In my upcoming podcast episode with my dear friend Ace, she drops some great wisdom in our conversation that helps me come to (what I consider) a pretty resonant insight:
“Your next level up requires you to go deeper.”
When I said this on the pod I admittedly thought it was a pretty profound string of words that came out of my mouth (one of those thoughts that has you wonder where it really came from), so I kept thinking about it.
And a few weeks later I'm still thinking about it – rolling it around in my mind and watching how it shows up in my own life on a practical level.
What we were discussing was the simple but uncomfortable truth that in order to stretch yourself into your next milestone or goal or achievement, you have to go inward and do the icky, sticky, tricky inner work that will open the path for you to get there.
Because the person you are right now isn't going to be the same person to achieve the big thing – you have to expand. You have to grow in some capacity, and that growth isn't limited to education or practical experience. A lot of times that growth is assessing and deconstructing mentalities, inner beliefs, emotional responses, and habits that are all keeping you in your current zone of comfort.
To get to the next level, you have to step out of the security and ease of this level. And that means voluntarily choosing growing pains, and pushing up against your own edges.
But what does that actually look like in practice?
How do you know when you're against an edge?
What does it feel like physically, or emotionally, or mentally?
What are the tell-tale signs?
Knowing when we're at an edge can help us detach from the physical and emotional reactions we have to it – the reactions that arise specifically to try to protect us by turning us around and forcing us back into our comfort zone.
Because naturally our nervous system is going to respond and say, “nah, this isn't safe. Let's turn around and forget this ever happened please.”
Almost as if you were on the edge of waterfall – mentally you know the water you jump into is deep enough, and maybe you've even seen some people jump in before you and they're fine. But your body is still screaming at you to take a step back, because it feels the weight of gravity and only senses fear, potential injury, or...who knows what?
So when you're on the edge of that precipice – of stepping into your next evolution or adventure or even being forced there without your choosing – having the tools, the skills, the support to help you move through that transition gracefully can make all the difference. It can be how you avoid the potential turbulence along your route.
(yes, I love to mix metaphors)
Suggested music: “Messy” by Olivia Dean
The Practice
Part 1: How to know when you're at an edge
Because the mind/ consciousness has very few edges, and tends to ramble everywhere and anywhere, our brains aren’t usually the first thing to signal that we’ve reached an inner edge.
That means our bodies are a much more reliable informant, often screaming up to our brains via difficult emotions or uncomfortable (even painful) physical sensations.
You can usually tell when you're pushing up against an edge when you experience these kinds of physical sensations:
