Why Relying On "Tools" Becomes A Hindrance

Recently, I’ve been feeling the need to be more active. The last time I’d done any exercise was yoga 6 months ago (which feels like a long time ago).

On this particular evening, I decided to join a fun, social game of volleyball.

I have always been naturally fit, playing many different types of sports and volleyball (I had thought) would be a safe sport to start with. It’s a non-contact sport that doesn’t require much cardio, and simply requires good hand-eye coordination. The perfect sport to go from zero to 100.

Ohhhh was I wrong.

We jump on court and the other team wins the “paper scissors rock game” to serve first.

I was excited. I had loved playing volleyball at high school (which was a long time ago). My glasses were on so I could see. I was ready.

We stood in our positions. The young guy served the first ball. It went straight down the line. Directly towards me. It was fast. Faster than I expected.

And as I watched the ball in what seemed like slow-mo, I predicted the ball was going to dip. I got ready to dig the ball. I stood still waiting for the ball to drop and rebound off my arms.

Instead, the ball connected square in my face. Breaking my glasses and leaving an open wound. It bled. A lot.

If my glasses hadn’t taken the impact, I would have had a black eye. 😅

In one moment, I just showed teenagers what it meant to get old. Damit, I was so sure I was a better player than that.

What I found interesting was… later, when the bleeding stopped, I played with myopic vision and I actually played surprisingly well. If the first ball was anything to go by, standards weren’t very high, but I've always had good hand eye coordination.

I found it easier not wearing glasses to play. The sharp vision actually messed with my depth perception. I thought the ball was going to dip, not hit me square in the face.

That’s when i realised that when I was younger, playing many different sports, I had always played with blurred vision. Whenever I wore contacts while playing, it took me a while to get used to seeing the netball and basketball hoop. It was like I had become accustomed to the fuzziness and clear vision changed my margin of error.

Strange. I know.

Thinking back, when I played netball, I never watched the opponent’s eyes (partly because I couldn’t see it) but also because I was recognising the opponent’s patterns and trying to “outwit” them. I had the most fun trying to predict their next move and read the play. For me, it was natural to feel into the game, rather than seeing the play.

Maybe that’s an adaptation due to poor eyesight. Or maybe it’s a strength of mine.

Either way, it taught me to feel into my body, places and others - making me very empathetic and have strong clairsentience.

Whenever I am in a healing session, or healing myself, that’s how I experience the session. I feel sensations, tingles, energy flowing through my body and that gives me clues on what is ready to be released.

Even going to new places and countries, I would be able to feel the different densities of energy through my body. It can sometimes feel like a heaviness where I can’t lift my feet, or nausea, or shortness of breath, or even anxiety.

In a way, I have overcompensated with a stronger sense of feeling due to my lack of eyesight.

So during my volleyball game… the clearer vision was a hindrance. I became dependent on my vision to play, when feeling the energy of the game is more natural to me.

This made me think of how we as a society are so dependent on tools that we’ve forgotten how to feel.

Just as my glasses convinced me I knew exactly where the ball was heading, our modern tools convince us we are ‘connected’ and ‘healthy’.

When in fact, we are so far withdrawn with our body that our nervous system is on overdrive - ready to fight or flight - our bodies screaming in pain.

There are other factors at play here such as our societal, ancestral and personal beliefs. Our own trauma and other people’s imposed trauma all trigger a nervous system response. Alongside with the emotional and mental aspect, material “tools” influence our natural state.

By tools, I mean useful inventions that disconnect us from nature. The likes of technology, AI, social media. It keeps us in a constant search for the next dopamine hit. We stop feeling other emotions.

Even medicine can be a way to suppress the pain in our bodies. It sees pain as the body breaking down and if we suppress the misery, our problems all go away.

I’m not saying medicine is a “bad tool”. Like all healing methods, there are pros and cons and each method is relevant.

Sometimes it is good to suppress the pain so the patient is able to process whatever they need to in a more stable nervous system. Sometimes, the body just needs a break from pain. I’ve been there. Medicine is a fantastic healing “tool”.

But if we become too reliant on the tools, we lose our healing power. We become accustomed to the next dopamine hit, needing to satisfy our overextended nervous system

All the while, our bodies are screaming for rest and healing.

And healing only happens when our nervous system feels safe. Safety can mean slowing down and connecting to nature. It can mean using your hands to create things that you enjoy. Or playing sports and exercising outside.

When your nervous system feels safe, we are better able to connect to our bodies, open our hearts and learn to love ourselves a little more.

And that’s what we are all here to learn right? The passage of unconditional love.

That’s something that a tool can’t provide, it is felt through the human experience.

Tools have their place, but they are meant to assist the body, not replace its wisdom. Sometimes, we have to break the lens to finally see the truth.

If you feel the call to break up with your "tools" and finally reconnect with the intelligence of your body, let’s begin.

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