For many of us, receiving is harder than giving. We pour our energy into others: into care, work, creativity, and survival. Eventually, there’s nothing left in the well. When support is finally offered, we often deflect, minimize, or tense up, unsure how to let it in.
But the body knows how to receive.
Just like the earth opens to rain, your tissues are designed to soften, take in, and be nourished. You don’t have to earn it or prove yourself first. You only have to allow it.
In somatic therapy, I often work with people who feel chronically depleted. Their muscles are tight, their breath is shallow, and their emotions are braced. Many have been in this state for years, giving without replenishment.
The first step is not to push harder. It is to pause, to feel, and to notice what is already here.
What does it feel like to receive a deep breath?
To be touched with care?
To rest without guilt?
Like soil cracked open by drought, the body may resist at first. It might not trust the rain. But with time, presence, and compassion, it begins to open again.
This work is not about fixing you. It is about remembering how to let in what sustains you.
Your body is a garden.
It doesn’t need perfection.
It needs permission to receive the care it has longed for.
Come home to your body. Awaken your aliveness.
Mariel Camilleri, BSc., MSc.Ad