I wanted to write an article and kept wondering about what I wanted to say. Then, I realized that I could write about exactly where I have been – stuck! I had made a commitment to myself to write an article, yet somehow seemed to lack the energy to pursue its creation. I jotted down a ‘to do’ each day to do some writing, and then found myself frustrated at the end of the day. I felt as though something had prevented me from moving forward on an activity I knew I needed to do.

Can you relate to this? Do you see this as procrastination? Laziness? Burnout? Actually, I see it as “none of the above.” I had tried to “muscle through” this effort. Then, suddenly I recognized that I needed to do what I remind clients to do – to listen in to the energy of what is really happening. To tell the truth, even when my mind wants to say, “ooh, I want to change how I feel…” I noticed the judge in my head saying “You know, you really need to get this done.” Then, I checked in with my body. I felt heavy, stuck, immobilized. My judging mind took an angry tone, and scolded me to ‘get moving!’ I got up for a glass of water. I checked my email. I called a friend. Ooops! I ignored myself. I lost awareness.

Finally, I decided to experiment with what would happen if I simply let myself stay in place, not moving. At first, my mind resisted. I kept gently bringing my attention to the sensations in my body. My sitting bones felt extra heavy. My lower back felt melty and soft, like it could soften into the chair. My shoulders drooped down. I asked my mind to focus on the sensations. After about ten minutes, I found myself asking a question: “What would happen if I didn’t do this? If I just gave it up?” A funny thing happened. I felt lighter. More at ease. Almost giddy. Yes, actually, giddy!

So, I laughed and gave up writing. I felt – physically and mentally – like everything was fine, even though I had stopped working on the newsletter that had once seemed so important.

Three days later, while I was answering an email, a title for an article popped into my head: “Career Transformation – A Body-Oriented Approach” I opened up a blank document on my computer and started typing. Ten minutes later, I had jotted down the skeleton of a whole article. An hour later, the whole thing was nearly written. The energy just poured in. I invite you to read that article .

I experienced a transformation of mind and body. Two lessons stand out.  First, from a book that has given me a lot of permission: Creativity in Business, by Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers, of the famed creativity course at Stanford University . Chapter 2 of their book is entitled, “If At First You Don’t Succeed, Surrender.” Ah, yes! They recommend, “Learn to recognize in yourself the kind of anxious striving that is the opposite to surrendering: apprehension, anxiety, tension, competition, anticipation. Clearly it would be a great relief to surrender all of this garbage.”

Which reminds me of the second lesson – of paying attention to our bodies! When we feel things, as I did, such as anxiety, those feelings offer us an invitation to look deeper. Our bodily sensations are signals. We can fight against such signals with our mind…”Oh, now come on. There’s no need to be anxious! Cut it out! Get to work!” Or, we can listen to them and see how our inner wisdom directs us.

I hope this story gives you permission to listen and gently respond to the messages from your body.


Dr. Susan Bernstein
Life/Work Transition Expert