YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM IS WHERE INTERNALISED SYSTEMS OF OPPRESSION LIVE

With our world on fire, the question of HOW TO ACCELERATE SYSTEMS CHANGE literally keeps me awake at night. I believe that THE KEY lies in our own bodies.

Here's what I mean:

If, for example, you identify as  LGBTQ+, having grown up in a world that stigmatizes your identity, your nervous system will have learnt that AUTHENTIC EXPRESSION expression can be DANGEROUS & SAFETY REQUIRES MASKING.

So when working as a changemaker/leader, becoming visible or speaking up can be scary. A critical comment left under one of your social media posts or colleague's disagreement might trigger a racing heartbeat, a sinking feeling in your gut or waves of shame that burn through your body before you can even name it.

INTERNALISED SYSTEMS OF OPPRESSION THUS IN TURN

STALL/BLOCK EXTERNAL SYSTEM CHANGE:

As a changemaker/leader you'll thus

• self censor & suppress your visionary ideas that feel “too much,”

• defer to dominant voices and

• avoid conflict —especially in cis/hetero environments.

meticulously revise your own words before sharing.

𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙉𝘼𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙀𝘿 𝙊𝙋𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 & 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙀𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙊𝙍𝘾𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙎 𝙌𝙐𝙊 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚.

OR ...

...if you are a female changemaker/leader working in an organisation focused on creating a #circulareconomy, a lifetime of patriarchal conditionings -being talked over, repeatedly invalidated, punished for assertiveness—can trigger a freeze response.

As your nervous system reads speaking up, taking space, or leading as unsafe, associating it with the threat of backlash, subtle fear settles in the body:

"𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨."

Your shoulders curl inward and your muscles tense without realizing it - draining your energy - leaving you in a strange mix of alertness and numbness. Thus you

• hesitate to challenge male “superiors”,

• downplay your ideas,

• avoid claiming credit

• second-guess your instincts, & self-censor the bold, visionary thinking the system most needs from you.

.

𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀.

𝗜𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀.

𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 & 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 -𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝘆𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁- 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲.

This is why NERVOUS SYSTEM WORK/CHANGE MUST BE integral to any organisation trying to heal the external damage.

I would love to hear your thoughts!