Love Lessons Archives https://oritkrug.com/category/love-lessons/ Wed, 11 Oct 2023 22:00:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 How to reduce emotional triggers and communicate more effectively with your partner https://oritkrug.com/reduce-emotional-triggers/ https://oritkrug.com/reduce-emotional-triggers/#respond Mon, 01 Nov 2021 20:11:02 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=5962 How to reduce emotional triggers and communicate more effectively with your partner By Orit Krug  |  November 1st, 2021 Have you tried to reduce emotional triggers in your relationship with breathing and mindset hacks, but you still struggle to stay calm? I don’t want you to waste any more time with strategies [...]

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How to reduce emotional triggers and communicate more effectively with your partner

By Orit Krug  |  November 1st, 2021

Have you tried to reduce emotional triggers in your relationship with breathing and mindset hacks, but you still struggle to stay calm?

I don’t want you to waste any more time with strategies that don’t work, so let’s cut to the chase.

If you’ve tried to “just breathe” or “feel your feet on the ground” during conflict, but you still react or shut down in your relationship… this is NOT your fault!

This is a strong indication of unresolved trauma from your past.

Calming “hacks” can be helpful for some people in the short-term, but they will not rewire your nervous system. Which is what you need to sustainably reduce emotional triggers.

Rewire your nervous system to reduce emotional triggers for good.

If you’re with a loving partner, but you’re still getting triggered no matter what they say or do, then your nervous system is not functioning correctly.

After you experience trauma, your nervous system gets wired to overreact to the tiniest things. These things may seem silly but they are actually faint reminders of your past trauma.

The way your partner sneaks up behind you to surprise you with a hug may impulsively remind you of how a previous abusive partner physically harmed you.

The smell of your partner’s cologne may trigger a memory of your narcissistic father who would only show love when you begged for it.

It may not make logical sense, but trauma memories are stored in the body as fragments of sensations. Any subtle smell, taste, sight, etc that’s connected to your past will trigger you today to protect yourself. Even when there’s no real danger.

Rewiring your nervous system basically recalibrates your inner alarm system. What seems overwhelming, scary and threatening now becomes easy to navigate. Then you can CHOOSE how you want to communicate & respond instead of always being hijacked by your emotions.

Expanding your Window Of Tolerance is the most effective way to reduce emotional triggers.

When you rewire your nervous system, you essentially expand your Window of Tolerance (WOT).

Your WOT is your calm, cool, regulated state in your nervous system. If you think back to the most serene day you’ve ever had at the beach (if that’s your thing), that’s what it’s like being in your WOT.

anxious attachment polyamory

The infographic above shows how you can get triggered up into a Hyper-arousal state, where you react in anger, feel anxious, and generally feel agitated.

Alternatively, you could get triggered down into a Hypo-arousal state where you react with feeling numb, “checked out” and depressed.

You may predominantly react in just one of these 2 ways when you get triggered. It’s also normal to regularly alternate between getting explosively angry and going numb. In that case, you alternate between getting triggered into Hyper-arousal and Hypo-arousal.

Instead of calming hacks, you need gentle, gradual, and consistent movements to stop overreacting in your relationship.

“Calming hacks” are designed to be a quick-fix that are actually too harsh to rewire your nervous system.

That’s because your nervous system requires gentle, gradual rewiring over time. And the strategy of rewiring depends on your dominant arousal type.

If you react by numbing out when you have a fight with your partner, it will make things WORSE to take slow breaths. Your nervous system needs to learn how to gently upregulate back into your WOT (refer back to infographic).

This requires gentle stimulation with more energizing and enlivening movements. NOT slow, heavy movements.

If you react by exploding with anger, it is NOT effective for you to stop and take a deep breath either. Going from a large, intense exertion of energy to stopping & breathing is too abrupt. Your nervous system & body need to decelerate into slower movements. Gently and gradually.

When you expand your WOT the CORRECT way, you achieve a LASTING state of calm in your body & nervous system.

The more expanded your WOT, the less you’ll be triggered through any situation. You can even get to a point where you RARELY get triggered, even through difficult conflict.

I once had a horrible experience in therapy with a “trauma expert” who didn’t understand how to help me regulate.

I arrived to session in a Hypo-aroused state in my nervous system. I was numb, heavy, lethargic. Barely there.

My therapist immediately changed her tone and energy to match mine. She talked very softly and calmly. She *thought* she was doing the right thing to help me feel safe.

However, this created even more fear and unsafety in me. Being in the Hypo-aroused state, I needed my therapist to show up with a little more energy to help me get activated back into my WOT.

Unfortunately, I left the session feeling worse and took me a few more days to get out of this depressed state.

I’m telling you this because it’s important to be very cautious when you work with a “trauma therapist.” Trauma is a trendy buzzword these days, and the truth is that most people lack adequate training and their own personal therapy healing their trauma.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

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3 common causes of intimacy avoidance in a relationship https://oritkrug.com/intimacy-avoidance/ Tue, 27 Jul 2021 12:21:28 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=5637 3 common causes of intimacy avoidance in a relationship By Orit Krug  |  July 27th, 2021 Intimacy avoidance can happen even in a healthy, loving relationship. Let’s talk about why intimacy avoidance is happening in your relationship and how to know if you're creating distance due to past trauma: 1. You’ve been [...]

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3 common causes of intimacy avoidance in a relationship

By Orit Krug  |  July 27th, 2021

Intimacy avoidance can happen even in a healthy, loving relationship.

Let’s talk about why intimacy avoidance is happening in your relationship and how to know if you’re creating distance due to past trauma:

1. You’ve been hurt in the past.

Your unresolved trauma of abandonment and rejection creates a story in your body and nervous system that all closeness and intimacy end in hurt.

It feels too scary to risk more rejection and let your guard down, and that makes it “safer” to avoid intimacy

You truly have to be vulnerable to initiate sexual, emotional, and physical intimacy. If you’re stuck in a self-protective state, then you’ll experience too much anxiety just thinking about this risk.

You may also think about initiating a sexy text or reaching out for a hug. But because your body is so frozen in the old trauma, you remain stuck in not taking any action.

This isn’t your fault. It’s what commonly happens when trauma is stored in the body, which leads us to reason #2.

2. You have a fear of rejection.

If your fear of rejection stems from trauma, then your nervous system is now wired to look for every potential danger sign that you could get hurt.

Let’s say your partner leaves their socks on the floor and hasn’t picked them up in 3 days. You asked them multiple times, but they haven’t listened.

Feeling utterly wounded, you think:

“WHY? Why don’t they care about my needs? Why doesn’t ANYONE love me?”

You totally blow it out of proportion in a very intense and quick way.

This is how you know that your old trauma is being triggered. It’s the littlest things cause a deep wounded feeling of rejection.

Maybe your mind knows that you’re overreacting, but your body feels like giving up and collapsing. This can make you feel like you don’t have the emotional strength to risk intimacy. Hence, it feels best to just avoid it.

3. You and your partner aren’t always on the same page.

In the beginning of my relationship with Aaron–before I healed my trauma–I avoided sexual intimacy.

He wanted to do the deed at night and I preferred it in the morning when I was more energized and awake. 

I often tried to make a move after breakfast, but he repeatedly said no (I later learned that he doesn’t feel sexy with a full belly, ha!).

I immediately made up a lot of stories in my head like, “Why doesn’t he love me?”

“Is he more attracted to someone else? WAIT, IS THERE SOMEONE ELSE?”

It was so triggering for me that I stopped initiating sex for a while.

After I healed my trauma, I could actually have a healthy conversation about this instead of assuming the worst.

We still have our different needs for intimacy.

Even now, there are times when I just want to cuddle with him and he says he wants his own space. Or he’s too sweaty to be touching.

Back in the day, I was heartbroken over it. I always suspected that he was lying to cover up why he doesn’t really want me.

Now that I’ve taken off my trauma-tinted glasses, I can finally see him and his needs. I have no resentment when his needs are different than mine. It’s not personal.

When you and your partner aren’t on the same page, what are the stories you create about it? Are they too painful? Is it easier to just give up trying?

Intimacy avoidance is easier than dealing with the old trauma.

It’s common for old trauma to resurface when you and your partner have different preferences for intimacy. This makes your nervous system automatically go into self-protection mode to prevent getting hurt like you did in the past.

However, this “protection” is self-sabotaging and leads to intimacy avoidance. Inevitably, you will get hurt again because of the distance you’re creating in your relationship today.

In order to truly rewire your nervous system, break patterns of avoidance and ENJOY intimacy, you have to do this healing work through your body and movement. 

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

The post 3 common causes of intimacy avoidance in a relationship appeared first on Orit Krug | Dance Movement Therapist.

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4 reasons why you’re emotionally cheating on someone you love https://oritkrug.com/cheating-on-someone-you-love/ Thu, 22 Jul 2021 13:23:37 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=5594 4 reasons why you’re emotionally cheating on someone you love By Orit Krug  |  July 22nd, 2021 Cheating on someone you love is often a sign of unresolved trauma. I know this personally because I used to have uncontrollable urges to emotionally cheat on the people I love and it all [...]

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4 reasons why you’re emotionally cheating on someone you love

By Orit Krug  |  July 22nd, 2021

Cheating on someone you love is often a sign of unresolved trauma.

I know this personally because I used to have uncontrollable urges to emotionally cheat on the people I love and it all went away once I finally released the trauma from my body.

So let’s jump in:

1. Your nervous system is adapted to equate love with drama & trauma.

Have you told your therapist or friends that you’re struggling with emotionally cheating on someone you love, and they said something like, “Oh, you’re just bored!” 

I imagine that was pretty infuriating. It’s MUCH more complex than that. 

First of all, the feedback that “You’re bored” is highly invalidating and irresponsible coming from a therapist because there is something much deeper happening at the level of your nervous system, due to old trauma.

When you experience trauma, you become wired to feel “safe” and comfortable in traumatic and dramatic relationships.

This makes safe and healthy relationships feel boring because the drama isn’t there. It actually feels empty, like something is missing.

You cannot simply resolve this by doing something more exciting with your partner. Your entire system that keeps you alive currently CRAVES chaos, because that’s the only way it knows how to survive.

Creating drama and risky situations through emotional cheating, despite being with your partner who you love, gives you that instant rush that also makes you feel calm and settled again. 

2. You’re addicted to other people’s approval and reassurance.

In the early stages of your relationship with your partner, their reassurance and approval of you was very satisfying. But it no longer gives you a rush because you’ve been together for so long. It’s like a drug that used to feel so good but now your body adapted to it, so it feels boring and uneventful.

Now, you feel the need to find a different drug or a stronger hit that will actually cause that rush of sensation and excitement in your body. This is also why you look outside of your relationship for something riskier and more taboo. The higher the risk, the higher “reward” (or dopamine hit to your body).

After experiencing trauma, even from 20+ years ago, our bodies often become disconnected and numb. If you don’t feel alive on the inside, you’re sure as heck not going to be able to feel that within your relationship.

So you’re constantly seeking that hit of fire or spark, when in reality you must be able to feel that in yourself first. That way, you can feel ALIVE enough to feel a sense of aliveness in your relationship.

That was actually one of my favorite pieces of feedback from a former client of my Let Love In program. She had actually started working with us to resolve her own issues with sexual intimacy, and she said, “I got so much more than that.” 

She added, “When the shift began to happen in my body (which I am still experiencing), it was like something was being born/made new from deep inside of me. My moment came amidst the tears & rawness of it all and I realized that I was ALIVE for the first time in my life. My husband has even said that he’s noticed a change.  He says I’m more connected – I’m there with him & that is huge!” 

After years of trauma, you have to access this aliveness within yourself to feel it anywhere else in your life. You will not find sustainable excitement or passion if it’s not within you. Even if cheating gives you a temporary rush of excitement, betraying the person you love will only create more hurt and trauma.

3. You need a backup plan.

Trauma has made you believe that all love ends in hurt, rejection, and abandonment. 

