Stretched More Than I Could Imagine

It was 3:30 a.m. on a rainy morning. The cameras captured what we would later learn was a home invasion. We woke up to the eerie feeling that a stranger had been inside our home, our safe place, our sacred space. He had come in without permission but with confidence and began to take what was not his. As fast as he came in, he left, and other than leaving a trail of untidiness and disorder, no one saw him, as we were all thankfully sleeping.

My idea of safety has been seriously compromised in the last few months. The LA fires and a home invasion, which thankfully was not worse, have made me question who I am and how I think of safety and feeling safe. They have also made me question whether I have the right tools to keep myself and my family safe. 

How much of my safety is dependent on others?

How much of my safety is compromised by my fears? 

How much of my safety is external? 

As you can imagine, these moments of extreme distress have stretched me farther than I thought possible!  I felt stretched to the brink of snapping, stretched into discomfort, fear, and hopelessness. Inviting deep TRUST was the only way for me to contract back into shape. Trust is an anchor to regroup, express myself, and find solutions without blame or ego. Trust that guides me to feel and be silent as things fall into place and chaos subsides. 

Feeling the Stretch solidified my resilience but also invited the unknown. As I visualize my stretching, I never considered breaking, but I wondered what it would look like when the rubber band contracts. What is behind the experience of feeling my edges and my vulnerability? It is a realization that a new shape is forming. It is a new embodied, somatic shape that needs to emerge. That is when trust guides me and holds me through the re-shaping that needs to happen as the lessons land and unfold into new belief systems and new embodied resilience. 

When we are meant to outgrow our old shape (belief systems, habits, conditioned tendencies), it is not easy. We are being called to be uncomfortable and feel whatever needs to emerge. By welcoming the feelings that have been suppressed and understanding the beliefs that have defined us up until now, we can ease into embodying a new version of ourselves, a more resilient one that better fits the person we want to be now. We welcome a new, imperfect version of ourselves into what is present and hope we will like it. 

TAKE ACTION: How have you been stretched lately? It may not be through extreme circumstances but rather a challenge or a crossroads that is calling for you to redefine yourself. If you are curious about what to do when stretched by life’s challenges, contact Maria to learn how to trust the process and embody the new somatic shape that is asking to come forth.