The Power of Identifying What Serves You and What Holds You Back
This is the second in a series of five blogs that detail the process of becoming enlivened in your personal and professional life. This way of being results from self-study and work in the areas of voice, movement, communication and spirit. This particular article is focused on the step Identification.
Do you tend to power through communication with little regard for how others hear you? Do you stay the course with a presentation style regardless of how you are actually feeling emotionally and/or physically at the moment? Do you want to be more adaptable to whatever circumstances life presents in the moment? Do you want to truly engage with your listeners to have a more fluid exchange of ideas?
If you answered “yes” to any of these, you would benefit greatly from the information gained in the Identification stage of the process for self-betterment. This stage begins to create clearer and more confident forms of expression because you get in touch with positive sensations that heighten the ability to tackle your obstacles of connecting with others in communication.
In my previous article, I spoke of the importance of Investigation as the entryway into this process. In this first step, you encounter sensations and habits that have determined your current way of being. Next, you experience a range of explorations to reveal how you breathe, stand, and move, while noticing physical and/or emotional tensions that could be hindering optimal expression. You might notice a habit of tensing your abdomen in daily life, which inhibits a full, restorative breath. Or, you may notice tension in your jaw and throat which makes speaking for longer periods of time tiresome. These conditions work like building blocks for your current condition. They may feel heavy and stuck. Fear not!-- Now you will dismantle what doesn’t serve you and create the goods you need to thrive.
Next in the five-step process towards enlivened communication is Identification. Now that you know the raw materials that create your current way of being, you need to realize what serves you and what holds you back. This is the main work done during this step. During Identification, the sensations of breath, voice and movement are highlighted through the introduction of new communication skills. Some of these practices may feel familiar and sustainable for a healthy way of being. In this instance, you hold onto them and optimize them! Other practices may feel new and different, but still feel good and yield a positive result in how you feel while communicating. Or, the new skills create a foundation for self-care that nourishes an improved way of life enhanced with energy to both personal and professional communication.
When clients work with me, I specifically teach them ways to feel vibration in the mouth while speaking so they realize if there is tension in their breath, throat, or mouth that hinders a capacity to feel sensation. If clients cannot feel sensation because of one of these obstacles, they are more than likely blocking off awareness to how they connect with other people and are, instead, stuck on an island void of connection with their core selves and other people.
This stage requires clients to do their homework with the skills they are learning. Developing new practices of awareness and use will significantly enhance communication abilities and how you are perceived by others. More importantly, knowing how to relate to your own emotions and sensations helps to amplify your ability to influence others because people can see, hear and feel the truthful expression of your voice, body and, most importantly, your message. Yet, this only comes by getting to know yourself on this level every day. You must feel the new skills in daily life to make them a healthy habit. Moreover, this level of self-study enhances your spirit and sharpens your capacity to hear your inner voice so you can stay true to yourself.
This layers into the third step of the process for becoming an enlivened communicator: Integration. This is where the going gets real and you begin to challenge yourself on the pathway to becoming enlivened. There is no easy fix for transforming from stuck to thriving. It requires discipline, honesty, and kindness to oneself. Please inhabit all of these qualities to cultivate self-compassion through your process and in how you relate with the world.
Stay tuned for future blogs that explain the other three steps in the process for becoming enlivened.