistance, the wisdom of resistance, and why we aren’t always required to “push through” resistance.
Week 3: We will explore the concept of surrender, including your stories about surrender and that it means you’re weak, passive, quitting, etc. Lindsey will hold space and gently challenge whatever is keeping you from acceptance and surrender — always trusting YOU to do whatever you feel is authentically best for you.
Week 4: We will have an open discussion about personal sovereignty and authenticity because — not shocking — sometimes, our inability to accept and surrender is pointing to where we are still trying to please and appease others and aren’t embodying our authenticity and sovereignty. Total sovereignty is honored here, including your sovereignty to continue to choose to fight whatever is happening, resist surrender, and keep suffering.
Week 5: On our final call, we will wrap up by answering any additional questions you have about acceptance and surrender, resistance, authenticity, and personal sovereignty.