Even though you know in your mind that your partner is dedicated to you and won’t leave you, you still worry you’ll be left alone.

You’re cheating on someone you love because you need a backup just in case something goes wrong in your current relationship. This is a self-protective mechanism. Because with trauma, you now have the belief stored in your body that all love ends in hurt, rejection, abandonment.

The person you’re emotionally cheating with is your backup plan or safety net. This is similar to anyone who’s hoarding or saving up finances on the side just in case they need to leave. This plan would make sense for someone planning to leave an abusive relationship, but when your relationship is healthy and you’re still doing that – you know that old trauma is still controlling you.

Protecting yourself from being ALL IN in your relationship prevents you from experiencing the highest potential of love, connection, and intimacy with your partner.

No wonder you’re not satisfied. You’re not letting it in.

All of this sets you up for a negative self-fulfilling prophecy. When you look for a backup for when things go wrong, but you’re the one who’s creating the things that are going wrong. Then it’s like, “I guess I needed that backup after all!” Because you created the problem. 

A former client of Let Love In began to work with us because she emotionally cheated on her husband. 

She was always a “good girl.” She grew up with parents who never allowed her to express any “negative” emotions so she learned to hide her true feelings. 

Now, even though she’s with a loving, supportive husband today, she always felt like she had to put on her good girl mask with him.

Thus, she was never truly seen in her relationship. She operated under the belief that she had to look for a safer relationship elsewhere to finally be herself, even though she had it right in front of her. 

Once she rewired her nervous system and allowed her body to believe it’s safe to be her true self– that her husband is not her father or mother, and that she’s not a “helpless child” anymore– she finally repaired those childhood experiences and started expressing herself unapologetically. 

She began to take up more space while being more confident in her body. Her true self emerged in herself and in her relationship. This eliminated her false belief that she is only safe to express her needs and be seen in a relationship outside of her marriage.

4. You know why you do it, but you don’t know HOW to stop doing it.

You know exactly why your past trauma is making you stray, but cheating is like an addiction that takes over you, and you find yourself repeating the same pattern again.

It doesn’t matter how much intellectual understanding or cognitive awareness you have about your patterns of cheating. In order to truly change your behaviors, your body and nervous system must be on board so you can actually physically follow through with your mind’s intention to not cheat.

This takes much more work than telling yourself not to cheat because this old trauma repeatedly controls and hijacks your behaviors before you can even think about doing something different. You have to rewire your nervous system to feel safe and excited in a stable, non-dramatic relationship.

Until you feel that safety with your partner, you’ll continue to impulsively sabotage your relationship.

Stop the cycle of self-sabotage and rewire yourself to enjoy the healthy love you have now.

In my FREE Rewired For Love training, you’ll learn the 3 secrets to healing your trauma and ending your unhealthy relationship patterns that stem from the past. 

This free training will give you the clarity you need to create the most connected and fulfilling relationship with your partner without sabotaging your amazing connection or repeating the same stories from the past.

Sign up for my FREE training

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How to deal with emotional triggers in relationships without sabotaging your connection https://oritkrug.com/emotional-triggers-in-relationships/ Thu, 08 Jul 2021 17:39:00 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=5570 How to deal with emotional triggers in relationships without sabotaging your connection By Orit Krug  |  July 8th, 2021 There are so many unhelpful tips about how to deal with emotional triggers in relationships. To manage emotional triggers in relationships, many experts will say, “Breathe before you respond,” or “Practice a script [...]

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How to deal with emotional triggers in relationships without sabotaging your connection

By Orit Krug  |  July 8th, 2021

There are so many unhelpful tips about how to deal with emotional triggers in relationships.

To manage emotional triggers in relationships, many experts will say, “Breathe before you respond,” or “Practice a script of what you want to say in X situation.”

Unfortunately, these tips don’t actually work in the moment when your brain and body are triggered.

We cannot simply breathe our way through triggers. We cannot cover up intense nervous system reactions with rehearsed words.

When we are triggered, we lose the ability to make rational decisions and control our emotions, even when we intellectually know we’re overreacting.

In order to understand why, let’s first get clear on what exactly is a trigger.

The difference between a trauma trigger and a normal emotional response.

Let’s say your partner asks you 7 times in the same week, “Where’s that wooden cooking spoon?” 

A normal response would be something along the lines of, “Wow, this is getting irritating. I wish you would just remember where the spoon is so you don’t have to ask me so many times.”

A trauma trigger would look more like yelling and crying, “WHY can’t you just listen? WHY don’t you ever hear what I’m saying to you?” Followed by a total meltdown.

Now, it’s okay and even healthy to have normal frustrations with your partner (I can’t tell you how many times my husband tells me he can’t find something and then I find it in 2 seconds, ha!).

But with a trauma trigger, there’s an intensely different reaction happening in your brain, nervous system, and your body.

When you have old trauma stored in your body, your hippocampus is diminished and it cannot distinguish past trauma from the present reality.  So when your partner asks for you to find something for the 7th time in a week, it feels the SAME as when your parents neglected your emotional needs because they didn’t pay attention to you.

Want to see a map of how exactly the brain is affected by trauma? Sign up for my FREE Rewired For Love Training.

This triggers in you the old trauma of being unheard, unmet, and betrayed by the people who were supposed to love and see you more than anyone else.

Are you being triggered or are you having normal, healthy responses in your relationship?

Are you experiencing normal emotions that come with living or being with a partner for many years? Are you having a healthy amount of bickering or disagreements?

Or are you experiencing intense reactions that make you impulsively yell, shut down, or get in your car and leave in the middle of a conversation?

Are you able to follow common tips like, “Breathe before you respond” or “Communicate that you’re angry in a nice way?” Or does it all go out the window as soon as you have conflict or confrontation with your partner?

Many people will call themselves broken or damaged goods because they can’t follow these “simple” and “helpful” tips to stop being triggered, but the truth is that NO ONE with unresolved trauma can fake being calm. 

You must teach your nervous system to regulate itself and expand your window of tolerance so that you can respond the way you’d like, without pushing away your partner.

Even if breathing and scripted words have worked a few times before, they are not long-term, sustainable solutions to rewiring your nervous system.

