Life Moves Toward Life
When I talk about my experience of chronic illness, sometimes people look exasperated and say, “You’re so brave, I don’t know how you keep going.” I appreciate this attempt to say, “I see that what you’re going through is really hard.” And I also feel confused - am I brave or am I trying to live my life? I’m not sure there’s any other option.
I can lie on the floor and say, “I give up” (I’ve done this!), but then the dog barks for dinner and someone calls me to say hello, so I resume my usual activities.
The difficulty of keeping on has been especially poignant in the last several months because I’ve been diagnosed with new illnesses (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue, Dysautonomia, POTS), some of these likely offshoots of Long Covid. I’m sharing the names of the diagnoses because in addition to navigating this myself, I’m working to expand my knowledge so that I can be a professional Somatic Coaching resource for others and so you know that you’re not alone.
Intensified symptoms require me to do less and spend more time in low lighting, quiet, stillness, solitude, and sleep. Lately I wake up each day to a simpler and sometimes difficult human experience. Is it brave to keep going? Or is this that ineffable human drive to keep moving toward life no matter what's happening?
My teacher Richard Strozzi-Heckler says,
“Life moves towards life…When we allow ourselves to be touched by the rhythm of life, by sensations, streamings, waves of excitation, and fields of energy, we grasp the possibility of becoming self-healing, self-educating, and self-generating.”
A promise of somatic practice is that when I connect with my Soma, or my whole body and being, I am connecting to the flow of life energy, which is where my resilience lives. I am still miserable in the midst of symptoms for sure, but more of the time I also experience joy, laughter, awe, and sweetness. My life moves toward life and that allows me to keep going.
Here are my upcoming offerings:
Somatic Transformation Group for People With Chronic Illness and/or Pain
Thursdays, Jan 23- Mar 27, 2025, 5-6:30pm PT on Zoom
Weekly 10 session group covers topics including our relationship with the body, moving from isolation to connection, finding aliveness in midst of illness, grief and despair, resilience, and compassion.
Nervous System Regulation for Healing: A Somatic Practice Group
Wednesdays, Feb 5 - Mar 26, 2025, 5:30-7pm PT on Zoom
Weekly 8 session group covers topics including building awareness of Fight/Flight/Freeze/Appease/Dissociate states, practices for regulating your nervous system, building safety and connection in the body, co-regulation, resilience, etc
To sign up or get more information about my groups or coaching, book a free consult with me today.
