Why you're Hardwired to Resist Change.

Resistance to change is natural – you are hardwired to resist.

There are many forms of resistance when it comes to healing old wounds. Firstly, you will resist acknowledging there is even an issue that needs addressing. Then when you do you will resist acting upon it.

There will be a plethora of excuse….I don’t have time to look at that….it’s too expensive….it probably won’t work for me.

This is all a normal reaction to change, because we find comfort in what is familiar, even if that familiar thing is no good for us. Right? The food you eat for comfort, the money you spend when you are stressed, the relationship red flags you ignore because you don’t want to be alone, the job you stay in even though you’ve outgrown it, the friendships you endure because of shared history….these and many others are aspects of resistance.

One day, however, you come to the conclusion that the thing you have been tolerating can’t be tolerated anymore. It rubs you the wrong way, you spend an inordinate amount of time allowing it to take up space in your brain, your energy levels drop…all the things.

So, you finally take the plunge, and you reach out for support. You’ve done your research, you’ve asked around, you’ve found the right modality and healer for you……and you book the appointment.

The session is amazing, you leave feeling lighter, excited, motivated, whole. You ride the wave of this for a period of time and then you feel those old familiar feelings and thoughts resurface. You wonder if the session didn’t work, that you are unfixable…that the very thing you are trying to move away from keeps hunting you down and wrestling you to the floor.

However, if you take a step back, and view your experience with a wider lense you will see that things have indeed changed. Those old ways aren’t as intense, those emotional lows aren’t as low and don’t last as long, your response is less reactive and more considered. Why is this so? Because those old neurological pathways keep wanting to fire whilst you reroute your brain, those old biochemical cascades start to trigger whilst you form new chemical reactions, those old patterns and habits you’ve spent a lifetime of energy investing in as a form of protection skirt around the edges as you consciously choose new ways of being. The old you is now the resistance. The old you is resisting change. The old you is holding out for you to return to the familiar. Yet by choosing healing, the new you is the new familiar, and just like adjusting to a new pair of shoes after your old trusty ones had a complete blowout…..you will soon question why you tolerated what you did for so long.

So go gently on yourself. Adjustment takes time. But each time you come close to returning to the old ways, the new steps in to redirect you until you no longer recognise the old patterns anymore.