Rewiring your nervous system will help you maintain calm in the face of triggers.

My client Allison used to become so triggered whenever she and her partner talked about money. She’d blow up so fast. She would yell and say, “You need to get a job or I’m DONE!” She would be quick to shut down and end the conversation. 

But this morning, she sent me a message and said that things have completely shifted for her. She said, “I can’t believe it! We actually had a conversation about money. I was able to be present and he even asked me for advice!”

Rewiring her nervous system allowed her to be able to CHOOSE her response. She said she still felt the impulse to give an ultimatum and shut down the discussion… but she didn’t.

And that is KEY! 

She had become so comfortable with feeling discomfort and difficult emotions in her body (through our sessions) that she was no longer hijacked by them. By being able to stay present in her body and our therapeutic relationship FIRST in session, she was easily able to do that in her real-life relationship.

That is the process of rewiring, in a nutshell, where your nervous system becomes so comfortable and skilled at staying present and connected even through confrontation. This is what brings relationships closer than ever instead of falling apart whenever there is a bump in the road.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

The post How to deal with emotional triggers in relationships without sabotaging your connection appeared first on Orit Krug | Dance Movement Therapist.

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Emotionally healthy relationships start with a healthy foundation – Do you have one? https://oritkrug.com/emotionally-healthy-relationships/ Tue, 22 Jun 2021 18:09:04 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=5123 Emotionally healthy relationships start with a healthy foundation - Do you have one? By Orit Krug  |  June 22nd, 2021 Emotionally healthy relationships start with a good foundation of healthy communication, respect and intimacy. We all know that, so why is it so hard to achieve it? Well, a healthy foundation needs [...]

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Emotionally healthy relationships start with a healthy foundation – Do you have one?

By Orit Krug  |  June 22nd, 2021

Emotionally healthy relationships start with a good foundation of healthy communication, respect and intimacy.

We all know that, so why is it so hard to achieve it?

Well, a healthy foundation needs to start with you.

WAIT – “What about my partner? Don’t they need to be healthy too?”

Yes, but let’s put that aside for a moment and focus on you right now.

You need a strong foundation of confidence, playfulness, and openness within yourself to be able to have an emotionally healthy relationship.

But if you have unresolved trauma in the body, then you probably often feel insecure, heavy, serious, and guarded, which makes it nearly impossible to have a healthy relationship with anyone else.

Trauma can keep you from having lasting, emotionally healthy relationships.

First of all, I want to remind you that an unhealthy relationship with yourself is an issue, but it is NOT your fault if you have one due to past trauma.

Because you’re storing trauma in your body, your nervous system automatically does whatever it takes to prevent another heartache, abandonment, or betrayal from happening again… even if your original trauma happened 20 years ago.

This shows up in your relationship as being defensive at any tiny sign of conflict or being too controlling in order to prevent things from falling apart.

This is just your primal body doing what it’s designed to do: protect you from feeling pain and hurt so you can survive as a human being.

We cannot change our biology, so until the trauma is released from your body, this will continue to happen no matter how many times you tell yourself to behave differently or repeat affirmations that you are worthy of love.

First, identify what emotions need to be released from your past.

My client Farrah left her abusive husband several years ago and is now with a supportive loving partner, but even after years of talk therapy and energy healings, she still feels guarded and disconnected in her new marriage.

Once we started working together through the body, she realized she has not allowed herself to let in her new husband’s love because she still feels such intense guilt for leaving her last husband. 

Even though her last husband was abusive, she made a promise to stick with him through “thick and thin” and that’s where her guilt is stemming from. Intellectually, she knew she shouldn’t feel guilty for leaving an abusive partner, but her body holds a different story.

Through movement, we have been able to release her guilt that was actually covering up deeper trauma that felt too scary to release until now. 

Now, she is beginning to let in her husband’s love and accept that she is actually worthy of his love! She is no longer punishing herself and sabotaging her first real opportunity for a healthy lasting relationship. 

Once you release your trauma, you can have an emotionally healthy relationship that lasts.

You’ll know you have healed your trauma and capable of having an emotionally healthy relationship when you can:

  1. Communicate harmoniously and feel compassion for your partner even through disagreements
  2. Feel confident in your connection even when you spend time apart instead of fearing abandonment or imagining your partner cheating
  3. Receive feedback without immediately feeling criticized or worried that your partner doesn’t love you
  4. Feel in your entire body that you are worthy of love. As a result, you believe your partner’s compliments, stay present through sexual and emotional intimacy, and eliminate intrusive negative thoughts.

Once you do, you’ll feel so much lighter, freer, and more alive within yourself and your relationship. The relief that this brings to your entire body, mind and soul is incredible.

Learn how to heal your trauma for good and rewire your nervous system for healthy love.

No matter how many times you talk about the past or how many years you spend in different types of therapy, you cannot heal your trauma unless you are doing it through your nervous system and body.

Once you heal, you can build that amazing healthy foundation that is required to have even the most basic foundation that makes up a healthy, positive and lasting relationship. 

Even if you’ve been struggling in your current relationship, you can still turn things around by healing the trauma that makes you sabotage and push away your loving partner.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

The post Emotionally healthy relationships start with a healthy foundation – Do you have one? appeared first on Orit Krug | Dance Movement Therapist.

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From “I don’t have time” to enjoying every second of my husband’s loving embrace https://oritkrug.com/from-i-dont-have-time-to-enjoying-every-second-of-my-husbands-loving-embrace/ https://oritkrug.com/from-i-dont-have-time-to-enjoying-every-second-of-my-husbands-loving-embrace/#respond Mon, 16 Dec 2019 21:40:17 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=3275 From "I don't have time" to enjoying every second of my husband's loving embrace By Orit Krug  |  December 16th, 2019 I’m breaking the impulse to push away my partner’s love and loving embrace. Here’s the back story: I was having a super busy day. I didn’t eat until 2pm and I [...]

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From “I don’t have time” to enjoying every second of my husband’s loving embrace

By Orit Krug  |  December 16th, 2019

I’m breaking the impulse to push away my partner’s love and loving embrace.

