Frome Valley Osteopaths

So writing today feels like its been a while! and it kind of has been, for 2 months I managed to write (on average) 2 articles a week, for the last month, I have tried to have ideas, but my brain was having non of it, I couldn’t sit to write, I had no ideas, inspiration or focus… except face to face with you guys 🙂 So today, I am grateful for this tentative step toward putting this energy back in to something I love and care about, my business and the people we support.

What on earth has the above got to do with embodiment? There were loads of things on the 8 week course that landed and had an impact for me, I won’t mention them all, but the lesson about cycles and seasons was something that helped me understand myself, my cycles, and my patients better.

I have always thought about the seasons and cycles as important, particularly as a person who lives in England, really feeling Spring, and a person who has a menstrual cycle. Embodiment is about being mindful of and connected to your body for the purpose of self development, so the lesson around cycles and seasons goes one step further than just the awareness of them.

Everything we do has 4 phases, a cycle/season: a beginning/prep/spring, a middle/doing/summer, and ending/wrapping up/autumn and a nothing phase/rest phase/assimilation phase/winter. So being aware of the season we prefer and the one we find hardest can be really helpful to know where we need to direct more energy.

I know many people find the rest/winter phase very hard and are quick to jump to the next thing with no space to integrate or re charge, this can mean there is less energy for the next project, or we constantly feel rushed. I find the tying up/autumn phase difficult, the phase where attention to detail is high and moving away from a project of person happens, but I love the intensity of getting stuck in and making things happen in the summer/doing phase.

Where do your strengths/weaknesses lie? In the prep, the build up, do you want to rush through this phase or do you need a steady build with lots of planning? The main doing phase, do you love this bit? do you like getting stuck in and the intensity, are you straight to the point?, to the deep stuff? or do you want to stay more safe, surface level. Are you good at the tying it up, the fine detail, do you need time to say goodbye or are you ready to run? and do you rest or pause and reflect on things?…

Every session with a patient, every conversation with a loved one, every project, every year, every everything has a beginning, middle, end and rest phase. Being aware of our patterns in these cycles/seasons can help us be more rounded, can help us understand our strengths and weaknesses and know where we might need support directing our energy. It can also help us be gentle and manage our expectations of ourselves.

When I am with patients I love the flow of a session and I am quick to want to get my hands on and feel what’s happening, I know I need to slow myself down here sometimes, and give people room to talk about their pain or difficulty, I often get very invested in the treatment and leave little time for the tying up, the questions and re booking, this means I am often straight into my next patient leaving some patients feeling rushed. I Then need loads of time to collapse and rest at the end of the day because there wasn’t any of that space in the day. This is something I’m working on, watch this space.

Do you know your cycles? which part of the project, of the day, of your menstrual cycle, of a conversation do you prefer, can this awareness help you balance your focus next time? Can it help you give yourself a break?

I know that my bigger pattern is to be very excited, get stuck in, usually to all things at the same time… and then max out, collapse and need space from everything, this has been the pattern my whole life and one that is hard to live with sometimes, but understanding it better helps me know I will reappear, helps me not beat myself up about the space needed and the collapse and the apparent lack of consistency, it helps me support myself better and support you guys better too.

I hope this has given a slightly different lens to see life or a challenge through.

Lauren Manning BSc Hons Ost