Feeling stuck or overwhelmed? Meditation wont help.

Counter to what I used to believe (as a former full time meditation teacher)—meditation wont help when we feel overwhelmed, caught between two decisions or like we can’t win. ⁣

These experiences let us know that the nervous system is in a state of freeze. ⁣

Freeze states do not thaw through more stillness. This means, they’re not experiences we can meditate our way out of. ⁣

I learnt this through my own personal experience. Unknowingly, I tried to meditate my way out of chronic freeze, further disconnecting me from the message my body was communicating. ⁣

At the time I was a meditation teacher & had devoted many years of my life to the practice, including attending a 3-month, 1,000 hour intensive meditation teacher training in India. ⁣

I was also feeling completely stuck in a situation I felt I’d tried everything to resolve. ⁣

My body was telling me one thing, but it felt impossible to follow. I was stuck in a double-bind. ⁣

So I meditated. ⁣

And I meditated some more. ⁣

Still operating under the belief that meditation is beneficial at all times (with a couple of exceptions), I didn’t consider that meditation might be exacerbating my stuckness. ⁣

What I know now, as a coach trained in advanced somatics, is that a nervous system in freeze needs something entirely different to meditation or stillness.  ⁣

This 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 mean that meditation isn’t a profound & powerful tool. ⁣

For some, daily meditation is incredibly supportive. ⁣

But it’s not for all people, at all times, in all nervous system states. ⁣

What I continue to learn through somatics - both with my clients & as a client myself - is that we can trust our bodies. ⁣

No matter how stressed or disconnected from ourselves we’ve become, we can always find our way back to connection with ourselves and our bodies. ⁣

To trust in what’s right for us, what decision to make & what direction to move in. ⁣

Somatics goes beyond prescriptive practices & teaches us how to attune to ourselves, our bodies & our instincts. ⁣

Our bodies never give up on us & will continue to communicate with us until we access the support we need to remember how to listen. ⁣

Love,
Caroline

Image credit: Pinterest