Here’s the back story: I was having a super busy day. I didn’t eat until 2pm and I had 20 minutes until my next session. My husband came down to the kitchen and put his arms around me as I was making my salad.

My initial instinct was, “Dude, get away from me! I’m busy. I don’t have time for this.” 

That’s when I noticed that my loving husband was embracing me, even when I looked super sweaty from the gym and hadn’t eaten all day. 

I told myself, “TAKE IT” and I enjoyed every moment of his loving embrace.

I almost pushed him away and basically said, “I don’t have time for love,” and I’m SO happy I caught myself before I did.

My past trauma almost won in that moment… AGAIN.

I almost pushed my husband away for good 5 years ago. We broke up but are happily married now after I’ve healed from my childhood trauma. So I had to ask myself honestly, “Why did I still have an instinct to push him away?”

When I was younger, my brothers were SO intrusive to my physical space at home. They would unlock the door to my room, barge in, and bully me. They would find me in my most vulnerable moments, even outside the house and taunt me. 

I would always yell, “GO AWAY!”

That’s the same exact response I had in my body when my husband was giving me genuine, authentic love.

It wasn’t about not having time. The emotional memory that it stirred up for me was very real. Time was just an easy excuse not to deal with the remaining trauma.

You have to release past trauma so you can truly, deeply LET IN love and enjoy your husband’s loving embrace.

If I acted on my impulse to reject him, I would have said NO to spontaneous acts of love (this all happened on a random Tuesday afternoon).

I would’ve given him the message that I don’t want him to hug me whenever he feels like it. When in reality, I freakin’ LOVE it when he hugs me for no reason.

A lot of women get upset because their partners don’t regularly show them enough love.

Many blame their partners for not expressing enough affection or giving enough attention.

But the same women rarely look at how THEY are contributing to this absence of love, and how they are pushing away their partner’s loving embrace unknowingly.

If your partner isn’t showing you uninhibited expressions of love, ask yourself ‘Why?’.

Is it because they really don’t know how or don’t want to?

Or have you subconsciously pushed away even the smallest acts of love?

If you have unresolved trauma from your past relationships, then the answer is likely yes, you’ve pushed it away without even realizing it. It can be so subtle, I didn’t pinpoint this in myself until recently!

When you change your old patterns, you get more love.

My partner’s random acts of love is what keeps me going every day.

Because I’ve rewired my nervous system to NOT react to my past trauma, I was able to identify the feeling and choose a different response. This is how we begin to change our old patterns and save our relationships from failing.

This is what makes it possible for us to INVITE the most satisfying love from our partners.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

The post From “I don’t have time” to enjoying every second of my husband’s loving embrace appeared first on Orit Krug | Dance Movement Therapist.

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How do I tell my partner I’m upset without it becoming a massive fight? https://oritkrug.com/how-do-i-tell-my-partner-im-upset-without-it-becoming-a-massive-fight/ https://oritkrug.com/how-do-i-tell-my-partner-im-upset-without-it-becoming-a-massive-fight/#respond Mon, 16 Sep 2019 20:16:43 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=2738 How do I tell my partner I'm upset without it becoming a massive fight? By Orit Krug  |  July 24th, 2023 Can you be upset with your partner without it becoming a massive fight? Many women lose their power when they say they're upset but then apologize for their feelings (this defeats [...]

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How do I tell my partner I’m upset without it becoming a massive fight?

By Orit Krug  |  July 24th, 2023

Can you be upset with your partner without it becoming a massive fight?

Many women lose their power when they say they’re upset but then apologize for their feelings (this defeats the purpose of communicating their needs).

Others will go into fight mode and become verbally aggressive, which makes their partner instinctively fight back or shut down.

The key to expressing your frustration without fighting is to stay in your power and be ASSERTIVE.

What’s the difference between being assertive vs. aggressive and how do you communicate this when you’re upset with your partner?

Here’s an example of being assertive (see video above), “I’m really mad that you went out of the house for 4 hours without telling me where you’re going, what you were doing, and not responding at all to my texts while you were out. That is really not okay with me.”

An aggressive version of this might sound like, “Where did you go?! What did you do?!” While possibly cursing and yelling through angry interrogation.

Both versions express your anger, right?

But when you’re aggressive, you’re out of control. Your voice, words, and your body become hijacked by the fight response in your body and your partner has no choice but to also physiologically respond to you in fight, flight, or freeze.

It might be hard to REALLY know the difference if you’re like me and you grew up around constant acts of aggression within your family (passive aggression counts!), but it’s important to fix this NOW.

Constant fighting slowly kills you, your partner and your relationship altogether.

It’s highly stressful and exhausting for your nervous system to go into survival mode every time you fight. It releases cortisol and weakens your immune system. When this happens ALL the time, it makes you and/or your partner sick in the long run.

Even after the fight is over and you’re filled with regret about the things you said or you’re both constantly on guard because you never know when the next attack will be… this takes a LOT of energy out of you. Yes, it takes a lot out of you to be upset with your partner.

The good news is that there is a WAY to express your anger and get your needs met without so much stress.

When you’re assertive, you’re in COMMAND of your response and you get to choose what you say.

There’s a big misconception, especially for women, that we have to choose angry OR calm. If you express your anger, then you’re a “b*tch.” That’s the message we get from most men, the media, etc.

F*ck that!

You can express your anger AND be calm. You do not have to shut down your feelings because others are uncomfortable when you speak up in your power.

There’s actually a physiological state in your body where you can be in a sympathetic response (fight/flight) AND be calm & regulated. That’s exactly what being assertive is about.

Being assertive is the key to getting what you want in your relationship without constantly fighting.

When you’re assertive, you choose the words you say, how loud you say them, and what your body is doing as you say them.

Being assertive means you’re regulated and present enough to notice when your PARTNER is getting dysregulated, so you can walk away or stop the conversation before sh*t hits the fan.

Imagine how empowering it is to be in the driver’s seat of your interactions together, without losing control or apologizing for your feelings.

