If you’re like me, you use the word ‘space’ pretty frequently. ‘I need some space', ‘I hold space for my clients', and ‘this is a great space!’ Some folks are more sensitive to the feeling of space within their bodies and others to their environmental space. And still others are new to the feeling and sensations associated with space. The awareness of your personal space is instinctual. It can be damaged and also re-learned.
What happens to us when we’re not feeling open and spacious? You may be worried and clenching your jaw without realizing. One theory says that we have created a traffic jam in our nervous systems by taking in more than we can humanly process. Maybe you’re experiencing a stressful situation at home, an overload of news and information, endless tasks, unresolved conflicts from yesterday or all of the above. This buildup is filling up space in your psyche and your connective tissue.
Decluttering the space inside us, like cleaning out a closet, is a conscious process. First, you need to claim some time for yourself. With that you have already created space. Next you need some scheduled activities to release the excess. I declutter by moving my joints and muscles daily, breathing deeply, writing, and reading. What gives you that feeling of freedom and space?
I am committed to a monthly massage. That consistency ensures me a monthly cleanout and renewal of my whole being. Last but not at all least is my weekly Zoom meeting with my colleagues. You might call it therapy for therapists. Secrets and staying in your own head is just another way of stockpiling what you really need to sort through. The group provides all of us a soul healing. For me a way to reveal and discover myself and others. And to remember how vulnerable my clients feel.
I suggest you add one space enhancing ritual into your daily schedule and see how that feels. Something you can commit to on a regular basis. It could be as simple as standing outdoors without a mask and breathing generously, taking a break from your daily grind. In the process you will start to notice yourself and your environment. You may discover other ways you need to open up. Truth is even in the smallest environment, the tightest feeling body or the most seemingly stuck situation, you can learn to give yourself space by claiming it.