is about the practical application of our own truth? Untainted. Untarnished. Free of the sway of voices that were never ours to begin with.
Innovation is usually defined as the practical application of new ideas, always reaching outward for what’s next. Innervation, by contrast, is different. It has always been here, waiting to be felt.
So much foundational work on going inward already exists. Carl Jung’s individuation stands on its own. I have watched myself move from external toward internal validation through an arc that goes from mastery to integration to embodiment.
Here is what that arc looked like in my body.
Burnout
I have been a high-functioning leader, serving as president of an organization while holding four other roles at once. When my term ended and I was no longer functioning at that same capacity, I noticed I felt foggy. I labeled it burnout, the same word I had used before, when it took a month of rest to recover and ushered in a full career shift, from full-time coaching and training of data science leaders to full-time writing of international resumes in a remote environment. This time, rest did not clear it.
Hypervigilance
When the fog didn’t lift, I found myself in a constant state of hypervigilance. It got to the point where AI recommended I say aloud, “I am safe.” That gave me chills. I began working with my body and my nervous system to limit what was keeping me there.
Hydration
At the same time, I recognized I had conditioned my body to live in a state of dehydration, as if that were fine. I would deny myself water so I would not have to get up during a long flight, or in the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping. That is not optimal for a well-functioning body.
Be careful what you label. Label it observantly, watching what is happening rather than settling on a conclusion. Settle too soon, and you will miss the other signals of what is actually going on.
What I am moving away from is a way of being that powered through everything: holding my breath, rushing to mark a task complete. What I am moving toward is breathing through the process, trusting it is allowed to take time, and that it might even be more sustainable to function in this way.
My body knew something was wrong before my mind caught up. That was not weakness. That was information I had been ignoring.
What have you labeled and moved past too quickly? What might your body already know that you have not yet stopped long enough to hear?
P.S. This story kept unfolding in a conversation withย , a trauma-informed coach specializing in nervous system reset, on The Curious Coach.ย Watch it here.
