Episode 50 – You’re Probably Trying Too Hard

“To heal a wound, you need to stop touching it.” ~Unknown If you’re tuning into to this podcast, you’re probably someone who identifies with the classic over-achiever personality. You’re probably a perfectionist, a people-pleaser, a good girl, or a good boy … and that pattern …

“To heal a wound, you need to stop touching it.” ~Unknown

If you’re tuning into to this podcast, you’re probably someone who identifies with the classic over-achiever personality. You’re probably a perfectionist, a people-pleaser, a good girl, or a good boy … and that pattern was likely developed very early on for you. In childhood, most of us were praised for obedient behavior and punished for behavior that didn’t please the adults in our lives, so this over-achieving, good girl/good boy behavior runs deep for many of us, and, in my opinion, it the biggest personality trait that ends up thwarting our progress toward our liberation from symptoms.

Perhaps
you were one of the ones who read Sarno and asked the question at the
end that went something like this: “OK, I read the book, but what
can I DO to heal?”

The
self help industry is booming, and it’s subtly
feeding
into this culture of perfectionism. We’re
all trying desperately
to FIX
ourselves. I’m
guilty of it too… self-help
books
arrive
in the mail every 4 days, I’m constantly
buying courses, taking classes, working
towards enlightenment, and
improving my skill set.

What
I’m seeing in the mind-body
community specifically, is a whole lot of EFFORT,
a whole lot of trying too hard to process the pain away. A whole lot
of digging and digging and digging into the past in order to force
the body into a better feeling state. This
breeds stress and anxiety, which of course can slow our progress.

Do
you ever feel like the harder you try, the more symptoms you feel?
Are you feeling like the more knowledge you gain, the more anxious
you get about seeking
and absorbing
even more just in case you’re missing the one piece that will unlock
the door to liberation for you?

What if you just stopped trying so hard? What if you just let go of the structure of journaling, meditating, reading, studying, and efforting and just … trusted? What if your only task is to let all of this knowledge sink into your bones as you re- discover your joy, do the things that you miss doing, and live life as if you were healed already?

Today on the show, I offer 3 reasons as to why you don’t need to try so hard, and then several questions for self-inquiry to help you detect when you might be over-efforting to FIX that which does not need any fixing.

You are healed. You are whole. You are well. Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now. Sometimes, we just need to get out of our own way to allow that innate wellness to arise and show itself.

Listen on to hear more! <3

As always, thanks so much for tuning in! If you have your own healing story you’d like to share on this show, please reach out!

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**DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and this or any other podcast hosted by Katelyn Michals, L.Ac. is not intended to replace traditional medical care. It is important that you are evaluated by a physician before embarking on this or any other self-help program*