Summary: Break free from limiting patterns and embrace your authentic self with Olo’s transformative approach. Discover insights from influential thinkers, harness neuroscience for personal growth, and reconnect with your body to navigate change. Learn how to manage fear, pain, and past experiences to live more fully. Join us on a journey towards a more fulfilling and authentic life. Ready to unlock your true potential? Dive in and discover how with Olo.

Live Somatic Practice with Catarina

Join us for our online somatic sessions next Thursday to deepen your connection with your body and mind. These bi-weekly sessions will guide you in enhancing your body awareness, letting go of tension, regulating stress, cultivating moments of safety, and more.

• Free for Olo app subscribers
• $10 Early-Bird for guests who book by the end of Monday PST
• $15 for regular guests after that

For more information and to register, click here: https://lu.ma/1km15ssv.

Dear Olo Community,

In our life journey, we often find ourselves bound by patterns and habits that limit our ability to live authentically. At Olo, we believe in the transformative power of breaking free from these constraints that hold us back, and embracing new approaches to life's challenges. Today, I want to share insights on navigating this path towards a more fulfilling and authentic existence.

My Pursuit of Authenticity

To "Be More YOU" has always been my drive. From a young age, I felt constricted by expectations and societal norms. Luckily, I came across the work of influential thinkers like Arno Gruen and Alice Miller. Their insights resonated deeply, shaping my understanding of the importance of emotional freedom and the courage to reject societal constraints that suppress our individuality, our uniqueness.

Gruen emphasized rejecting norms that demand conformity and embracing our deepest emotions to uncover our true selves. Miller highlighted the impact of childhood experiences on our adult lives and advocated for acknowledging and expressing our true feelings as a path to healing and personal freedom.

Breaking Limiting Patterns

Throughout our lives, and by conforming to imposed norms – usually unconsciously, we develop ingrained patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior that can alienate us from our true selves. While these patterns may feel at times comfortable, they can also cause pain, discomfort, and recurring negative moods. By breaking these limiting habits, we open ourselves to new possibilities and a deeper connection with our authentic selves.

Embracing a New (Somatic) Approach

Life inevitably brings fear, pain, and unwanted feelings. Traditionally, we might perceive them as obstacles and react by trying to overcome, ignore, or avoid them. However, the problem with habitually avoiding any emotion is that it soon becomes a pattern of avoidance toward the true expression of all types of emotions. This stunts our ability to fully experience and process our feelings in a healthy way.

At Olo, we embrace the freedom to feel – one of our core slogans. We encourage you to embrace all emotions as part of your journey and allow yourself to feel them fully without resistance. For example:

1) Fear: Instead of viewing fear as an adversary, let it flow through your body. This can transform it from a paralyzing force into a source of strength and clarity.

2) Pain: Allow yourself to feel it fully without resistance, and you might find it becomes more manageable and less consuming.

3) Your Past: Use your past as a resource rather than a defining constraint. Reclaim the positive qualities you may have lost and ensure past experiences don't dictate your future.

Harnessing Neuroscience for Change

Our brains are incredibly complex, shaping our thoughts, behaviors, and sense of self. Recent advances in the field of neuroscience provide valuable insights into how we can better facilitate personal growth and positive transformation. By understanding the neurological underpinnings of our ingrained patterns and habits, we gain powerful tools to break free from what limits us and unlock our full potential. Here are some key neuroscience concepts that can help us on this journey of personal change:

Neuroplasticity: Our brains can change throughout our lives. By practicing new ways of thinking and behaving, we can create new neural pathways that support positive change. Yet, for neuroplasticity to be most effective, it needs to be self-driven, arising from our own personal insights and motivations. Some of the most powerful techniques harness body-based practices and neuro-sensory modulation like the Olo app. By engaging mind and body together, these approaches optimally rewire ingrained patterns at a deep level. With commitment, we can leverage neuroplasticity to remake our habitual responses in service of personal growth.

Threat and Reward Mechanisms: Understanding how our brains respond to perceived threats and rewards can help us manage our reactions to change. Our brains are naturally averse to change and tend to default to fear and anxiety - perceiving change as a potential threat. This triggers responses like fight, flight, and freeze. By recognizing this bias, we can consciously work to create a more supportive environment that emphasizes rewards and positive outcomes, helping us stay calm and focused.

The Hard Work of Change: Change is challenging because it requires significant mental effort. Our prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for executive functions, has very limited capacity. It can become easily depleted when faced with new and complex tasks. By pacing ourselves, managing cognitive load, and replenishing mental resources effectively, we can improve our capacity to engage with and sustain change over time.

Reconnecting with Your Body: A Powerful Hack

As said before, one of the most effective ways to navigate change is by reconnecting with our bodies. Our bodies can serve as both a compass and an anchor during times of transformation, as they have an incredible capacity to guide and heal us when we give them the right conditions—attention, relaxation, and acceptance of our emotional experiences.

By tuning into our physical sensations, we gain valuable insights and guidance that help us stay grounded and present.

Choosing Who and How to Be

While external circumstances can't always be changed, we always have the power to choose our response to any situation. Recognizing this choice is a profound exercise of personal freedom. By breaking limiting patterns, embracing new approaches, and exercising your personal freedom, you can unlock your true potential and live a more fulfilling and authentic life.

At Olo, we are committed to supporting you on this transformative journey. We are here to walk this path with you, every step of the way.

To unlocking our true self,

Catarina

P.S. Register for the somatic practice live class here: https://lu.ma/1km15ssv.

🗽Join us for live Olo events in NYC!

Experience self-discovery and connection with immersive sound journeys and somatic practices in a contemporary campfire setting. Rediscover the power of community and inner knowing.

May 29: Sound and Somatics for Therapists, Coaches and Health Practitioners

Jun 5: 
NY #TechWeek Wellness Experience - Escape the concrete jungle (4:30 pm)
NY #TechWeek Wellness Experience - Escape the concrete jungle (6 pm)
NY #TechWeek Wellness Experience - Escape the concrete jungle (7:30 pm)

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