United in Healing, Resistance, and Rising Together
At Tree of Life Counseling Center, we lead with vulnerability, authenticity, and courage.
This is not always comfortable or easy and to be honest leaves me at times in a place where I feel empowered and restored and other times in a place where I desperately need rest to recover.
One of the ways that oppression manifests in bodies of culture is in a charged nervous system. Many times, we are told that we are hyper-vigilant, that we have anxiety, that we are depressed, and many more dx. When in reality many of us are stuck living our lives in a body hurting from traumatic stress with little respite. With little space to rest.
It is important that we discuss rest as we have so many who are engaged in acts of resistance and rebellion, who are in the process of learning and unlearning, as we see oppression within our own communities, within our own minds, as we witness Geno$ide in Palestine, the Congo, the Sudan and as many of us are re-experiencing the trauma of colonization and occupation.
For our resistance to be sustainable it is important that we recognize what we are seeing in the world is not new and that our ancestors stood in resistance. While this also took a toll on them, they did not resist alone! They relied on community to take the lead while they rested in order to continue the work of healing and liberation.
Whether the trauma you have experienced is in your life time or not, out bodies remember pain and wounding!
No matter what part of your journey you are on … the effects of historical and generational trauma must be acknowledged for us to move towards a place of recognizing our cultural strengths, standing in that power, and healing collectively.
Something that many of us were taught both directly and indirectly is to avoid rest, that every action we take needs to be “productive”, that we must work hard to prove ourselves, while simultaneously never feeling a true sense of belonging.
Rest can feel threatening when life has told you that letting your guard down can lead to harm or to missed opportunities and lack of access.
I will admit that even I sometimes struggle at times with the belief that if I don’t make a decision quick enough, if I don’t have all the information, if I allow myself to rest that I will miss out or be denied access.
BUT this is how I become my own oppressor.
The reality is that many of my desires to fit in, where in spaces never meant for me and at times missing out was a blessing.
When I show up as my authentic self, sit in my ancestral wisdom GIVE myself permission to stop, rest, and think about what I want rather than leading with fear and scarcity mentality, there has ALWAYS been another opportunity or opening for me.
I invite you consider that the skill of reclaiming relaxation and rest is a form of rebellion and resistance, that our wellness is an act of rebellion and ancestral wisdom.
When we relax our bodies and mind, we are more likely to use our prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain responsible for insight, impulse control, compassion, emotion, and body regulation. All of the gifts that were passed down to us.
When we use these parts of our brain, we are more able to make intentional choices and create a pattern for our bodies and communities at large to feel more comfort in this space.
Unlearning and disrupting internalized oppressive concepts and healing are not done in isolation, we heal together, we resist together, and we rise together.
*** I acknowledge misspeaking when stating "Gaza and Palestine" and not stating Congo. In my passion I misspoke and ask for grace in knowing I did not forget those suffering in the Congo ***
