Modulating Internal Speed.
Thanks for coming to practice with me today.
I'd like to share a somatic meditation that I created to use with my clients and mindfulness students that I call the speedometer practice.
Many people share that they're feeling too speedy with so much to do or too overwhelmed that they can't fall asleep or even relax.
Some of you may also feel the opposite,
Sluggish,
Not able to mobilize or get anything done.
This speedometer practice will build your capacity to notice internal sensations of speed and give you tools to modulate your rhythm to come into alignment with your activity at hand.
Let's begin.
You can do this practice sitting,
Standing or lying down,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
You may have your eyes open or closed.
Take a moment to really settle in,
Perhaps experimenting with your posture and with your gaze.
You may lean forward or back or to the side until you land in a place that feels like you are as balanced and comfortable as you can be.
Now,
Using your skill of interoception,
Which is your ability to be aware of internal sensations,
See if you can get a sense of your internal speed right at this moment.
Another way to say this is if your body-mind had a speedometer,
What is your reading right now?
Are you going 60 miles an hour or 100 kilometers,
90 miles an hour or even faster?
Or is your internal body-mind speed really slow right now,
Like 5 miles per hour or 10 kilometers?
Or are you cruising somewhere in the middle?
Remember,
There's no right answer.
You are just being curious at noticing and reading your body-mind signals of internal speed.
Where are you feeling these sensations?
Is your mind going fast with many thoughts?
Is your heart rate high or low?
Are you feeling foggy or groggy and not able to focus?
Or feeling tight or braced?
Everyone will have unique sensations of their internal speed.
Take a moment to name these sensations to yourself.
Now,
Ask yourself,
What is your current activity that you're engaged in?
Are you at work or home?
Are you preparing for sleep or do you need to get ready for an activity?
What would be your optimal speed for this activity?
Just let a number arise spontaneously in your mind.
Is this number lower or higher than your internal speed right now?
Our bodies have a very strong memory of what it feels like to either slow down or speed up.
Many of us drive a car or ride public transportation and can elicit the memory of physical sensations of changing speeds.
The next step of this practice is to modulate your speed so that you can begin to approach your optimal speed for this current activity.
If you need to slow down a bit,
Imagine taking your foot off the gas pedal or exiting the freeway,
Perhaps driving down a street that has your optimal speed as its speed limit.
Feel the slowing down sensations in your body.
If you need to speed up a bit to reach your optimal zone,
Imagine pedaling on your bike faster or giving your body car a bit more gas and feel the sensations of speeding up in your body.
Slowing down a bit or speeding up a bit.
Seeing if you can modulate your speed to begin to approach that optimal zone.
Notice if there's even a slight change in your internal speed from this practice.
Regulating our internal speed takes time.
Our nervous system does not immediately shift.
So take some time with this practice and try not to be discouraged if you don't reach your optimal speed right away.
Even a tiny shift is really helpful for your nervous system.
Some of you might be having a slightly different experience than what I've narrated so far.
Your mind may be speeding really fast,
But your body might feel really slow.
This is actually rather common,
Especially in cultures that reward mental productivity at the cost of high body stress and fatigue.
If you're experiencing dual speeds internally,
Take a moment to invite your active mind to lean into the back of your head a bit.
To take a mental break for a few moments and pairing this with a deeper breath or a sigh.
Then check in with your body.
Are you noticing a lot of fatigue?
Maybe you really need some rest.
Or would a bit of mobility be helpful?
You might want to take a moment to stretch your arms,
Legs,
Back or chest if that feels appropriate.
You can slowly toggle back and forth between noticing your mental speed and your body speed.
Slowly pendulating back and forth.
And then see if your internal speeds might come a bit more into balance with each other.
You may also have the opposite experience of your body feeling very speedy or anxious or worried,
And your mind feeling slow,
Foggy or unclear.
You can adapt the speedometer exercise to nudge your body into a slower speed by taking your foot off the gas or imagining exiting the freeway.
Perhaps driving your body car down a nice country road.
You can then encourage your mind to lean forward a little bit.
Become curious about your environment that you're in right now.
Perhaps noticing some neutral to pleasant sensations like the texture of your clothing.
Or if you're holding an object feeling its weight and temperature.
Notice what happens with your body and with your mind.
Practice shifting back and forth with your attention between your body speed and your mental emotional speed.
Staying with the sensations only for as long as is comfortable.
You can always come back to this practice at any time of the day.
As we bring this practice to a close,
Thank yourself for being curious and aware of your internal speed.
You can use this skill,
The speedometer exercise,
To modulate your speed to an appropriate level for any activity that you have during the day or the evening.
You will be conserving energy over time and growing the capacity to increase your self-regulation.
Thanks for practicing with me today.
