Agitating to Balance

After a repair, the washing machine agitates loudly, shaking all over the confined space it occupies. Initially irritating, now it is a backdrop to sounds present in home when laundry is being done.  My husband recently suggested that maybe the machine was ‘agitating its way to balance’ and he may be correct.  It’s too soon to tell. 

Humans often get agitated, seemingly spinning out of control. We may have been taught, if not verbally then by example, to shut down any lack of control and ‘get a grip’,  to not allow agitation to be expressed especially if it looks like anger or sadness. Societal expectations often result in us learning to shut down, to shut out feelings and sensations. While it may be an appropriate response in certain settings, over time repressed emotions will damage us, and negatively impact those around us. 

The work I get to do with clients, and with myself, invites the human essence back to being and towards a place where emotions can be felt, explored and released so we can live more fully as human beings.  It is messy and often uncomfortable work, and, yes, sometimes it can feel like we are spinning out of control.  It is temporary. Often we are wound so tight from all the repressed emotions, stresses and anxiety that we do need to let it out in a way that can feel more than a little uncomfortable. 

Have you noticed how quickly we try to change something that makes us uncomfortable? Temperature too hot? Turn down the air conditioner. Temperature too cold? Turn on the heater. Conversation difficult? Shut down, become defensive, leave or decide ‘that person’ just doesn’t know ‘the truth.’ 

Here in the United States, we have become increasingly pampered by access to elements of control. We have lights that turn on with the blink of a switch. We have water that runs out of the faucet. We have showers that are comfortably warm. And, perhaps this ready control of our environment has a part in the seeming lack of tolerance, at many levels, including societal divisiveness.

So we avoid, often unconsciously, agitating situations – conversations, environments, relationships. Within this can be an invitation to sit with discomfort, maybe have the challenging conversation, listen to a person with whom you disagree, to not adjust the temperature, to feel the feelings as they bubble up, to sit in uncomfortable silence. These momentary discomforts can be seen as a way to recognize our part in the situation. To feel what we have unknowingly repressed, ignored or avoided…and yes, it may be agitating for a bit. 

We all have patterns that we are not aware, habitual ways of responding. The patterns can feel comforting and may serve us well.  Some of these patterns may lull us into a sense of complacency. We get to choose. 

Have you ever succumbed to ingesting sweets and breads with a gleeful abandonment? And felt the body respond with discomfort? We can ignore the discomfort for some time, and yet eventually either we choose to listen, or our health is compromised and listening becomes more urgent.  Or perhaps you have found yourself trying to fit into a religious pattern that no longer feels supportive? Or trying to keep up on some level rather than feel the implications of not keeping up and finding your own pace? Have you doubted your self-worth, your right to be loved, and been unwilling to explore those feelings? 

Ignoring agitations and consistently seeking the comfortable path will, eventually, result in discomfort.  At some point our body will say ‘ENOUGH’ and demand our attention. Feelings and emotions are present to support our growth, to be felt. When we do so, while not easy, we live from a calmer, more balanced, less agitated state where the discomforts start to feel less significant. A place where we can feel agitation, anger, sadness and know it is part of moving to balance, to a place where we are more aware of our choices. 

What makes you uncomfortable? How do you respond? These two questions, pondered and lived, can invite us to notice differently. To meet ourselves and others with less resistance over time.  

If you are looking for a supportive way to feel and relax with discomfort in your body, and to allow repressed feelings to be released, you may want to join an I AM Yoga Therapy™ class experience, or reach out for a private session – virtual or in person. A series of these experiences helps us find our way to more balance, more wholeness, and more ease…. Even when life experiences are not what we imagined.