Part 1 of this series focused on your energy behavior when the caretaking pattern is activated, and related emotional energy is repressed or remains unresolved.
Part 2 addressed how you can break the caretaking cycle, and create a life free from the oppressive pattern.
This final post explores the relationship between caretaking, the energetic impacts of stress, tension and unprocessed emotions and your physical wellbeing.
A Perfect Storm
Caretaking behaviors generate repetitive scenarios that create energetic imbalance and dysregulation. For example: hypervigilance on others, and repressing your emotions while you tune into others prior to leaping into rescue, help, fix or control.
The result – energetic and physiological tension and stress.
A perfect storm is created by Your:
- beliefs about yourself +
- beliefs about others +
- lack of self-compassion +
- tendency to repress emotions and energy
Consequently, your energy system adapts to a base dysregulated state.
Repression of Emotional Energy and Somatization
Over time, the holding of emotional energy impedes flow in your field and has a powerful impact physically as well.
When emotional energy is held and repressed, it can result in somatization. Somatized emotions are lodged in the energy of the physical body.
Can you imagine how these held emotions might impact your physical wellbeing over time?
Somatized emotion can contribute to these common physical issues:
- inflammation
- nervous system dysregulation
- decreased or impaired immunity
- gastrointestinal issues
- pain, extreme fatigue, and more pain
You may experience diminished vitality along a spectrum: from persistent stress, burnout, dysfunction or chronic pain to full-blown illness.
Below are the emotions that I see most frequently with caretaking:
- Fear (anxiety, worry, panic, terror, etc.)
- Anger
- Frustration
- Resentment
- Grief
- Guilt
- Shame
- Self-hatred
*Note: If you are interested in further discussion on emotional energy please see my article The Underestimated Powerhouse: Emotional Energy.
Client Highlight
Robin was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2023. Her symptoms included: pain, brain fog, fatigue and inflammation – which impacted her sleep, mood and overall quality of life.
Movement, diet modification, and supplements helped a bit; however, she remained in pain and felt exhausted most of the time.
Robin was also a lifelong caretaker and people pleaser.
Through therapy, she became familiar with her habits and her behavioral patterns. She was aware of the anger, resentment and extreme worry that accompanied caretaking others.
Yet, she had trouble keeping her caretaking behaviors in check. With two teenage children accustomed to having her attention, and serving as the “fixer” at work – she couldn’t refrain from helping and trying to solve…everything.
She paid the price with pain flares, anxiety and a shrinking personal life.
When Robin entered my practice, she committed to doing her part and after several months of sessions together, she changed her life.
As the caretaking patterns diminished, and repressed and somatized emotions were cleared, Robin’s behavior began to organically change. She consciously made different choices when people pulled on her for attention and fixing.
As she let go of her need for control, her anger and fear faded.
She felt empowered to take care of herself as she became more grounded and embodied; and learned she could trust others to take care of themselves.
Her pain subsided. She regained her vitality.
Fibromyalgia was no longer an impediment. She learned that if/when she had a flare, it was an opportunity to listen to the messages being offered by her energy and her physical body.
Peace Beyond the Pattern and Pain
If you are prone to caretaking, you likely learned this behavior at a very young age. This makes it difficult to contain your energy and step out of the caretaking pattern.
Through energy work, you can an resolve Your:
- caretaking and other energy dysregulation patterns
- stuck and somatized emotions and energy
- hypervigilance and holding emotions of others
- negative self-talk and cycling of limiting beliefs
- challenge with grounding, presence, embodiment or boundaries
There is peace beyond the caretaking pattern.
And the energetic and physiological tension and stress that can ensue.
Energy work offers an exit ramp, and a pathway to new possibilities and choices.
Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash
