The other day someone asked me how I stay in a good ‘head space’ and on top of things given the sheer number of people I manage in my company, the content I create on a weekly and often daily basis, the social media ‘pings’, not to mention the usual messiness of life, a relationship and everything that comes with it. 

So how do I do it? 

Exercise. 

To be fair, I’m regulated in my autonomic nervous system, something I was lucky to have early on because of a solid and secure attachment with my parents. But like everyone, I’ve had my share of traumatic incidents (I talk about them here), industrialized stressors and so on. So I’m not immune to stress, bacteria, or viruses, but I do relate my strong life force energy to my lifelong love with physical activity, sport, and taking care of my body. 

Today’s vlog is all about this. 

The bottom line is this: 

We need to move. Physically, frequently, and with high intensity. 

If we can’t do this, then we need to take some steps to get to this, which means doing the work! I can show you those steps. 

Irene's Musings

As part of my Q&A live chat last week I went back to some good ‘ol Gabor Maté and the teachings from his book, When The Body Says No – The Cost Of Hidden Stress

I came across this sentence that I highlighted well over ten years ago: 

“When one lacks the capacity to feel heat, the risk of being burned increases.”

What a way to say it like it is. 

With that writ, I want to remind all of you that feeling and sensing the tough stuff, the emotions, the sensations, the old traumas, and survival energies, and then doing something with them and about them, is paramount for the next stage of human evolution. There really isn’t any other way forward. 

I think our survival-based way of living in repression, and in disconnection, has run its course. 

So if you’re here reading this email and connected to this work, then the choice to follow suit and DO it is yours for the taking. 

To free will my friends, and acting in a way that helps us all. 

* * *

Resources I Mention In The Vlog:

THESIS: You can download my ENTIRE Master’s thesis via this link: https://irenelyon.com/meet-irene/ – simple go to the ‘my shiny credentials’ section at the bottom of this page, and it is the final link on that list.

PERSON: Maria Fiatarone

VIDEO: More info on the polyvagal theory and the branches of the nervous system and vague nerve