How to Free Yourself From The Inside Out
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Break Free From The Inside Out
Take a minute and think about this…does your body feel light and free, or do you feel tense like a diamond under pressure?
Notice your breathing. Is it shallow? Are your shoulders tight or do you have gut issues?
Many of us go through our walking days all wadded up like a piece of paper, fully crinkled and tense. Our bodies become rigid like stone. Our minds…cloudy. Essentially, many of us have become trapped within ourselves. We have forgotten simply how to be human.
We have lost touch with what feeling relaxed feels like (and no, I’m not talking about sitting in front of the television watching reality TV for hours on end or the latest sports game). I’m talking about real relaxation, the kind you feel on a deeply physical and emotional level.
We have also lost touch with what it feels like to buzz with pure silence. Instead, we have become addicted to outside stimulation such as music, television, sex, alcohol, compulsions to overwork, to overplay, or simply avoid being truly…alone (gasp!). But most of all, many of us have avoided the things we do not want to feel (yucky things called, emotions).
Day in and day out, we cake on another layer of muck called anxiety and stress, and we retreat more inward and out of touch with our true selves. We swim in a vast sea of stimulation around us in our daily lives that is full of demands from work, from other people, from health issues, to even finding what really makes us happy and content. All of these layers simply build and build until we become “numb” to ourselves, to our feelings, to our own core being.
So how do we start to break off all these ugly layers of muck that have weighed us down emotionally and physically?
First, I believe, we have to start with what is inside us, not outside. Why? Because we can control ourselves more than we can control the life that happens around us.
Secondly, if we start with what is inside us first, and find peace and balance, I believe our outside world will resonate with that and fall into peaceful accordance.
Here are some practical ways that you can start to free yourself…from the inside, out.
1. Be Still
When was the last time you actually sat still, became fully present, and did NOTHING. I’m betting it has been a long time. In life, we are so busy with thinking about the past, what we did wrong, what we miss, and then we skip the present and jump right ahead into the future and bathe ourselves in fear. But what about THIS moment?
In order to to start to free yourself of the layers of muck (in this case, mental stress and worry)…first you have to get still, and be in this moment. Bring yourself back to center. Life (inside your mind and outside in life) can be like a battle or a war. Everyday you fight, and you try to get ahead, but for what purpose?
Maybe the way to win that battle is to simply step out of it. And maybe you need to do this daily by doing meditation, diaphragmatic breathing, or simply practicing what I call, mindfulness “mini-retreats” during the day. This means, you take time to each day to quiet your mind, which will calm your body, and bring about awareness in what you are doing in the here and now. When you do this, the layers of stress and tension will slowly start to decrease. This new found peace will accumulate and spill over into your daily life…and you will start to feel free.
2. Move Around
To shake those cobwebs loose and break the layers of internal stress, you need to begin adding movement to your life…like exercise. There is absolutely nothing like a good workout that consists of getting your heart rate up, and the sweat to pour out of you. I can attest to this myself as I am an avid jogger and there really isn’t anything that beats it for purification of mind and body (Ok, meditation is right up there too!).
Start making time to move around more. Daily if possible.
You don’t have to run a marathon, simply do things you enjoy. Go for long walks, shoot some baskets, swim at the local pool, try yoga, or add movement to your daily routine like parking further from the store, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc. There are tons of way to get yourself moving more. But I highly, highly recommend you do some core workouts a few times a week where you actually sweat and breathe deep. You will be amazed at how you will feel, and how freeing it can be.
“Feel Great, Meditate. Feel Down, Move Around.” -Your New Life Mantra-
3. “Shake Out” Trauma
This will just blow your mind. It is something I have been applying for the last several weeks and it is really bizarre. When we face trauma in our life, our body naturally wants to tremor and “shake out” the trauma. You may have encountered this when you were very scared as a child, or after you have had an accident, you find yourself simply shaking. Even animals will naturally “tremor” to release this energy from their bodies. Polar bears have done it, and so have birds and other animals. Humans do the same thing, but we tend to hold the energy in our bodies where it gets stored and we become tense, leading to all kinds of health and emotional issues.
The trick is learning how to trigger these tremors so we can “thaw out” our body and release the pent up trauma and energy stored within us.
Dr. David Berceli, after spending time in war torn countries and seeing how the body reacted to trauma, figured out a way to release this tension with TRE (Trauma Releasing Exercises). With a few simple exercises, which he shows in his books and videos (which I highly recommend)…you can invoke the body’s natural tremors to release this energy.
