I was intrigued by the fact that you put 'resistance' and 'resilience' in the same sentence!
Why we need resistance
In healthcare and other high-stakes environments, resistance often shows up as a challenge — something to overcome, push through, or avoid. We associate it with tension, fatigue, conflict, or even emotional exhaustion. Whether we feel stuck in a tough situation, experience pushback from a patient or colleague, or notice our own inner friction, resistance can feel like the enemy.
But what if resistance is not something to eliminate — but something to learn from?
At Body Comes to Mind, we view resistance as essential. Just as an electric current needs resistance to generate energy, our nervous systems need resistance to transform stress into growth. Through embodied awareness training, we can learn to recognize resistance not as a block, but as a guide — a source of wisdom about our limits, values, and potential next steps.
What Happens When We Embody Resistance?
This month’s Embodiment Lab explored what happens when we meet resistance not with force, but with embodied awareness. In our first practice — the Wrist Grab — we witnessed three typical nervous system responses:
- Fight: One participant felt the urge to push back with force, bracing physically and emotionally.
- Flight: Another instinctively pulled away, retreating into stiffness and disconnection.
- Freeze: A third froze entirely — “I couldn’t move a muscle. I was shocked by how fast my body reacted.”
These responses are familiar to anyone working in high-pressure environments. Whether you’re a healthcare worker experiencing burnout, a leader under stress, or someone navigating moral distress, your body often knows what’s happening before your mind does.
The Power of Softening
When we softened into the resistance, the impact on the stories we tell ourselves were revealed.
One participant noted how softening felt like weakness — like “giving in.” Others experienced something different: a drop in tension, a release in the shoulders, even an open heart. One said:
“Softening made me feel less scared. I was more tender toward the situation.”
Another realized that when she stopped resisting, the conflict dissolved — but with it, so did the sense of agency. Her insight?
“The struggle is gone, but in my mind no problem gets solved like that.”
The different perspectives tell something about how hard it can be to do something different from what we are used to. The tension between letting go and taking action is something many professionals face. Especially in healthcare — where the impulse to “fix” is strong — softening can feel counterintuitive. But it’s also where embodied exploration reveals its power.
The struggle is gone, but no problems get solved like that. Even when I just think about it, I can feel the tension in my body.
Practicing with "Low-Grade Threat"
In the Embodied ExplorationⓇ method, we practice under what Wendy Palmer calls “low-grade threat” — manageable stressors that allow us to build resilience without overwhelm. In our second practice — The Wall — we pushed into a wall. Imagining that we could push through it, resistance became literal.
We found that the resistance of the wall manifested within us in the form of gritting our teeth, wanting to push through no matter what. The physical tension of one participant rose from her legs to her lower back, resulting in a sense of strong determination with her whole body and mind onboard. Another felt strong but with an increasingly empty feeling inside.
These responses to chronic stress are common in caregiving professions. Gritting through can be effective short-term — but long-term, it contributes to burnout, nervous system dysregulation, and compassion fatigue.
Centering in the face of resistance
Then we shifted. Practicing centering techniques we discovered that centering in the face of resistance altered our experience. Grounding ourselves gave more space for what we were feeling inside of us.
“When I aligned in the face of resistance it allowed me to become aware of my emotions. Instead of trying to push through the situation, I realized that I actually felt quite sad about it..”
Another discovered through centering she could engage with less effort:
“I now see that I can be in a situation of resistance. I can use it to be more connected to myself. I only have to be with–no need to work hard or retreat. It makes clear that I too often focus on what’s ‘out there’ instead on what’s going on inside myself.”
This is the core of resilience in high-pressure settings: not pushing through or pulling back, but staying connected with yourself and increasing embodied choice. The ability to respond, not react.
Too often I focus on what’s ‘out there’ instead on what’s going on inside myself.
Changing Our Relationship to Stress
Resistance doesn’t always disappear — but our relationship to it can change.
A participant reflected:
“In the first exercise I was determined and forceful. After aligning I had a sense of calm strength, more whole, less effort . . . I was there by choice.”
This is what embodied awareness makes possible. By shifting from stress-driven action to centered presence, we access sustainable well-being — vital in preventing burnout and building emotional regulation in healthcare and other caregiving professions.
Embodied ExplorationⓇ: A Path to Clarity and Choice
Embodied exploration offers professionals a new way to engage with challenge — through curiosity, presence, and practice. One participant summed it up beautifully:
“I kept asking myself, ‘Why are you still pushing?!’ But then it was so unnatural for me to just be there. But once I did… something shifted.”
As we become more aware of what’s happening in our bodies, we increase our capacity to realign, to reconnect with purpose, and to take action that feels true and grounded. This is personal leadership — not as a concept, but as a felt experience.
Want to Practice This?
The Embodiment Lab is a free, monthly opportunity to explore these principles in real-time with others. Whether you’re navigating chronic stress in healthcare, compassion fatigue, or simply want to feel more centered and resilient in your work, you’re welcome to join.
Let your body show you the way forward.
