Muscle Memory

I was with a client recently who was just so frustrated with themself. Frustrated because they have been working on responding differently to situations that been a trigger for them in the past. They were beating themselves up, which was not helping them in the least bit. What I offered was to take a breath, slow down and look at the hard work her brain had been doing.

Firstly, this work takes time. Your responses come from a thought about a situation or person. Those thoughts are deeply imbedded in our physical brain. Typically, over years and decades. As you face and change your toxic thoughts and begin to change your response a new pathway is made in your brain. Your mind is literally changing the shape of your brain. Don’t forget, this takes time! I encouraged my client with the fact that they even were aware of the emotion, aware of the choice they were making, even though it wasn’t the response they wanted, was still a huge win! This mental work is much like building physical muscles and going to the gym. Muscle will be torn so it can be rebuilt stronger. The mental muscle will be more resilient and healthier just like our physical muscles. It can be exhausting. We will be tired from doing this work. Give yourself time to rest. Give your brain down time. Know that sometimes it will hurt.  Often well work our muscles till failure, then we rest and start again. With consistency it builds quickly. And each time you come to the bar; you’ll lift heavier things with ease!  So, take it easy on yourself as you journey on this path to healing. Trust the process! And keep building.