THOUGHT KNOTS

Let’s talk about Thought Knots. This is the phrase that I use to describe places in your fascia where physical and emotional stress cross over the fascia. The body is a miracle of engineering that when open moves freely, but as soon as that movement gets interrupted, you can find yourself dealing with these pesky Thought- Knots. 

I’m Savannah Alalia and welcome to the latest episode of High Functioning Human podcast where you connect to yourself as a high-functioning human. So how does your fascia get stuck? This is a big conversation because your fascia tells the story of your life. Everything that has happened to you and especially everything that you’re holding on to mentally and emotionally, consciously or unconsciously. All that information is stored in your fascia. 

Let’s talk about a more familiar part of the Thought Knot, which is the Knot, the physical aspect. Some stuckness can be directly traced to events like injuries or surgeries. Some might be more subtle, like holding your body in a certain position or repeating a certain movement can cause stuckness. Holding a baby on your hip, sitting in the same position whilst working at a desk, any manual job that includes a repetitive movement. Everyone knows the feeling of holding tension in a certain area. I personally have a lot of issues with my ankles from the days when I used to competitively ice skate as a teenager. 

But, it’s more complicated because your body is a great compensator. So when your body finds itself unable to move in one direction, you may subconsciously start using other parts of your body in unfamiliar ways and this can cause stuckness to show up in new areas. You may have heard me talk about the following the Thought Knots or the lines of stuck fascia through your body, observing where they twist.

It’s important to understand that you can have several Thought Knots. Recognising which line is attached to which thought is a key part of this process. This initially can be difficult to see, but the more you get in to talk to your body and get the feedback through exercise, bodywork, fascia release, the clearer this will become. This is also a key part of some of my programs, so reach out if you’re interested in exploring this more. 

Observing yourself in a mirror or taking photos can really help. Look at how you’re standing or leaning. Do you have one shoulder higher than the other? Are you putting your weight evenly through the way you’ve planted your feet on the ground? Or are you favouring one of your legs? These are all important things to learn about yourself. 

Another way to check in is to use the fascia in your face as a mirror for the rest of your body. This is the principle behind my Face Map and the Your Face Symmetry programs. The face can be so expressive and beyond giving you information about where you’re stuck. You can even find relief in your body by working the fascia in your face. It’s such a great way to support yourself. 

So that’s the physical places where your fascia might be stuck. But what about the Thought part of the Thought Knot? When we talk about the fascia, it’s always in both a physical and emotional way. Make sure to check out my Fascia and Feelings episode if you want a bit more of an intro into this. 

So if we know that our fascia and our feelings are intrinsically connected, what does this mean for our stuck fascia? It’s easy to think that the stuckness comes from purely overuse or movement, but in fact it is a combination of things. 

Yes, repetitive movements can cause stuckness, but so can repeated thoughts or traumas. Your worry, anger, grief and the actions you take. How your body is moving whilst you’re feeling these emotions will also have an effect or an impact. The conversation of mental health is such a high priority at the moment. But mental health lives in your body. As your brain and your nervous system holds on to emotional distress or repeated negative thoughts or self doubt, these tensions get knotted into your fascia as it gets stuck. Childhood trauma especially can show up in your fascia in ways that can really surprise you. 

I call these places Thought Knots as I find it a really easy way of thinking about the link between your physical stuckness and the emotional loops. And it’s also a great metaphor for the work it takes to address these areas. You’re moving the Thought Knot, you’re unravelling it. It’s work. It’s more than just the untying of a knot and it’s gone. It’s the journey that can take years. It’s best approached when you dig in for the long haul. This sounds really serious, but it can actually be really fun. As you unpick stuff, you’re getting to choose the narrative that you create going forward.

And as I mentioned earlier, I dig into this in more detail in the Your Face Symmetry 3 and my larger program Your Intuitive Life as this is such a huge topic. The important thing to remember is that your body works as a whole and needs to be treated holistically. Ailments and pains are rarely only physical or only emotional. There tends to be a crossover where the physical pain and the emotional stress coincide. 

If you’re curious about unravelling these thought knots and learning more about their impact on your holistic well being, leave a comment below. 

Remember, trust your instincts and follow your intuition because the world needs your voice and the magic it brings to us all. 

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As always, I remain a cheerleader for your inner self-worth,