Foam Roll Your Ego

Ever thought your body was completely pain free and then hopped on a foam roller only to discover a knot of pain lying hidden away?

I’ve seen it happen many times with clients and students.

That picture is a great metaphor for what can often happen with emotional pains as well. So in this video I want to explore how you can “foam roll” your ego to reveal and work through hidden emotional wounds.

How to Foam Roll Your Ego

Now that you’ve watched the video, here are some basic tips you can use to foam roll your ego:

1. Get curious about why certain people trigger you.
2. Get curious about why you judge others negatively or positively.
3. Can you be present with your stories about your parents, and start to see them as the clearer mirror of your self, increasing your ability to be compassionate, grateful, and empathetic?

Write your triggers down.

At what age do you feel these triggers began appear? It’s OK to guess – the power of guessing reduces the ego’s need to protect.

Once you have that age, ask yourself what would your younger self need from your current “adult” ego…  Attention?  Approval?  Validation?  Acceptance? Love? Touch?

Give yourself what your younger self needs, but first ask permission of your younger self and see what comes up. If the answer is “yes”, move forward. If the answer is “no”, accept that answer, hear that answer, and tell the younger you that you will be back soon to revisit this process.

A “no” answer is OK. We must learn to respect ourselves as well.

If the answer is “yes”, then pretend you are your younger self – connect with that energy and feel what comes up. What does your inner child want to share with you?

Listen to what comes up, let it all out, and then come back to current self – for example, 36-year-old Jator. Then 36-year-old Jator gives his younger self what he needed that he perceived he did not to receive. Do this process out loud.

This may take multiple visits and lots of time but the incorporation of your younger self can integrate more of you into a whole and you will have fewer triggers about the given issue.

You can also journal this, do artwork – really any comfortable and potentially uncomfortable form of connecting with your self will work. You’re just trying to get in touch with your underlying pain that shows up daily by foam rolling your ego.

And as you roll more, you’ll metaphorically release toxins to be metabolized by your body.