´Self-wise, or own-wise; a word that can be interpreted in many ways.

As a child, I was often told, “Don’t be so self-wise!” when I did something my own way, differently from how my parents or teachers would have done it. Especially when my way of experimenting showed me how not to do something. Over the years, I silenced my inner ´Self Wise` voice to be the girl who didn’t make mistakes and lived up to the expectations of those around me.

By the time I was on my own feet, I had no idea what I really wanted or needed, let alone knowing my deeper why and meaning in life. I had become reactive instead of responsive. It resulted in feeling empty, uncertain, self-doubting, and meaningless.
I went through life with emotional stress and often had tense and tight muscles and a chronic condition of IBS with no apparent medical cause. Doctors called it psychosomatic. These symptoms disappeared when I welcomed my Self Wise back and began to relax into living my own life, on my terms.

Self- wise… what a beautiful and powerful word that is when you think about it more deeply. Our very own inner wisdom, our own way, our own style, our own inner knowing, our own perception of the world, our own body telling us what we need emotionally and physically, our own truth, our own unique connection to spirituality, collective wisdom, and consciousness…

Our ´Self Wise` is intelligent and complex; I see it as an ingenious interweaving of our neurobiology, our body, our soul, our mind, and our spirit. Our ´Self Wise` awakens in the seed of our life. The moment we enter into a relationship with all layers of life in and around us. It learns to express itself through its interaction with its physical environment and the force field around it (e.g., gravity, upward forces, and pressure).

The first self-expression of our ´Self Wise` is movement.

Through movement, we learn about ourselves and the world in our first months and years, and we make our first contacts with other people and beings. Our first explorations of movement help our own ´Wise´ to learn about life. It acquires the basic sensational, emotional wisdom to set its inner compass to growth and vitality. It learns how to organize itself neurobiologically to create sustainable, thriving relationships in the complex system of cells, bones, joints, connective tissue, muscles, and organs. Neurobiology as a mirror for the system of body, soul, mind, and spirit that works together in harmony with each other, embedded in the greater environment of which it is an intrinsic part. We notice this, for example, because movement feels effortless, enjoyable, and fluid, and we feel deeply alive, connected, and energetic. We experience a felt sense of meaning in life.

The core patterns that emerge from these first explorations of movement with the force field around us and within, also form the basis for the further development of our brain, mind, emotional-social behavior, and deeper self-expression.

Without our ´Self Wise´, we lack our compass for life

Then things happen in our lives that hurt us physically or emotionally. And these experiences influence the basic layout we lay in the early years of our lives. One of those experiences is the encounter of our ´Self Wise` with society, our caregivers, and teachers. For many people, that felt like an unpleasant and ‘self-confidence undermining’ clash. The first moment we begin to doubt our ´Self Wise`.

Our society is not a nurturing place for our own Wise. Many people have already silenced their own Wise by the time they get out of elementary school.

Many of us gradually put our well-being in the hands of others who tell us how to move, think, or feel. Many people let others tell them what to do with their lives. Many people depend on others to know what is good for them. How they should answer their needs, how they should look, what is expected of them, how they should behave, and express themselves to belong and be successful by society’s standards. I was there too.

Our ´Self Wise` shows us the way to our own path, our soul’s purpose, our own way, our own signature in expression and movement, our own meaning, our own needs, and our own why.

Moving through life without our ´Self Wise´ is like sailing a boat without a rudder.

It is therefore not surprising that so many people are experiencing fear, uncertainty, and doubt. For many, the body has become a place of emptiness, discomfort, pain, and tension.
Many people feel lost within themselves, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. Being truly yourself is a difficult challenge in this society, when it should actually be completely natural.

Our ´Self Wise´ knows how to dance through life and with life; physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It has the talent to perceive the world from the heart, to nurture itself with the beauty inside and outside, and to live passionately. To tap into the wisdom that our far ancestors already had about life. Wisdom about ourselves that can’t be found in books. Wisdom about ourselves that we only unlock when we start to perceive and feel life in ourselves and around us again. Wisdom about how to heal, blossom, and grow.

The wisdom that we can access again when we stop pigeonholing the body, mind, soul, and spirit and instead think in wholeness, relationship, and connection. And that connection resides in our embodied self, which is always in a lively exchange with all life and energy around it.

The body breathes our spirit and expresses our soul. And for these reasons, it is so important to come home to your body and embrace and befriend your Self Wise again.

The somatic movement adventures in my retreats will give you the space to discover yourself again, trust your own way again, and put yourself at the helm of your life. So that you can move confidently and passionated in your skin again.