Proprioception, from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own", "individual," and capio, capere, to take or grasp, is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement. You say it- prō prēəˈseptiv
My daughter sprained her foot and ankle at age seven and continued to "turn her ankle" for years. In college she ended up at a orthopedic clinic for yet another injury and they discovered her ankle no longer "talked" to her brain. The connection was lost by stretched ligaments and torn nerve endings. She had physical therapy and eventually, her ankle was once more connected to her brain. Amazing.
Turns out our feelings and emotions can be disconnected from our bodies as well, we bury feelings and refuse to feel that hurt or that betrayal or that rage. Then we too are constantly "turning our ankle". Unexpected anger trips us up, spikes of betrayal without true provocation surprise us and moments of pain overwhelm us. Just a flash, a glimpse and our self-protection jumps in and slams the door to our emotions closed. We are disconnected from our own interior.
In my daughter's sore ankle there are wounded ligaments receptive to physical therapy and healing. In my soul those spikes of emotions and flashes of pain are calls to wholeness and healing for my inner life. I can train my emotions to release, I can exercise with tools that strengthen the pathways between my past experiences, my emotions and my body. For it's my body that reflects all those buried injuries. It was clear Abby's ankle was the injured member; my elusive soul would rather hide behind the walls of self-protection than be exposed- even to myself. But only with risk and vulnerability will there be healing. Otherwise I'm just coping, just getting by, just "Doing fine, thanks."
The newest tool in my soul toolbox is Proprioceptive Writing- I'm linking to a blog site that gives a long and lovely explanation. Why write what someone else has written so well? I will add the pronunciation- prōprēəˈseptiv
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My daughter sprained her foot and ankle at age seven and continued to "turn her ankle" for years. In college she ended up at a orthopedic clinic for yet another injury and they discovered her ankle no longer "talked" to her brain. The connection was lost by stretched ligaments and torn nerve endings. She had physical therapy and eventually, her ankle was once more connected to her brain. Amazing.
Turns out our feelings and emotions can be disconnected from our bodies as well, we bury feelings and refuse to feel that hurt or that betrayal or that rage. Then we too are constantly "turning our ankle". Unexpected anger trips us up, spikes of betrayal without true provocation surprise us and moments of pain overwhelm us. Just a flash, a glimpse and our self-protection jumps in and slams the door to our emotions closed. We are disconnected from our own interior.
In my daughter's sore ankle there are wounded ligaments receptive to physical therapy and healing. In my soul those spikes of emotions and flashes of pain are calls to wholeness and healing for my inner life. I can train my emotions to release, I can exercise with tools that strengthen the pathways between my past experiences, my emotions and my body. For it's my body that reflects all those buried injuries. It was clear Abby's ankle was the injured member; my elusive soul would rather hide behind the walls of self-protection than be exposed- even to myself. But only with risk and vulnerability will there be healing. Otherwise I'm just coping, just getting by, just "Doing fine, thanks."
The newest tool in my soul toolbox is Proprioceptive Writing- I'm linking to a blog site that gives a long and lovely explanation. Why write what someone else has written so well? I will add the pronunciation- prōprēəˈseptiv
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When I do my Proprioceptive Writing, I find some Baroque music on my computer- usually a slow cello piece, light a candle and set my phone to twenty-five minutes. As I write, I ask myself- what do I mean by that word? Now what does THAT mean? and wander off with my thoughts and emotions. It's harder than I imagined. I want to edit, I want to "get to the point" or find a take-away. But this isn't writing for an audience, it's writing for me. It's designed to expose me to my own thoughts and think about why those thoughts come up. I'm reconnecting my ankle to its ligaments, so to speak.
After I write, I answer three questions-
What thoughts did I hear but NOT write about?- that one always throws me.
How do I feel now?- that's helpful, I can assess just what the emotional effect has been. I like that.
What larger story is this Write part of? Marriage, community, depression, transition.
What ideas do I now have for future Writes? I usually have more ideas I want to explore.
Simple, yet hard. Short but thought provoking. It gets my pen to paper- no computer work here, just my thoughts and my body.
I had a stressful trip out of town and this has really aided my processing of the events and people I visited. I came home emotionally drained and this has recharged my batteries. I'll write more about a specific topic for the next blog- for now, this is the introduction. As for me and my body, we talking just fine. Thanks!
http://pwriting.org/?page_id=2905 Another web site- the back story of and official website of Proprioceptive Writing.
I had a stressful trip out of town and this has really aided my processing of the events and people I visited. I came home emotionally drained and this has recharged my batteries. I'll write more about a specific topic for the next blog- for now, this is the introduction. As for me and my body, we talking just fine. Thanks!
http://pwriting.org/?page_id=2905 Another web site- the back story of and official website of Proprioceptive Writing.
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Thanks for sharing --- this is a good invitation and something I'd like to try.
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