Safety requires opening, a relaxation

If your body has been in a state of self protection for decades, your whole system has learnt to be constantly contracted.

It’s literally physical. It’s in your muscles, fascia, adipose tissue, cells and even your bones.

In this scenario, safety feels scary and unfamiliar.

Safety requires opening, a relaxation.

Relaxation feels like a threat. Opening up feels like danger, because it gives you the felt sense of vulnerability/defencelessness.

That’s why it’s so important to find someone to support you who has done enough inner work themselves, as when your body sense a safe somatic container in them your system can finally stop “holding on so tight”.

And that’s also why titration is extremely important. We should not and cannot force a system to open up too fast.

Your body needs to build somatic trust first, before it can begin to let go of the extreme tension.

In this type of work
🌟 Slow is fast
🌟 Less is more
🌟 Gentleness is everything.