RickyFitts

I think you're just a very heart-centred person, which is *looks in thesaurus* - no, fuck it, I'm just going to say it - beautiful

What an absolute sweetheart you are, I certainly shall if anything comes to mind!

Good stuff, I think that's a good idea Consistency of practice is obviously very important, you get out of it what you put in. It's the willingness to relax as much as anything, because when certain emotions and sensations do start to arise, your body's liable to instinctively go into resistance - that's just how the majority of us tend to be conditioned to behave, we're basically taught from a young age by the people around us to repress our emotions, and it becomes habitual and unconscious after a while. It's just a question of becoming conscious of that inner resistance, noticing when your body becomes tight and tense and allowing the resistance to release, and then allowing your body to breathe freely.

That's wonderful, glad it's been so beneficial for you

Love your honesty and self-awareness, Esilda, so beautiful (I keep calling everything beautiful just recently, I really must dig out my thesaurus). I love that you share it here, too, makes it easier for me to accept when I feel shame, self-hatred, etc. after I've posted something on this forum and find myself wishing I'd kept my big, dumb mouth closed.

In the immortal words of that great sage Tina Turner, what's love got to do, got to do with it?

@tsuki Agree on all counts - particularly this bit:

'Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you truly love.' - Rumi

Yeah, I can relate too, numbness was something I really struggled with a few years back when I was having a hard time (I think the numbness was a sort of self-protective measure in my case, because I was experiencing so much inner turmoil that my nervous system would become overwhelmed). I had to learn to become much more conscious in my body, to notice exactly what was going on in terms of where I was feeling muscle tension, heaviness, energetic blockages, etc.; breathing meditation was probably most helpful for me personally, I'd just sit down to meditate with the intention of simply allowing my body to breathe, and it would then gradually relax and release what it had been holding on to (which, as it turned out, was a lot!). There does need to be a willingness to allow the arising of whatever had been previously repressed, and that can feel very uncomfortable and painful at times.

@Gianna I like the excerpt I've read so far, it's very well-written and I like that she takes a holistic approach to healing trauma, I think that's absolutely the right way to go about it

Seems a bit alien to me too, and I'm a guy. Though I was never the most well-adjusted guy in the world, to be fair, so I'm probably not best-placed to comment. Just seems empty to me now though, I think I've always wanted something deeper than casual sex (although I could get plenty horny too, I'm not going to pretend otherwise).

Don't be coy, bro, you bring the wine and I'll make us a nice Italian meal (Hope you're in the mood for pizza!)

It was one cool-ass move, that's for sure

@DreamScape BEautifully said (I didn't mean to capitalise the E, but fuck it, I'm keeping it like that.)

@Zigzag Idiot Very interesting, thanks for that!

Trauma is such an important subject, I believe, so thanks very much for the recommendation, @Gianna, I'll definitely check it out

@Gregory1 Ahh okay, I'm with you!

@Nahm Love it

Nope, I still haven't got a clue what this means, even from the context. Even tried googling it an' all, didn't turn up anything.

And then you resist the resistance - that's when it gets really fucking frustrating!

Agree wholeheartedly with everything @taotemu said. Boy, is it hard work, and it can feel seriously dispiriting and endless at times, but you just have to persevere with it and take it one day at a time. This is the stark reality. The price of freedom is a big one, but it's worth it.

Very profound! (But yes, I agree!)

Hehe, sure does

Love this, this is wisdom