WITH SHANA HARTMAN

navigating fear is ultimately recognizing that

I AM NOT THE FEAR.

#WriterlyBreadcrumbs #Embodied #Aligned #Navigating#NavigatingFear

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 @ 12NOON EST :: JOIN US ON FACEBOOK FOR THE LIVE INTERVIEW

BodyMind living is a process for me to stay connected to my inner source of knowing, where God lives in me, where my truth is constant. The process is messy and a continual practice!

Through her 20+ years of work mastering the power of reflection and intention, she discovered that we are our own experts regarding our body and mind when we just learn to listen.

Her favorite way to listen and get embodied is through writing! In her experience as owner and operator of Synergy Wellness Group LLC, Shana knows this listening (and writing) is easier said than done, and we aren’t meant to figure out this amazing life (or body) on our own. It takes practice, specific actions, and support. She loves to support strong, independent female-identifying business owners in planning, writing, and finishing the books tugging at their heart to be shared with the world, one embodied step at a time.

When she’s not supporting others in their writing, she can be found snuggled on the couch with her hubby enjoying homemade popcorn or on an adventure with her family of five, including her kids — a junior in college, a senior in high school, and a fourth grader!

Managing Editor BodyMind Living Magazine / Embodied Writing Coach Follow her “Writerly Breadcrumbs” and on Instagram @shanahartman_

What does BodyMind living mean to you?

I love answering this question even though there is no definitive answer! BodyMind living is a process for me to stay connected to my inner source of knowing, where God lives in me, where my truth is constant. The process is messy and a continual practice!

I notice BodyMind living in everything from simple moments, like what I’m choosing to eat for lunch, to more complex moments, like leaving my university job as an English professor to fully claim my purpose as an embodied writing coach. I also am learning how BodyMind living is about being connected to others because I am so connected to myself.

We are not meant to navigate anything in this life on our own, so living BodyMind aligned allows me to constantly learn and receive wisdom from others as they learn and receive from me. It’s a beautifully reciprocal process that I am so blessed to experience because of my journey as a BodyMind coach!

How do you navigate fear and uncertainty?

I want to start off by saying there is no “final answer” to this question, as fear and uncertainty just are in life. They seem to be necessary for almost every aspect of

...................................................................................................................... living. Every new experience, new growth edge invites fear in, which I’ve learned through BodyMind living is really our beautiful brain’s way of keeping us safe and, ultimately, making sure we don’t die. It’s a basic survival instinct.

When that growth edge has nothing to do with death or harming myself, navigating fear then becomes this interesting dance of who I get to become by taking the next aligned step with fear by my side. I don’t think I ever navigate away from fear, and I don’t think I make choices by pushing through fear either. Because of my connection to myself, I can now sit with fear, feel where it’s living in my body, get curious about what the feeling is trying to say and communicate, and then I get to choose what happens next.

I think navigating fear is ultimately about recognizing that I am not the fear. Fear is just a feeling that is being communicated, and I get to decide what I make it mean.

Understanding that choice, then, supports me in navigating the uncertainty that shows up just as fear does. I find uncertainty has a lot of questions: “Can I do this? What if it all goes wrong? What if everyone hates me?” Again, I navigate this follow up emotion by trying to tune in and listen. I get to decide which of these questions are mine and which ones I get to return to sender (another helpful framework I

learned through Laura Wieck and the BodyMind Coaching team and program). Many are quickly returned to the naysayers who are projecting their own patterns and work on me. Not mine, moving on! The questions that are mine, the uncertainty that I am owning, then shifts into my own work. This is a continual process of choosing me over my gremlins, choosing my God-given purpose over the little voice that believes it is safer to stay where I am. Overall, navigating fear and uncertainty is a never-ending process that I am appreciative of continually working through because it means I’m truly living!

What common advice do you love to share with your clients that you would like to share with our audience?

I hear myself most often sharing questions derived from a core belief that our body is our compass. So, I will ask something like the following: “When you tune into your source of knowing, what do you really want to do, say, write, know right now or in this particular circumstance?” Whatever comes up quickly is often the aligned action needed for the client.

In my embodied writing programs, I find myself continually reminding the heart-centered business owners I work with to “just write… and then write some more!” We often approach writing our book with this notion that I have to know exactly what I want to write before I write it. In reality, there is no way we can know what needs to be written because we haven’t met those words yet! This is the journey of both embodied writing and BodyMind living — tuning in constantly to discover what our next aligned word and action step is in this world!