Embracing Life in Motion can help us with Change and Growth
The Fluidity of Life
Life in the natural world is never static. To our knowledge, the universe began with an explosion, and everything has been in motion ever since. There’s a delicate balance between predictable patterns and moments of chaos. If you were to observe nature, even when things seem out of control, synchronicity often emerges, restoring balance or homeostasis. But even homeostasis itself is not fixed—it shifts and evolves over time.
The Need for Safety in Chaos
During moments of suffering, especially when rooted in trauma, we often crave control, safety, and predictability. Our nervous system seeks grounding, a sense of stability to help us feel safe. However, trauma can leave us clinging to predictability, avoiding anything unknown that feels threatening.
Yet, the world is always in motion. Change is inevitable. When we don’t feel safe enough to move with that change, we may resist it, leading to overwhelm or anxiety. This resistance—whether through attempts to control or avoid change—often leaves us feeling stuck, as if life is passing us by. Life is changing and moving, and if we hold onto fixed ideas or frameworks, we might not be moving with the world.
Resisting vs. Flowing with Change
What if we embraced the idea that change is constant? What if we saw life’s labels, definitions, and structures not as fixed but as tools that can evolve? Take boundaries, for example. While boundaries are essential, clinging to them without reflection can lead to rigidity. Are our boundaries still aligned with our current needs and values?
Checking in with ourselves—our mind, body, and relationships—helps us remain flexible and attuned to what serves us now. Boundaries, like life itself, are not static; they should grow and adapt with us.
Living in the Present
Our past shapes our worldview and our boundaries, and adapting them to the present is crucial for our future. Holding onto convictions rooted in the past may prevent us from evolving. For example, we might think, “Life was this way for the last ten years, so it will stay the same.” But life is dynamic. Tomorrow could bring something entirely different. Structures such as routine are certainly an important part of living. They are a healthy part of our existence—grounding, fulfilling, and supportive in goal-setting and achievement. At the same time, familiarity within a structure offers us opportunities to experience and feel differently each time.
When we can engage in a routine while remaining open to new experiences within it—or to shifts away from it—we embody it fully and feel truly alive. On the other hand, when we hold onto the notion that things must go exactly as planned, this rigidity can lead to stress and dissatisfaction with what we do. Sometimes, things that have worked for us, such as routines, thought processes, and relationships, no longer work the same way, and small shifts or major ones need to occur.
While routines and structure can provide stability, remaining open within them allows for necessary growth and adaptation. If we create strong boundaries in the past to protect ourselves but never reassess them, they might no longer serve us. Life requires flexibility. Sometimes, we need firm boundaries, and other times, a softer, more adaptable approach fosters connection and growth.
The Balance Between Comfort and Growth
Comfort is essential for safety, and it’s not the same as fulfillment or happiness. Sometimes, we mistake the familiar for the fulfilling, resisting the unknown. Yet, every moment offers an opportunity to grow, transform, and connect.
By grounding ourselves in safety while remaining open to change, we can navigate life with curiosity and resilience. Trusting the wisdom of our ever-changing bodies allows us to respond to life’s flow rather than resist it.
Embracing Life’s Natural Flow
If we accept that life is always in motion, we can approach it with openness. Not every roadblock needs to be viewed as an obstacle. There are obstacles in life, and they’re important. They can sadden and hurt us, but just as we can notice that life is in motion, so are we. If we embrace our hurt and grief, that hurt and grief will move; it will shift and transform. Being stuck is holding onto the idea that things need to feel the same, and then we actually begin to suffer when we feel different emotions. What if we trusted ourselves to navigate challenges and allowed the world to teach us what we need to know?
By letting go of rigid structures, we can discover freedom and possibility. Life’s natural flow can help us learn, grow, and step into versions of ourselves that feel authentic in the present. Ironically, we can be in stillness, calm, and feel more grounded in the present moment when we can accept the nuances of life.
Exploring Rigidity and Openness in Therapy
In therapy, we can learn to understand the parts of us that want to hold on to certainty and learn that part of it is essential for our being while also learning how to hold newer realities for us. When we work carefully and accept where we are, we can learn what we need, and when we do that, there is room for exploration, and room to hold different possibilities.
Through careful exploration, we can learn what these parts need and how they support us, even when they feel limiting. By accepting where we are, we create space to hold new realities—ones that align with who we are now.
Rigidity in boundaries, beliefs, or emotions is not inherently bad; sometimes, it’s essential. It can keep us safe, grounded, and secure. If we find that these fixed structures no longer serve our growth, therapy can offer a space to explore alternatives and even small shifts within these structures. It allows us to hold both—certainty and flexibility—without losing ourselves.
From this place of understanding, we can begin to play with possibility. What would it feel like to loosen our grip, even just a little? To explore new ways of being while still honoring our need for stability? Therapy isn’t about forcing change but about creating the safety and trust needed to embrace life’s fluidity in a way that feels right for each of us.
-Imuri
