Sitting with our Inner Escape Artist
Are you aware of when you become internally defensive?
Perhaps it's:
when critiqued or given criticism, constructive or not.
when confronted with your own racism, classism, or ableism.
when your belief systems or values are named and questioned.
when your sense of power, rank, security, or control is challenged.
💡 Defensiveness is often an escape mechanism from these experiences.
It allows us to:
deflect perceived threats to our sense of identity and status quo,
relocate our feelings of blame, shame, and guilt elsewhere,
disassociate from the moment and its challenges, and
avoid our responsibility to others and to ourselves.
And it's also an invitation.
Each moment of internal defensiveness is a flag for us that there is something deeper – a fear, a belief system, a deeply held desire – that lies beneath it.
📝 Questions:
What does internal defensiveness feel like in your body? (Perhaps go through the examples above and identify the different ways defensiveness shows up in you.)
What fears, belief systems, and deeply held desires most often lie beneath your experiences of defensiveness?
🧰 Resources:
5 Days to Get Off Autopilot (free email series)
If you want to further explore your experiences of defensiveness, you can use this free new email series I've developed. It also serves as a primer for personal, communal, and societal shadow work.
Defensiveness/Shadow Tracker (resource)
This is a resource from my course on shadow work. While you may be unfamiliar with the details of shadow work, you can use this resource to track when you recognize defensiveness in your personal life, communal/social life, and regarding societal issues and injustices.
"White Bodies and the Energies of Race" (by Resmaa Menakem)
Note (especially for those with white bodies): As you read this article, notice any bodily sensations and if/when defensiveness becomes present within you. This may be a flag for continued inner work and reflection.
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