I Didn’t Expect This To Happen When I Got Quiet

When you stop overriding and pushing through what your body's feeling, you'll find some insightful and possibly surprising answers in those quiet moments. Sometimes the craziest things happen when you prioritize more space in your life and connection with your body. In the early parts of this year, I had been feeling very frustrated with a lot of things, mostly things in the world, but a few things in my life. And I didn't feel like I was getting any traction, and I was angry and wanted to rage about it. At the time, the ground was thawing, and it was the perfect opportunity to pull up the invasive species by the root. There are a lot of honeysuckled plants on the property, and they had gotten out of hand. So I took my rage out on those plants. I grabbed them as close to the ground as possible and pulled. The bigger the plant, the more satisfying it was to rip it out of the ground. But at that moment in time, it had taken me several days to understand how much that act of destruction was the full body release that I was needing to deal with my frustrations. Hi, I'm Super Kate. Welcome to Connecting with Superkate for women who are tired of being tired and are ready for some change. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I was feeling frustrated again. But this time it wasn't around anger and destruction the same way it was at the beginning of the year. This was coming out in feeling a need to hide and run away. I had a deep knowing that I wanted my arms to be pumping. I wanted sweat running down my body, and I wanted to push past the fear and uncertainty by feeling the strength in my legs. I don't recall having a feeling like this before. I can remember wanting to hide from everything, but not this visceral pushing through and pushing past. I tuned out as much noise as I could in my life. I started asking myself different questions around these feelings, questions I use with my clients. I paid attention to the mental and physical answers I was getting. But the feeling kept coming back to my heart pumping in a way that it hasn't in 30 plus years. Was this inspired by some of the zombie shows I've been watching? Or because how impressed I am with my teenage relative's current passion? I don't know. But what I do know is that despite doing track and basketball and volleyball for years, I never wanted to run. I complained about it in practice. Later in life, I rolled my eyes at anyone who talked about enjoying it. I made excuses that my body isn't built for running or that it was too hard on my knees. But I found myself listening in, getting quiet, and trusting the cues my body was giving me. And what did it say? It's time to run. When I tell you that many things in my life right now are in complete opposition to beliefs I had in my life previously, it's quite laughable. But that's a story for another time. So here I was, left with the realization that my body wanted to run. I knew I didn't have the shoes for it, so I proceeded to purchase a pair that met the requirements I had. And the day came when I stepped outside and I decided to start with a walk. If I was 30 years younger, I would have started with the run. But I know my body and I know what I have not been keeping up with. I know that jumping into a run at this point would mean more in injury than I'd like to think about. So I started walking. I didn't keep track of my steps. I didn't have my headphones on. I just focused on how my feet connected to the ground, how my hips were feeling, and paying attention to what cues my body was giving me. After about 10 minutes, I decided to test out this feeling. I set a goal for how far I would jog, which was not far, and then I did it. And then I started walking again for a few more minutes. And then I did another short jog again. I felt like I could do more, but I wanted to focus on how many days in a row I could keep this up, not how amazing I could do in just one day. Afterwards, I did a bunch of stretches and a little bit of strength training because of what I know about physical fitness. I, you know, all those things that would alleviate some of the potential pain the next day. But I didn't have any the next day. So I decided to do it again. This time I ran about three times as far as I had the first day. And again, I felt that urge to go faster and to go farther. But I want to enjoy this process. I'm learning a new skill and exploring a new form of movement for me. So much of my previous life would tell me to go all in. It would tell me to push through to achieve the goal. But what my body and my mind know now is sometimes the immediate feedback isn't the reward I'm looking for. I share this story with you today because prioritizing space and quiet in your life is incredibly important to your daily focus, your relationships, and how well you sleep at night. And sometimes that space opens the door to something you would never have considered before, or perhaps actively railed against. But that space is a moment where you can get curious and challenge your beliefs. It's a space that you get to know yourself a little better instead of letting the world decide who you are. This is the work I do with my clients, creating enough space to hear what's actually there and then figuring out what to do with it. And this is your reminder to start taking some of that space for yourself. It can start with the simple act of going to the bathroom without your phone, taking a few minutes while you eat your breakfast to stare out a window. Or perhaps you go for that walk that may eventually turn into a run. And in those moments, notice how your body is feeling. Notice where your breath is landing in your body. Notice how much you want to be thinking about other things. And gently call yourself back to being present in the moment. However, your body is feeling is simply information. How your mind is reacting is information. These are tools that can improve your life, even though they seem incredibly simple right now. So let me ask you, right now, how do your feet feel on the floor? Where is your breath right now? Are you inhaling into your shoulders or your ribs or your belly? And can you be present in this noticing? If this moment, this noticing, is something you want more of in your daily life and you want support building it, book a sales call with me to see if I'm the right coach for you. The link is in the show notes. I want to thank you for being here for this episode. If you enjoyed it, it would be amazing if you shared it with someone who needs this connection, or share it on socials and tag me. You can also head to my website and explore the other ways we can work together. And as always, I am grateful to connect with you.