Life is full of seemingly benign situations that can feel like minefields or traps to empaths and highly sensitive people. Let’s say you work and work and work toward a big goal, and then right before you’re about to cross the finish line, a part of you collapses and won’t move. What is going on?
This is what happened to me a while ago, as I was rebranding Birmingham Clinical Hypnotherapy to my new website, Sherris.Love. It’s something I’d been working toward for quite some time. I should have been thrilled. I should have been excited. Or at least that’s what my mind said. But my body was sending the exact opposite message.
When the Body Speaks
My left shoulder was screaming. My neck was tight and painful. Tension ran through my entire body like a low-grade electrical current that wouldn’t shut off. My thoughts were free of fear because my mind knew this rebrand was right.
But my body? My body didn’t buy it.
When my body speaks this loudly, I listen because the body never lies. It’s a direct reflection of the subconscious mind, and from what I’ve experienced, the least painful way forward is to pay attention. In an effort to understand my body’s message, I looked up the metaphysical meaning of left shoulder pain. The answer: carrying excessive emotional burdens, struggling to express your authentic self, difficulty receiving, and suppressed intuition. The left side of the body is the feminine side, the receptive, the vulnerable, the visible.
And there it was. The truth my body was trying to tell me.
My Achilles Heel
My Achilles heel has always been visibility. I learned young that being unseen was safer than being seen, and for the most part, I’ve kept a low profile my entire life. The fact is, I know that moving to Sherris.Love was the right thing for me to do. But at that time, my subconscious mind only saw one thing: expanded visibility.
And therein lies the conflict.
My conscious mind says: “This is aligned. This is authentic. This is what I’ve been working toward.”
My subconscious mind says: “DANGER. RETREAT. TOO VISIBLE!”
And my body? My body becomes the battleground where that conflict plays out. So, what do you do when your body reveals this kind of resistance right before achieving a big goal?
Here’s what I’m learning:
First, forgive yourself for feeling fear.
Fear is a difficult emotion to admit to ourselves because it often comes with a side order of shame. Why should I be afraid of rebranding my business? It seems ridiculous. But I am. And having forgiven myself, I’m okay with that.
Second, accept yourself exactly where you are.
We are all evolving all the time. This just happens to be a point in my evolution where visibility feels vulnerable. I’m not broken. I’m not failing. I’m human, with a nervous system that learned very young to equate invisibility with safety.
Third, reconnect with WHY this feels so right.
Why does Sherris.Love feel so right? Because I’m no longer hiding behind the label of “hypnotherapist.” I’m presenting myself simply as Sherris. Me. And that’s more than enough.
Because the .love URL expresses my deepest desire, for myself and for the world. It fits my work perfectly.
Because alignment with who I really am is my top value. In taking this step, I’m aligning myself with what’s most important to me. I’m showing my authentic self. When I connect with that truth, I access courage.
Your Body’s Wisdom
So here’s my question for you: Where is YOUR body speaking to you right now?
Maybe you’re approaching a big goal – a career change, a difficult conversation, a creative project you’ve been putting off, a relationship shift. And maybe right before the finish line, something in you collapses. There is tension. Pain. Exhaustion. Procrastination. Sudden “emergencies” that demand your attention.
What if that’s not failure? What if that’s your subconscious mind’s last stand?
The closer you get to something truly aligned, the louder the old protective patterns become. Your subconscious doesn’t know the difference between danger and growth. It only knows: This is new. This requires visibility. This could hurt.
But here’s the truth: The body’s resistance isn’t a sign to stop. It’s a sign you’re getting close to something real.
Moving Forward Anyway
So what did I do with my screaming shoulder, my Achilles heel, and my rebrand that was almost ready?
I forgave myself for the fear.
I accepted where I am in this moment.
I reconnected with why Sherris.Love matters.
And then I let it be seen.
Not perfectly. Not fearlessly. But authentically.
Because at the end of the day, alignment matters more to me than comfort. And my authentic self deserves to be visible in the world. My body is learning, one tight shoulder at a time, that being seen might not be so dangerous after all.
If you recognize yourself in this essay and would like a guide to help you along your journey to reclaiming your joy and freedom, I invite you to fill out my intake form.