The Irony of Simpler Times
This stage of life of raising a young child can often seem hurried and urgent when supporting someone who relies on you for literally everything. Motherly instincts leave us in fight or flight for much of the time, ready to react in life saving capacity for our child at any moment. But those sensations are not unique to parenthood. If we approach life with a disorganized brain in the first place, daily life can seem really difficult - our brains feeling foggy, cluttered and overwhelmed. Read on for a personal story about my experience in re-training my brain, and for info on an upcoming workshop on the same topic!
I was struck recently by a song that came on in the car while I was driving my toddler in the rain to the grocery store. The song brought waves of memories on me of what my brain was calling ‘the simpler times’. The song came out in 2012, and it was a time when I was hopelessly in love with a young man who made my life exciting, amazing and frustrating all at once. The good memories poured over me, the seemingly carefree time of my mid 20’s where I had little responsibility and the world at my fingertips. But as I thought more about it, the truth was I was at that time tethered to a soul stealing corporate job, my gut health was in the pits, I was anxious, and I felt lonely even though I was surrounded by the most amount of friends in close proximity that I have had in my entire life. For some reason, my initial thoughts upon hearing the song were so positive and happy when in reality at that point in my life I was actually nostalgic for the future me: the one I am right now. Grown up, living and loving my dream job, happily married to a different person than that dream guy of 2012, and absolutely overjoyed in raising my toddler son. Isn’t it funny the irony in always longing for simpler times? Often we are in the simple times when we long for them. I loved that period of my life early 2010’s, when I was searching for my calling and discovering myself. But at that time I wanted the future I have now created for myself. I am in the simpler time now.
It’s easy to get stuck in the difficulty of raising small children while staying dedicated to marriage and running a small business, but this is my dream I was working toward. It’s become much easier to navigate a busy and full life with this kind of outlook as I’ve taken steps to reorganize my brain through movements meant to help my primitive brain develop to its fullest. Steps that will help me stop reacting and approach challenges with more ease. In the past few months I’ve been studying and applying brain reorganization movements and practices and the effect on my daily life has been incredible! I honestly feel like there is more time in the day. I can roll through challenging situations with clarity, now that my brain is freed up from all the clutter it had before I had taken the time to allow it to fully develop. My reactions are more appropriate to the situation at hand and overall I feel more content, calm and clear minded. I wish I could package up what I’ve learned about brain reorganization and give it to my 26 year old self, saving her from the anxiety and turmoil that can come from living with an underdeveloped primitive brain! The truth is we can work on our brains at any age, and I’m so thankful to have found this work!
Our reflex’s are meant to integrate during the 1st year of life, but we can reorganize our brain at any age!
The brain naturally develops but often times things are missed in that critical first year of life, or we can experience things along the way of life that cause brain disorganization. Going back to primal movements can help us to develop the primitive brain that is in charge of automatic functions, making life feel more spacious and easeful. I find it fascinating- we can re-organize our brain through movement! We can go back to the movements of our infancy as well as mimic those movements and situations, essentially teaching our brain to get out of fight or flight and reside in the cortex, the area reserved for higher processing. We can change at any age through neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to rewire connections and learn new things.
I’m not sure how a little song on the radio called me to pull over and let these words about my past overflow out of me and into a google doc to eventually share with you, but they were powerful. The tune of the song sent me back to a memory and brought me a message about staying present and loving my current life that was sent to me from my past self. I know that I wouldn’t have had the brain space to experience this gratitude had I not been actively working to free up my primitive brain and letting my cortex do it’s job via my brain reorganization program. There is no way I would have even taken the time to pull over and explore my thoughts as I hurried from one thing to the next. But like I said, lately I've been gifted more time in my day via my clear mind and I'm enjoying using it!
If you’re interested in learning more about how I’ve been training my brain and reaping the benefits, join me for my 75 minute virtual ‘‘Wake Up Your Brain’ workshop on February 23 at 4:15pm. I'm here to lead you through some of these movements, many of which may be familiar to you and some of which might feel awkward at first! This class will combine Pilates and Yoga Foundations with movements and practices that will allow us to move from fight or flight and into our true selves.
I hope that somehow this message resonates with you today, even if you don't take the workshop. I’d love to hear how this message of nostalgia and gratitude stirs your soul! Write back- I read every response and love to connect with you!
Join me for a 75 minute virtual workshop on
Thursday, February 23th at 4:15pm.
Click below for a Wake Up Your Brain in 20 recap video of the workshop.
