David's last UpClose about procrastination

[MichaelD]

In David's last UpClose he mentions a theory that his Swedish friend, Johan, has about what may be underneath procrastination. He says,

In order to get beyond that, he said you can and need to complete the prior experience. And that men and women do that differently. For a man to finish an emotional event, he needs to fully experience it - in and through his body, mind, emotions, all parts of him. For a woman, who more naturally already has had that full experience, she needs to express it - particularly feel heard about it.

Over the past year I've been studying and practicing integral coaching. One of the core tennants of this school of coaching is that ongoing change and growth will only occur in a person if the entire person is involved in that change, including emotional, somatic, cognitive, spiritual, and relational aspects. In otherwords, we're not just heads-on-a-stick. So Johan's idea rings very true to me.

One powerful aspect of awareness that I've been learning a lot about is the body's role in both holding and communicating wisdom to which our minds don't have direct access. There's a great book by Christine Caldwell, called "Getting our Bodies Back" that is an extremely useful handbook for unlocking what's hidden in our bodies. And I can see the techniques in it being specifically useful in unlocking the past incompletions about which Johan refers.

 

[bkgood1]

My experience is that sometimes I'm not ready emotionally or psychologically, for whatever reason, to take the next step. But if I keep gently plugging away, I'll find myself taking steps to resolve the outstanding issue that's holding me back, sometimes without even realizing I'm doing it. Sometimes it's necessary to be patient with yourself.