I have done this for a few weeks now and it is amazing what happens! Your body simply tremors (it starts in the pelvis usually) and it can move up your spine or into your arms and neck. It does this automatically! The feeling you get afterward is a sense of peace, or the feeling you have after a good massage. It simply just feels good!
Here is a video showing the self-induced body tremors…
For more details, check out David’s website HERE.
4. Learn How To Feel Emotions
I know what you are probably saying, “I feel my emotions”. But do you really? Many of us tend to talk about what we are feeling or say that we are “in touch with our feelings”…but that doesn’t mean we are necessarily feeling them.
When we feel our emotions, it is purely physical. It is not thinking. Big difference. Many of use run our minds thinking, thinking, thinking of how we are feeling, but we are not open to the physicality of the emotion or feeling. We simply are not AWARE, physically, what is going on within us.
When we do not truly feel our emotions, we become blocked. We start to get headaches, we start to develop panic attacks, or we have other health issues. Our body is trying to tell us something, it is screaming…”Free me!” in regards to pent up emotions.
So how do we feel our emotions and free them? Here is how…
First, you need to take time each day to check in with yourself and ask your brain, “What am I feeling right now?”. Then simply become AWARE (this is not thinking) of the physical sensations of your body. Do you feel tension, if so, be with it. The more you do this, sooner or later little hidden emotions will soon start to bubble up to the surface. You may find yourself get weepy, anger might kick in, or you may start to recall past hurts.
All of these are good signs you have switched to feeling mode, not thinking mode.
The more you can do this, the more you will become aware of your emotions and the more free and light you will become. Be sure to check in daily and allow yourself to be aware and simply feel. If nothing comes to the surface, that is ok. Just stick to it and make it become a healthy habit. Your mind and body will thank you.
If you want to really read a great book on emotions, how they affect us, and how to clear them,
I highly recommend Emotional Clearing: An East/West Guide to Releasing Negative Feelings and Awakening Unconditional Hapiness by John Ruskin. Get it at Amazon.com.
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What do you do in YOUR life that sets you free emotionally and physically?
If you are reading this post, I want to hear your answers.
Feel free to comment below and let’s get a discussion going. No need to be shy.
Posted on August 2, 2009
Great post! I really love the idea of freeing yourself from the inside out because I really believe that we have the power to free ourselves. I believe that the power to be happy and to live the lives we want to live comes from within, and you’ve done an excellent job of recognizing ways we can free ourselves from within.
.-= Positively Present´s last blog ..because i knew you i am changed for good =-.
You are so right Dani. If you think about it, no one outside of us can free ourselves, so that is why I stated we need to start from the inside out. It is a complete internal process.
Many people make the mistake of looking outside themselves for things to change them, make them happy, etc. Sure, those things may influence change, but it really depends on our own actions, thoughts and efforts to make a real change.
Thanks for commenting!
Dayne
Hello Dayne. What a wonderful blog you have here. And this post? Very enlightening, both in your use of descriptive language and in content. The post attracted me originally, because one of my blogs is called Inside Out. It held me, because it said many things I NEEDED to hear and need to put into practice.
I do meditate to free myself of stress; I pray; I practice a human being instead of a human doing at some point each day.
Karen
Welcome Karen!
Thank you for the very nice compliments and I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I will have to check out your blog, it sounds great as well!
Meditation is one of the best things ever in my book. It’s amazing how hard it can be to simply be still while the world around us is buzzing at a feverish pace.
I love that line you said…being a human “being” instead of a human “doing”. Perfect!
Thanks again!
Dayne
Dayne,
This post really struck me. I have been really focusing on feeling free lately. Free of all that holds me down. I have found that the only way, the absolute only way for me to be free emotionally and physically is to let that Divine Light that resides in my spirit to shine. Living authentically and truthfully is the only way I have found to do this. It isn’t always easy, but I do feel free when I am being me and not someone else.
Your suggestions are wonderful and a I thank you for sharing them.
.-= Jill´s last blog ..Change is hard =-.
Welcome Jill and thank you for taking time out to comment here, I really appreciate it. Ahhh yes, feeling…it’s a tricky thing. In fact, I used to be so “stuck” with my ability to actually fully feel my emotions (and I still have my moments). I simply THOUGHT about them. It’s amazing the difference.
