Stop Running and Hold Still

For years people would tell me, "you should run marathons", I never have and still don't have plans to. While athleticism and sports have always come naturally to me, the thought of doing a marathon is too extreme. Adapting to a different form of swing between tennis and golf isn't difficult, they are just different swings (but don't ask me to play pickleball); as well as adapting between the stance of movement on the tennis court and the type of running on the soccer field, you're really only dealing with timing and a different kind of traction under your feet. All that to say, people would see me play or play with me and say, "you should run marathons" just because I have a lot of energy, or something. And while running a marathon would be a challenge, I have no conviction to run one — because running is easy for me — holding still on the other hand, not so much. 

Which is why I finally got into pilates. Before I lose you as you may be thinking, "why is she writing about physical fitness on a music site, when her main message is about the voice?" here's why: The strength of your physical body and your holistic voice (and physical) go hand in hand.In my last post, "Keep Your Feet on The Ground" I write about how your vocal organ is held up by your legs and posture -- the stronger your legs and stance, the better the posture, the easier it is for you to sing, move and express. So while you build muscle through exercise and playing sports, you also build confidence. When you have strengthened confidence, you increase the feeling of being more able to express as you wish and as you need. That need, being the need to release things from your psyche/system. We are complex beings — the health of one area in our life should always reflect into another area. 

So if you've never done pilates, you work your core in a way in which you just won't access through other sports and types of exercise. When it comes to my message around trauma-recovery and relying on your voice to move forward past your traumatic experience and fully detach from it, strengthening your core is one of the best things you can do for that. Holding still, when your instinct is to run away, is what will strengthen your core self. Likewise, exercising the physical trains your brain to exercise that larger muscle for life.  

This doesn't mean remain in a place, a relationship, a workplace that is harming you. What this means is to remain in your power. And power is not being isolated, arrogant or selfish. Power is not controlling people or outcomes. To remain in your power actually means you step into humility — doing everything you can to find a win-win outcome. Remaining in your power requires connectedness with yourself first, and others.

So here’s a real honest question. Can you hold still in a waiting room, in traffic, or in line at the grocery store? Or do you find that you constantly need to be moving? We need movement in life, momentum, but that doesn’t mean we always need to be actively doing. That’s a one-way ticket to burnout, because burnout happens when we are disconnected from ourselves for too long. And if you’re not making space and time for passivity, for just being, for holding still, you’re not fully connected with yourself. 

This is where voice-work can help you reconnect and maybe for some of you, finally step into conscious living. If you’re someone who feels a pull as you read this, Amplify Your Voice is a 6-week coaching program designed to help you reconnect with your core self. Maybe you’ve had some, but not all of you here for awhile, maybe parts of you have been suppressed for decades (like myself), maybe you just don’t know “what’s ahead”. If any of those resonate, I want to invite you to attend my free training, Finding Safety Through Self-Expression, where you’ll learn the voice-led clarity method that helped me recover my own personal blindspot that was holding me back from living my life. Click anywhere in this paragraph to register.

Sometimes the best thing to move you ten steps ahead in life, is to stop running and hold still. Remain grounded.

-B