Even if you can’t imagine your partner NOT reacting, no matter what, they will eventually adapt and co-regulate to your calm nervous system state, and your relationship will feel totally different and more peaceful.

Let’s start changing this right here, right now.

If you feel comfortable, close your eyes or lower your gaze.

Imagine yourself being assertive with your partner. You tell your partner that you’re upset in a really calm, direct, powerful, and honest way. You say exactly what’s on your mind.

How are you standing? What are your hand and body movements like? How close or far are you in physical distance? What’s the tone and volume in your voice?

Visualize this for a few minutes.

Now, take note of the answers to the questions above.

Maybe you’re standing really tall and your movements are more direct and strong, but not threatening. Whatever images came to your mind and body – remember that.

Now, change the scene. Now you’re in this aggressive mode: angry, yelling, possibly cursing at your partner.

How do you look now? What’s your body doing now? What are your movements like now?

When I do this for myself, I picture my arms flailing in all different directions and my body is slouched over.

These feel VERY different when I do this exercise myself. The first scenario feels powerful and confident while the latter makes me feel embarrassed and sad.

Assertive and aggressive are two very different states & ways of being in our physical bodies.

This is why having a script and practicing what you’ll SAY rarely makes a difference, because when the moment comes, your body takes over.

But if you can understand the way your physical body behaves in conflict with your partner, then you’ll be in a much better position to make a lasting change to this pattern.

So I encourage you to do this visualization over and over again and note the differences in your body so you’re aware of what needs to change. Your body is the difference that your partner can see and mirror, so that you BOTH remain calm and confident, without impulsively attacking each other.

If you find that you are still impulsively reacting or shutting down with your partner, then this is a strong sign that your nervous system must be rewired in order for you to change your behaviors.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

The post How do I tell my partner I’m upset without it becoming a massive fight? appeared first on Orit Krug | Dance Movement Therapist.

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Holding in your real feelings to protect your partner? Here’s why it hurts you BOTH https://oritkrug.com/holding-in-your-real-feelings-to-protect-your-partner-heres-why-it-hurts-you-both/ Wed, 01 May 2019 15:35:41 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=2160 Holding in your real feelings to protect your partner? Here's why it hurts you BOTH By Orit Krug  |  May 1st, 2019 Imagine if you felt confident and proud of yourself for speaking up instead of holding in your real feelings and worrying so much about how it's going to affect your [...]

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Holding in your real feelings to protect your partner? Here’s why it hurts you BOTH

By Orit Krug  |  May 1st, 2019

Imagine if you felt confident and proud of yourself for speaking up instead of holding in your real feelings and worrying so much about how it’s going to affect your partner.

By holding in your real feelings, you might feel like you’re protecting them from feeling the “burden” of your feelings or maybe it’s just easier for you not to deal with how they might react.  

It creates a huge wall in your relationship.

This is a BIG reason why a lot of couples feel so disconnected after years of being together. They hardly know each other and it feels so awkward and hard to come back into each other’s lives again.

It’s NOT your fault. Holding in your real feelings is actually a habit that is embedded in your body.

Allow me to paint a picture of how this happens:

I was recently working with a client who had a repressed memory pop up as we moved together in session. 

It was a situation she wouldn’t have remembered through talking, even if I dug around with a bunch of questions. Because this was a specific traumatic memory that she subconsciously stored in her body, when she stopped her parents from attacking each other.

She was the one who took responsibility to make sure that they didn’t hurt each other while no one else in her family did. So she learned from a very young age in her body and in her nervous system, that if she didn’t take responsibility – if she didn’t hold it all everything would fall apart and someone would seriously get hurt.

Her body doesn’t believe it’s SAFE to let go of control.

She believes she has no choice but to hold it together every moment, every single day.

When your body holds deeply stored trauma memories, your nervous system doesn’t know the difference between the fear of telling your partner you’re upset and the fear of your parents attacking each other (or whatever YOUR story is).

That’s why it feels so hard today. That’s why you freeze up and don’t say anything instead. 

Or you avoid it, walk away, and push it down further until you explode.

Again, it’s NOT your fault. It’s actually what you’ve learned from a really young age. 

Your body thinks it’s protecting you from pain and hurt, but that same protective mechanism keeps your partner at a distance and creates a huge divide in your relationship.

If you want to feel good about speaking up, you have to access and release those traumatic memories from your body.

Talking about it doesn’t access what’s deeply lodged in your body.

Telling your mind to speak up in the moment doesn’t change anything when your body reacts first.

Your body HAS to believe that it’s safe to let go of that responsibility. Your body has to believe that things aren’t going to be so horrible and dangerous and life threatening. 

I’m not being dramatic! This is what your nervous system and primal body think.

According to your primal body, it IS a matter of survival. Bessel Van der Kolk says in The Body Keeps the Score that your body MUST believe that the danger of the past is actually IN the past.

Until you have a physical experience that proves that what happened isn’t happening in your current reality, then you’re going to keep repeating the patterns of your trauma today.

Your body has to physically learn how to let go of fear and confidently speak up without worrying about getting hurt.

It’s going to feel uncomfortable for your partner at first because they’re used to you taking responsibility all the time.

Their nervous system will also have to adapt to that new you.

That’s okay, that’s a great shift for you both. They’ll actually come to really love it and and be really RELIEVED by it because you’ll take down your wall and create a much deeper connection. You’re no longer going to be holding in your real feelings. 

Another amazing benefit is that they get to take care of YOU. Once you let your guard down, you’ll feel a deep sense of love by letting someone else deeply hold you.

You’ll also have to adapt to this because you’ve been taking care of everyone else and your nervous system will have to expand its tolerance to letting go of responsibility.

You have to physically learn how to step back and RECEIVE more.

It’s a beautiful thing for your relationship because your partner inherently WANTS to take care of you. They can feel useful and purposeful in your relationship without begging to be an important part of your life. Without begging to see those real feelings you’re holding in.

I work with many clients who tell me that their relationship is on its last thread when we start working together. For example, a client recently told me, “I need to quit my job and start my business. I know he’s gonna freak out and we might just have to go our separate ways.”