You say that the best way is to let the Divine Light shine through you (beautiful) and I think you are spot on with that. Keep at it!
Thanks again for visiting Jill, hope you stop by again!
Cheers,
Dayne
Hi Dayne,
Nice post! Very interesting.
I really agree with point#1. Stillness, meditation, quiet breathing is amazingly good for you. It is the time when you feel good and insights come flowing. But its sooo hard to make the time to do this! It seems like the first thing I stop doing when things get busy! A really bad move, because it has knock on effects on every other part of my life.
Thanks for reminding me, that I need to start meditating again!
And keep up the good writing!
.-= Kaizan´s last blog ..How to Eat Less – and Still be Happy =-.
Greetings Kaizan, thanks for commenting. Yes, meditation can be one of the hardest things in the world to do, even though it is so simple. It is like we get so ingrained to “go go go” that the LAST thing we want to do is simply…stop. I agree with you completely, it can be very hard to make time to do it, but just remember, I bet you can find 10-15 minutes.
I think the key is to simply make it a habit (I know, easier said than done) so that way we get our body and mind into a pattern that will come more naturally.
Simply start small.
Thanks again for visiting here and taking time to share your comments! Come back soon!
Cheers,
Dayne
Hi Dayne,
A very helpful post. You’re absolutely right, being present-still-aware-meditative is really it. It’s an effortless state that we can be all our waking hours.
Feeling emotions is also very important, and I’ve found that when we learn how to release emotions, we also actually feel them more fully. Perhaps we can release them because we feel them rather than ignore them.
I’ll have to look into tremors. It’s very interesting. I have very simple technique to light up chakras–energize upwards along the spine and I’ve noticed this can cause tremors, originating in the pelvis. I’ll have to explore it.
Thanks!
.-= Kaushik´s last blog ..A Gentle Honesty =-.
Hey there Kaushik, thanks for your comments and for visiting! You have me very intrigued with this technique you talk about to “light up” chakras. Do you mind sharing?
Thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by and add to the discussion here, I really appreciate it!
Thanks again,
Dayne
Hey Dayne!
Great blog you have here, i love you simple theme:), I found it through a comment you left on Glen’s Pluginid:)
This is one of the problems of today’s rat race society, all the pressure and anxiety, it’s bad for a person, it can cost years of your life and even turn into physical problems.
I haven’t really gotten into meditation, but definetely running is a great way to free the mind and rid the body of stress. Another really good way that you did not mention is martial arts! Besides that it is a way of exercising and strengthening the body, it is a great discipline for spirit and mind. That, together with running and gym are some of the best ways for me.
I subscribed to your blog and looking forward to reading new posts:)
Have a great day!
Diggy!
.-= Diggy – Upgradereality.com´s last blog ..Get Rich – How anyone can do it, but not everyone will =-.
Welcome Diggy, thank you so much for visiting and commenting, I really appreciate it! I’m glad you like running as much as I do. In fact, I use to hate it! But then something in me clicked and I realized how good I felt afterward, and I’ve been truly hooked ever since.
Martial arts is a great idea! Not only is it physical, but it has a very strong mental component of focus. I like that. That alone can spill over into everyday life just like meditation and exercise can. Thanks for mentioning that!
I just checked out your blog too! Great stuff!
Thanks again Diggy!
Dayne
I have found that the best way to get free from within is to incorporate small things that work in your daily routine – like a morning cup of tea with family, a jog or yoga for some physical activity, a walk with hubby in the evening …
.-= Avani Mehta´s last blog ..Get Unstuck … Let Go … =-.
Avanti, you are absolutely right! Those simple and small things can bring about big impacts within us on a daily basis. My favorite things are: daily stretching, jogging, and I LOVE to take an evening drive around town right around twilight. It is so peaceful.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting, and also your personal suggestions. Your blog is amazing as well!
Cheers
Dayne
AWESOME thoughts….I love your blog and am definitely going to be visiting much more. Saw your comment on ZH and clicked over….If there was a second blog I aspire to be extremely similar to (1st ZH) this may be it. Going to do some more reading here…Awesome job man….
Dave
LifeExcursion
Greetings David and welcome! I really appreciate your comments and taking time to read here. And yes, Zen Habits is fantastic. It also was a huge influence on me as well. Leo is a really great guy! Feel free to stop by here anytime and best of luck with your blog as well, I need to check it out!
Take care,
Dayne