How to Release Resistance

Last week, I almost had a meltdown.

Before I tell you about it, I wanted to let you know I am teaching LIVE in NYC in two weeks! (Yes, after a loooong hiatus we doin’ this! See details below! And I will be coming to cities near you soon!)

Ok, back to my almost meltdown.

I was invited to come do a segment on Cheddar TV, a live streaming news network as part of the press I am doing for the book.

As I was getting dressed, I started to get super in my head.

My internal dialogue went something like this:

“Wait, what should I wear? Is this the right top, or this one?”
“Shoot, I don’t like either of them.”
“What if I don’t know how to speak succinctly about this book?”
“What if I fumble and sound stupid.”
“Ugh, I am so not good at this stuff!”

And it ended with this big juicy thought on repeat, “I hate doing press, why do I set myself up for this!”

Pardon my language, but, WTF?

What kind of thinking is this, when for the record, I have been teaching and talking about this stuff for what feels like a million years?

I hosted two seasons of a TV show where I basically had to speak in sound bites for days at a time!

I have done about 30 plus podcasts interviews on the topic of this book!

Battling Resistance

I’m not saying this to brag, but what I am saying is that I can do this in my sleep and yet, AND YET!, I STILL was freaking out about putting myself out there.

But, it was that last thought, the one where I said to myself, “I hate this, why do I set myself up for this” that was the big red flag.

I knew I was battling a big form of good ole’ RESISTANCE.

Sometimes, resistance brings up certain behaviors in us like procrastination, complaining, gossiping, compulsive eating, or rebelliousness.

My personal brand of resistance is angry complaining. And the anger is always directed at myself. “Why do I put myself through this?”

Do you have your own brand of resistance? Hint: Ya probably do.

But here is the good news.

According to Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, resistance is actually a good sign because it shows up when we have a dream.

And resistance often rears its head with a vengeance exactly when we’re getting super close to achieving that dream.

So of course, just as I was literally headed to a place that would put my book out there in a bigger way, resistance came for a visit.

Sometimes, resistance shows up as our inner critic. We relate to it as if it’s individual and personal, but as Steven Pressfield says, it’s actually universal and impersonal.

The voice of resistance may hone in on what we fear is true: “You’ll never be able to do that!” “You aren’t any good at this.” “Why do you bother trying when you know it won’t work out?”

But the truth is that everybody has this same voice!

Releasing Resistance is an Important Thing to Work Through

Me, you, your neighbor, your favorite teacher, and even people who are considered the best in their fields, from Albert Einstein to Meryl Streep. To my knowledge, no one has been exempted from this critical voice. It’s loud enough at the start of a new endeavor, but it gets louder when we move closer to the dream.

Releasing Resistance is an important thing to work through if you want to do anything that is important TO YOU in your life.

If you are looking to do a little work on your own resistance, I highly recommend you check out chapter 3 of Mantras In Motion.

In the meantime, I came up with this mantra for us to use.Play it on repeat.
Say it out loud.
Start to move forward.

I release resistance
I allow joy to flow
I’m connected to my power
I am stronger than I know

When we connect to our joy and what we are inherently good at, the grips of resistance start to loosen.

When we take time to connect to our own power, those pesky voices of not being good enough quiet down and have less space in our minds.

And, for the record, the minute I got to the studio, I was like, “Oh right, I am good at this. This is what I DO!” and I was relaxed and ready to go.

You can watch the full interview HERE.  

Now, it’s your turn. Does this resonate? I want to hear about how resistance plays a part in your life and how you overcome it. Come on over the blog and leave a comment.

Here’s to kickin’ through resistance!

Love,
Erin

Join me for the NYC book launch party and shrink session class.

Deets:

Tues. Jan. 29th @ 6:30pm
FPC Studio in Soho

Sign up comes with a free book! And some other goodies.

We will workout and then we will have time to hang and drink some champs, eat some snacks and dance!

Space is very limited so be sure to sign up asap!

GO HERE TO REGISTER