Do You Struggle with Change & Transitions?
I got a text from my friend last weekend that simply said: "the energy around change is really intense right now."
And I couldn’t agree more.
Personally, I am getting ready to launch some big changes in my business, I'm going through a massive transition in my romantic relationship and I’m in the middle of helping my parents move out and sell my childhood home (I'll be sharing more about this profound experience in the next couple of weeks).
So, to say that I can feel the squeeze of change is an understatement.
But beyond just experiencing it for myself, I can see it in my communities, in the world around me and with my own clients. Almost everyone I know is teetering on the edge about to step into their next chapters, even if they don't exactly know what that chapter is.
I've been saying this for awhile now but we’ve all been in a pressure cooker of transformation both collectively and individually for quite some time and it feels like so many of us are just on the threshold of some very big life shifts.
All of this has had me thinking a lot lately about the word 'transition.' Merriam Webster defines it as"a change or shift from one state, subject, place, etc. to another."
Honestly, transitions can be really challenging, especially for highly sensitive folks (*raises hand*), because as the definition says, it requires change.
And as much as change is an unavoidable part of life and is usually necessary, most of us resist it with all of our might (*raises hand again*).
A large part of that is because even when transitions and change are exciting, they are in essence both endings and beginnings and can bring up intense emotional experiences.
Sheryl Paul (whosewriting has guided me through some of my most intense dark nights of the soul)extensively talks about this concept ofConscious Transitionswith an important reminder that at their core, transitions activate 5 of the most challenging human emotions:
Grief
Fear
Groundlessness (Out of Control)
Vulnerability
Loneliness
These arehugeemotions for us to deal with just on their own so the fact that we are dealing with multiple if not all of them at the same time should be an indicator of just how big (and challenging) transitions can be (and if you're highly sensitive you will feel this on an even deeper level).
So, of course they can feel very scary and overwhelming........ but if we can learn to hold ourselves and honor our experience, transitions can also be critical moments for the lessons and the healing we need for our growth.
The problem is that most of us don't really know how to actually transition because it's not something that's taught to us.
We often bounce from one thing to the next or alternatively get thrust into a new moment, a new responsibility or role, a new job, a new chapter, a new relationship.....without taking stock of our emotional needs or what needs to be released and intentionally step into our new thing.
We either end up white knuckling our way through our transitions or we try to rush past them and end up carrying the past into our future with the belief that we are creating something new.
But when we're clear about what we're releasing, we can be (more) clear about what we're creating moving forward and that is incredibly exciting and rewarding.
I'll be leading a 90 minute workshop on March 25th,Release & Reset, to support us as we consciously transition into our new chapters.
We'll be learning tools, techniques and practices to release old emotions, old energy, old cords, old relationships and anything else that needs to stay behind so we can begin stepping into our new visions with more clarity, ease and confidence.
Hope to see you there 💐.