We worked on training her nervous system to feel safe to speak up without fearing abandonment and once she told him, she said “wow, that was easy. It wasn’t as big of a deal as I thought it would be!”

Instead, she was calm enough to be assertive by no longer holding in those real feelings and and letting him in at the same time.

This is the power of releasing your trauma through your body and becoming a new confident you who’s proud about speaking up for herself.

I know that can seem SO far off from where you’re at now, but unfortunately that’s the effect of talking so much about it and not actually releasing your trauma from your nonverbal subconscious.

When you tell the same story over and over, you’re just reinforcing the same old story in your head and not moving on with new experiences in your body.

One of my clients recently said to me that the best revenge that she could get on her abusers was to finally feel that joy and pleasure in her body.

How amazing is that?!

If you’re scared of doing this work, let that sweet revenge be your motivation.

Like, I’m going to be HAPPY! Take that, m***f***er!

This is deep, profound work, and JOYOUS work.

You do have to grieve a little bit once you access and release that trauma because it creates this whole big space in you. It feels a bit empty for a short period of time because you’ve been carrying it for so long and it was a huge part of your identity.

The grief is an awesome sign because you’re letting go a part of you that no longer serves you, you’re no longer holding in your real feelings, and you get to make space now to be this new confident and happy you.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

The post Holding in your real feelings to protect your partner? Here’s why it hurts you BOTH appeared first on Orit Krug | Dance Movement Therapist.

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Do you feel like a control freak in relationships? Here’s WHY and what to do about it. https://oritkrug.com/do-you-feel-like-a-control-freak-in-your-relationship-heres-why-and-what-to-do-about-it/ https://oritkrug.com/do-you-feel-like-a-control-freak-in-your-relationship-heres-why-and-what-to-do-about-it/#respond Tue, 16 Apr 2019 16:22:51 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=1654 Do you feel like a control freak in relationships? Here’s WHY and what to do about it. By Orit Krug  |  April 16th, 2019 Let's talk about why you REALLY feel like a control freak in relationships. Being a control freak in relationships can look like a lot of different things to [...]

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Do you feel like a control freak in relationships? Here’s WHY and what to do about it.

By Orit Krug  |  April 16th, 2019

Let’s talk about why you REALLY feel like a control freak in relationships.

Being a control freak in relationships can look like a lot of different things to different people…

Maybe you remind your partner to do the dishes 3 times in 24 hours because you don’t trust them to do what you asked.

Or you tell them to come home RIGHT after picking up dinner because you’re worried they’ll flirt with that cute waitress.

We feel short-term relief when we gain control because, well … we think we have it under control. But it harms us so much more in the long run.

Control is like an addiction.

It creates a false illusion that everything’s okay because you took control. You’ve reminded your partner to take out the trash 7 times and he finally did it, so you believe you NEEDED to control the situation in order to see your desired results.

You start to believe, “he did the dishes only because I nagged him. I HAD to remind him 3 times in ONE day!”

That sets us up and the control freak in relationships starts to need more control for even more detrimental things, like who they talk to at work or how they eyed their attractive friend.

But the thing is, you don’t HAVE to remind them to take out the trash in the first place if your partner truly cares about your feelings. If they don’t do what you ask, they know you’ll get upset. They want do it for you, if not for themselves.

They want to meet your needs, but they just might not do it as fast as you want. Give your partner the occasional reminder and see if you can let go a little bit.

Here’s the deeper issue though…

Your inner control freak thinks it’s protecting you from heartbreak.

When you’ve been heartbroken, manipulated or abused in past relationships, then you hold onto that deep traumatic experience of losing control and getting really hurt.

Your body remembers these experiences on a nonverbal subconscious level, especially if this happened over 20 years ago or when you were a child. Your whole being now believes that you’re not safe when you don’t have power or control.

Your nervous system takes over and reacts with really high-stress responses when your partner does ANYTHING that even remotely triggers a SENSE of past hurt. And because your will to survive always wins, you cannot convince yourself that “everything’s fine” even when you rationally know that your current partner is nothing like the last ones.

Being a control freak in relationships feels really f**king good on a deep primal level.

So there might be a part of you that HATES feeling like a control freak, but let’s also lovingly acknowledge that part of you that loves having some power.

When all your power was stripped away from you in the past, it feels especially good to get it back.

Maybe you’ve been in situations where if you even TRIED to regain control, you’d suffer some serious consequences.

Even though my brothers were twice my size, I used to hit them back, and they hit me back 3x harder than the original strike. I had no way of gaining control without getting even more hurt.

So when I started dating my prince of a husband, I knew I had the opportunity to have some power against a man, for the first time ever!

I took my anger and trauma from the past and put it all on him, even though he treats me like a queen.

I really hurt him and at one point he asked to break up. I just hated myself for not being able to snap out of it. ALL of the evidence said he was an amazing guy, but I had a greater need for control and I couldn’t talk myself into letting go of my newly acquired power.

So while it feels great to have a safe relationship where you can finally exert control, you need to learn how to feel that from an EMPOWERED place vs. a “screw men, I’m in charge now!” place.

Your body can help you to start letting go of that negative control.

Let’s use the example of asking your partner to do the dishes. Imagine that you’ve already asked them twice.

What would it be like to hold yourself back and not give that third reminder?

What comes up for you in your body? What sensations come up for you?

When you understand the feelings that come from your body, you gain the key to unravel your need for control because we all react to our body sensations FIRST.

We react to alleviate our anxiety when our hearts race or chest tightens. When we have unresolved trauma in relationships, we associate that anxiety with our current partner even if they did nothing wrong.

So observe your sensations right now as you imagine letting go of control. See how they come up and how you want to move TO them, instead of them moving YOU and controlling how your body behaves.

When you give yourself the imagined experience of letting go of control and move with it, you allow your nonverbal subconscious to understand that you’re in charge and it’s safe.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

The post Do you feel like a control freak in relationships? Here’s WHY and what to do about it. appeared first on Orit Krug | Dance Movement Therapist.

