Strategic Calm: Noticing What We Carry

When we're available to someone else's emotional storm, it's easy to anchor our own body to mirror or carry their distress without realizing it. This practice builds the capacity to notice — thoughts, feelings, sensations — without needing to name or fix them. And in that noticing, something else becomes possible: pause. Not a separate step, but something noticing naturally opens into, when we let it. Rooted in the Nurturing Minds Resilience Framework, this practice offers space to stay with what's true in the body, and to begin sensing what belongs to you, and what you may be carrying for someone else.

This practice may support:
Caregivers, educators, and helping professionals who regularly hold space for others' distress
Anyone building the capacity to notice their own emotional state amid someone else's

Strategic Calm - the capacity to maintain intentional relationship-centered action in the presence of stress and complexity.

Transcript

Welcome. I'm Charisse. I'm glad you're here. Today, We will be delving deeper into building our capacity to be intentional in the presence of stress and uncertainty. I invite you into this practice to nurture your mind and build resilience. So settle into a comfortable position. And lower or close your eyes if it's comfortable. Bring your attention to your breath and breathe naturally. Take a moment with your breath. And relax if you can. Now just notice your breathing. Breathing in. Breathing out. Let's begin. Today we start with a reflection. When being available to someone else's emotional storm. Are we anchoring our own body to mirror or carry their distress? Whenever we face big challenges. Having a bigger view is always available to us when we practice mindfulness. When it comes to working through emotionally complex experiences. It's important to know what's happening. It's important to notice. So bring your awareness to a time. When you found yourself in a space where you needed to notice. Noticing your thoughts. Your feelings. Your emotions. Your sensation. As you notice, Just keep breathing. Breathing in. And breathing out. Know that you are right here in this moment. You may gently name what is here. Or simply notice it. There is no need to explain it. Charging or make it go away. Just notice. Whatever you're noticing right now is welcome here. There's nothing to fix. Nothing to get right. Simply being with what's true in this moment is enough. And as you stay with this noticing. Also notice. Is what you're feeling you're. Or is some of it something you've picked up from someone else? Someone you're caring for. Someone you work with. Or someone who's distressed you've been holding alongside your own. There's no need to answer that right now. No need to sort it out or solve it. Just noticing is enough. And in this noticing. You may find that you've already began to pause. That to truly notice is to already be still. This pause is not separate from the noticing. It's what the noticing has been building this whole time. The longer you can stay here. The more. A feeling underneath a feeling. Or a sensation you almost miss the first time. Becomes visible. You don't need to reach for anything new. Simply staying. Simply holding the stillness a little longer. Is itself the practice. Let the silence do what it does. Let it hold you. The way you might hold someone else. As we take time to pay closer attention. Notice that we find ourselves in these moments. We're exploring and giving attention that we may never have given before. Nurturing the notice. Nurturing the PAW. In times of stress and uncertainty. I invite you to recall this practice. The practice of noticing. Noticing your thoughts. Noticing your feelings. Noticing what is yours to carry. And what is not. You don't need to notice only this once. This is a capacity you can return to anytime you need. So as we end. Take one more deep breath in through your nose. And let it all out through your mouth with a big sigh. Bring your body back to this moment. Wiggle your fingers and your toes. And if your eyes were closed, Slowly open them. Thank you for taking time to nurture your mind.