Walking on Ice...

Walking on ice…

I don’t recommend it.

For New Year’s Day, we were invited to go on a walk.?We expected mud.?We expected snow.?We even expected a little ice.

The walk was to be an hour long “hike” on fairly flat ground to a little village that has no vehicle access.?We were then going to have lunch and “hike” back. Easy peasy, right?

Wrong!!!

As soon as we got on the trail, we hit ice.?Not a little ice, a massive, cover the entire trail as far as the eye can see, ice.?Now, at this point, I’m thinking, screw it!?I’m going home!

Wait!

We hadn't take our car. We had ridden with our friends. I didn’t have a car!?Oh no! I was stuck.

Have you ever walked on ice??Your whole body tenses up every time you slip slightly.?So, your whole nervous system goes on high alert and stays there.?

Now here is where I had a choice.?I could bitch and moan the entire time, or I could tell myself to grow up and get going. I chose the latter…not that I had a choice.

We walked, gingerly, for 2 hours.?We found patches of snow to walk through and play in, and a few patches of mud to splash through.?We stopped to enjoy the view here and there.?We talked, we laughed, we skated where possible.?We watched as a man was air lifted out on a helicopter because he had fallen and cracked his head on the ice.?

You know, fun stuff.

When we got to the village, we were exhausted and hungry.?

I’m here to tell you. being hypervigilant takes a toll on the body.?Remember that part about the nervous system on high alert??Ya! Well!

My Whole. Body. Was. Sore.

And I knew that after lunch I was going to have to walk back. Yikes!

Fortunately, it had warmed up during the day such that there were several places that the ice had melted enough that we could genuinely walk.?There were still large icy patches, but not the whole way. (Sigh of relief!)

So, why am I telling you all of this??Because after I got home, I chose to address the nervous system so that it did not remain in the fight/flight/freeze mode.?I knew that if I did not release the energy of the day, it could stay “stuck” in my nervous system for days, weeks, or even longer.

That’s how trauma works.

Now, I realize that for many of you, it is difficult to equate a walk on ice as trauma. However, think about it. My body was constantly ready to react if I slipped.?I had to remain hypervigilant about how and where I placed a foot.?So, from a physical perspective, yes, this is trauma.

I have learned a lot about the body’s response to trauma in the work that I do.?I have also learned a lot about how to address it.?So, when I got home, that is what I did.?I made time to release the energy in the nervous system.

The things is, if I hadn’t released the energy, I know what some of the immediate ramifications would have been, but I really don’t know long term. It might have popped up in dreams.?It may have made me more sensitive and/or scared to walking in potentially icy situations.?Who knows?

Obviously, I am dramatizing a bit.?But hopefully, you get the point.

By doing the work, though, I ended up sleeping well and had no pain the next day, or the day after, or the day after that.?

If you are ready to release some of the energy that has kept you in pain, emotionally and/or physically, let’s talk.?Energy can be moved and released. You can bring in healing, light-based energy to shift your body’s responses to its perceived dangers.

If you are ready to live a life based in light, joy, and love, DM me.?I’m here to help.

EnJoy, Love, and Light,

Rene’