Reader,

One of my core beliefs for the Organ Realm is that everything belongs. And when I say everything, I mean all our emotions. The Organ Realm is the Realm of ecosystem and emotion, after all.

Each organ has a role in the body, so of course each emotion that is co-created through those organs has a role as well!

It's when we move out of ecosystem, away from belonging and relationship, that we experience the interruption of emotional acceptance and expression.

That's just a really wordy way of saying when we don't have community safety, belonging, and self-safety, it's really hard and scary to feel your feelings.

On the mental and physiological level, your body creates what are called inhibitory emotions: shame, guilt, and anxiety. These block you from feeling, knowing, or expressing the emotions that are "underneath."

These inhibitory emotions have their own energetic expression. I've written about the energy of shame extensively (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), but guilt and anxiety (here) less.

However, the purpose of today's email isn't to go into the inhibitory emotions/energies, but to explore what I often call the chicken and egg problem of our Organ Realm and emotional ecosystem.

What comes first: reclaiming our emotional expression on our own and then finding people who accept them, or finding people and communities that create safety to feel and express our emotions?

This is where so many people loop.

The freeze response sets in and goes, "oh wow. Neither? Neither of those feels safe." Flight cries, "run awaaaayyyy!" Fight response pipes up by getting mad and picking fights with all sorts of things to diffuse the tension and take the spotlight off of the cycle. And fawn chuckles nervously while smiling.

Did I personify things a bit? Sure, but you get the picture. The nervous system protects you from the discomfort of choosing either of those options; therefore, choosing neither and nothing changes.

Facilitating emotional intimacy is an undercurrent that runs throughout the Mythosomatic Sanctuary.

We tackle both sides of the chicken and egg dilemma by making the dilemma obsolete.

The first thing we do on our live calls together is a simple co-regulation breathing practice. Then we drop into heartspace, do a quick body scan, and pair off into breakout rooms and practice sharing and active listening for approximately ten minutes.

We consistently practice checking in with ourselves, being honest about what's there, and then sharing that with another person who is actively listening with no intention to fix, soothe, or interrupt the process.

This practice is creating a paradox of the chicken and egg problem by saying hey, what if we did both in small incremental steps? With a facilitator (Hi, that's me 👋🏻) who guides process-oriented embodied energy work, who consistently reminds you to listen to your body, and is trauma-trained?

If you get stuck, or it feels overwhelming or scary, I'm there to step in and guide. Or check in with you afterwards if something came up in your body that needs or would like support.

In our welcome call, where I explored this process with the Sanctuarians, I explained how this outward-facing practice of active listening is mirrored in their presence and active listening of their Realms as we traverse the year together.

These tiny micro-moments (that feel very big when you're in them) are building relational muscle, pun intended, with your interior terrain and your exterior world.

So by the time you've completed a year in the Mythosomatic Sanctuary you've become a much better listener to your body because you became a better listener with other people. And you became a better listener to others because you actively listened to your body.

You didn't have to reclaim emotional intimacy and expression on your own before finding people who could hold it, and you're given a practice ecosystem for tip-toeing into emotional intimacy 🐣.

This first season of the Sanctuary is just getting started, but enrollment for Kinwoven season (Muscle and Nervous System) opens in March. You can explore here if this email has your body sighing wistfully in desire.

Somatically yours,
Ash