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Love and relationships: what suicide taught me about both https://oritkrug.com/what-suicide-taught-me-about-love-and-relationships/ https://oritkrug.com/what-suicide-taught-me-about-love-and-relationships/#respond Tue, 16 Apr 2019 16:22:27 +0000 https://oritkrug.com/?p=1618 Love and relationships: what suicide taught me about both By Orit Krug  |  April 16th, 2019 Working in a psychiatric hospital has taught me a lot about love and relationships. Spending almost every day at the psych hospital teaches you a lot about life, love and relationships. I was in charge [...]

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Love and relationships: what suicide taught me about both

By Orit Krug  |  April 16th, 2019

Working in a psychiatric hospital has taught me a lot about love and relationships.

Spending almost every day at the psych hospital teaches you a lot about life, love and relationships. I was in charge of around 10 creative arts therapists who ran the hospital’s group therapy and I did dance therapy for the patients too.

You see what it’s be like to be your absolute lowest in life.

I never felt immune to the idea that it could be me. Sometimes people had completely normal lives and BOOM! Their husband was killed. They got into a crazy car accident. And they were never the same.

Our lives can fall apart at any moment.

I learned a lot about relationships because I ran dance therapy groups for 10-30 people at a time, who were suffering from severe depression, anxiety, addiction, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and generally feeling suicidal. It wasn’t usually a very cheerful room. The energy was very heavy.

I’ve always believed that the essence of being a human life is social connection.

That’s why we’re here and it’s a huge part of what I cultivated in my dance therapy sessions at the psych hospital.

I knew I had to help my patients feel connected to each other and to themselves, but I had to be strategic. I slowly warmed them up and guided them to playfully connect and move with each other.

There were almost always people who were never ready to open up, no matter how much the group encouraged them too. Or there were people who, no matter how good the session was going, they attacked others, got into fights, and became very defensive.

Sadly, some of those people never opened up.

Most of them slowly became vulnerable and shared deeply spiritual and connected movement experiences with each other. They went from wanting to die to feeling a deep sense of belonging and purpose on this earth.

That’s what happens when you experience a deeply non-judgmental and open experience with another.

Love and fear cannot co-exist.

If you’re stuck in your head or in a constant state of survival mode, you cannot feel the highest capacity for love.

If you build walls to protect yourself or attack others to defend yourself from getting hurt… or worse, if you’re so controlled by fear that you become frozen and shut down, then you won’t be able to truly love.

We have to trust others so we can connect in love and relationships, because when we’re in fear, our social brain shuts off and our reptilian brain runs our behavior.

That means that when we have deep unresolved trauma, we’re more likely to behave like the animals we once were BEFORE we became social and cannot experience love as we know it.

Trauma can have a special shitty way of preventing us from ever getting the most out of love and relationships again.

I witnessed this in myself for my entire life, before I met my husband. And I saw this over and OVER again, across thousands of groups.

Sometimes, every person in the room stood up in a circle, hands on heart, and made eye contact with each other. Feeling no fear, no shame, no judgment. Feeling true human to human love.

But there was just 1 person sitting on the side with their arms crossed and looking at this happening, unable to physically join no matter how much they tried convince themselves.

As much as they told themselves to “just try,” their nonverbal subconscious brain took control said “DON’T you move! It’s way too dangerous in there.”

You cannot reach your highest potential of love without resolving the trauma deeply stored in your body.

It’s only when you really bring those walls down, become vulnerable, and freely express yourself (even to disagree with your partner).

If you’re in a relationship right now and resonating with this post, you probably realize there’s something missing, but maybe you can’t put your finger on what it is.

TRUE love is the most amazing thing we can experience on this earth for FREE.

So from the bottom of my heart, I know it’s not easy, but please do what it takes to let your guard down and to transform your love and relationships.

Do what it takes to resolve the trauma that’s taking over your body.

If you tell yourself, “I’m going to speak up and be vulnerable. I’m gonna stop worrying that he’s gonna hurt me,” but your nonverbal subconscious only focuses on the trauma from the past, your hurt is still PRESENT.

Affirmations and positive thoughts alone cannot control your fight, flight, freeze responses.

So do whatever it takes to resolve that trauma from your past. Even if it’s not obvious what trauma you experienced. It could be mild neglect because your feelings were never a priority in your family after growing up with siblings who need a much, much more attention.

Do whatever it takes to resolve this trauma and if that means you need to find a safe space first, then do it.

No romantic relationship today can resolve yesterday’s trauma.

No relationship is going to fill the void of the love that you didn’t get in the past. A great relationship can help A LOT but you need to do the inner-work first.

No partnership is going to feel as good as it CAN unless you resolve the past and then truly open the floodgates to receive and give love.

I know I’m giving tough love right now, but I experienced this too and it feels AMAZING to be on the other side of it all.

Get on the right path to healing trauma from your body and nervous system.

Many people spend decades and thousands of dollars in traditional therapies trying to heal their trauma. Unfortunately, even the most popular therapies are scientifically shown to be limited in accessing trauma stored in the non-verbal brain and body.

Even alternative approaches, such as EMDR and Brain Mapping, are often not enough to fully heal from the physical body or the nervous system.

This makes trauma healing a very frustrating journey for so many people. They often blame themselves for being “un-healable” and decide that they’re broken.

This is NOT true!

Every human being is 100% neurophysiologically capable of healing from the past, because we all have wiring and neural pathways that can be rewired from fear and overprotection, to love and openness.

My unique, scientific-backed process via Dance Therapy has helped hundreds of clients finally heal from past trauma and transform their relationship (even after decades of trying in other therapies).

You can heal too, but you need the right methodology.

Sign up for my online course (ranges from free to $20 USD) to begin a unique, body-based learning experience that will teach you:

  • Science-backed education about how trauma is stored in your body and nervous system. You’ll gain an understanding why it has NOT been your fault you haven’t healed yet from past trauma.
  • Gentle, guided body-based movement that is necessary for integrated healing. This is crucial if you want your mind’s intentions to match your body’s behaviors in relationships.
  • An embodied approach to healing that has helped hundreds of clients break unhealthy relationship patterns and let in healthy, lasting love.

Worthy of Love

Click here now to sign up!

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