When You’re Carrying More Than You’re Meant To

I’ve often met clients who show up in therapy utterly exhausted — not just physically, but soul-deep tired. Not because they’re lazy. But because they’ve spent years carrying what was never theirs to begin with.

Generational shame.
Emotional labor.
Everyone else’s needs, moods, and regrets.

Some of us learned early that our value was tied to being the one who held it all — the strong one, the peacemaker, the fixer. But over time, we forget what’s ours and what we simply absorbed out of love or survival.

In somatic therapy, we gently invite the body to reveal where we’re still holding. A clenched jaw. A tight chest. A back that won’t stop aching.

If you’ve been feeling heavy lately, I want to offer this:

You are not weak for wanting to put something down. You are wise.

This week’s Porch Prompt is: What are you carrying that was never really yours?

It may be a belief. A guilt. A role.
You don’t have to drop it all at once. But what if you just… loosened your grip?

I’ll be right here when you’re ready.

With care,
Kristi