Signs you are stuck in your head.
How do you know your stuck in your head? and why does it even matter?
The chances are if you’ve come across this article your already experiencing stress, tension and maybe even physical symptoms in this area. Read about my personal journey with daily headaches, and how I overcame chronic pain, and unlocked years of tension and stress. The answer might not be what you think it is?
I spent the best part of 12 years on antidepressants, and plagued by daily chronic migraines and neuralgia. Looking back now with pain far behind me, I can clearly see the pressure of my internal mind was so great, the physical symptoms were creating massive noise because I was so trapped in that space.
It was completely suffocating, as I felt prisoner to my own mind and unable to move my body.
It was such a dark time of my life.
Life moved on and I had reasons to just keep moving- the birth of my first daughter being one of them.
I remember in those tender early weeks, feeling like she had saved me.
It wasn’t about me anymore, it was about her.
I poured everything into her- that created some much needed space around my head as becoming a mother felt so natural to me.
All physical symptoms had mostly disappeared.
Of course as I emerged from those intense mothering years and began to reclaim abit more of my self, the old familiar feeling of being stuck in my head began to show itself again- just in a different way.
I had been deep in the self development and spiritual field for a good few years.
I felt so “knowledgeable” and “equipped” like I knew all the things and yet nothing was moving forward in my life.
My relationships were still drama filled.
I had a hard time trusting myself despite being connected to spirit.
I lost myself for days over thinking and analysing EVERY TINY thing.
And for the life of me- couldn’t make a decision for myself.
I was still locked in my head.
It wasn’t enough that I could rationalize, understand, and know where my beliefs, patterns of behaviour and conditioning came from.
It wasn’t enough that I knew how to practice NEW thoughts.
That I could observe them and see them for what they were.
It wasn’t enough, because it was constantly working against my bodies biological response and patterning to the world and past events.
Which, as we know our subconscious mind, I.E our emotions, memories and trauma are held in the body.
AND....
Our nervous system is the antennae for receiving the input from the outside world.....
Which means unless we are address these guys first, we are going to have a hard time being in our bodies, and trusting where our body wants to lead us- thus keeping us stuck in our heads!
So my mind wasn’t actually the problem that needed support.....it was actually my body!
The distinct lack of trust and safety I felt within my body, was why my mind was working overtime!
So here are some of the signs that your stuck in your head:
Physical pain and symptoms like Headaches, migraines, neck ache/ tension, ear ache.
Problems sleeping or staying asleep.
Difficulty in making a decision, i.e procrastination
Over analysing the past and/ or the future. Playing situations over and over again.
Rehearsing conversations, or wishing you said it a different way.
Fixated on right/ wrong... perfectionism.
Needing to control everything, know what’s next. Unable to go with the flow.
Always worried about what people thought of you, and how you look.
How to come out of your head and spend more time in your body:
Practice cultivating awareness and observing your bodies sensations, and also your thoughts. Put yourself as the middle person who is watching it all.
Use all of your senses to be present in a moment.
Do something that puts you in a flow- like creativity, exercise etc
Move your body.
Spend time in nature.
Work with a somatic practitioner.
Journal to release some of your mental tension.
Use sound/ vibrational therapy. Making a playlist that calms you is a great place to start.
We need our mind, just like we need our body. It’s a balance and a practice- even a dance between the two. The key is to start small and gently bringing your awareness and knowing you can make a better choice to support you if your feeling all heady and tense up there. As always, practices like this, always begin with cultivating the observer within, so that might look like starting your day and just noticing how you feel? to setting a few reminders in your day just to return to that question. Once you are able to notice how you feel and place your self within the middle of your mind/ body matrix, with that information you will be able to make one small adjustment to alter your energy.
Be curious,
Be flexible,
and be open to whatever your mind or body wants to communicate to you.
It’s one thing to notice, and its another to take action and tend to that request.
It’s the latter that builds trust and safety within.
Hope this helps, and if you feel like you need additional support, don’t hesitate to check out our 1-1 sessions available online or in person at our beautiful treatment space in Budleigh, East Devon.
Bex
