Level 1, Check-In Training: For Embodied Leadership

Quickly shift from autopilot into embodied awareness by noticing three things in your environment, three physical sensations, & three emotional states. Within this simplicity lies profound training in interoception, self-regulation, & emotional fitness. When we practice with others, we become a regulating resource. As always, my intention is to create a space where you can slow down so you can practice tools & skills to develop the capacity to respond to the challenges in your life, work, & relationships in more empowering ways.

This Might Be Good For You If:
- You want a quick daily practice
- You lead teams and want connected meetings
- You struggle to notice feelings in real time
- You want to develop interoception
- You want to share practices with others

In This Session You Will:
- Learn the complete 3x3 Check-In script
- Understand the three core skills
- Watch a live demonstration
- Practice the check-in with guidance
- Receive your stretch: practice daily & teach someone

Transcript

Hello and welcome to somatic training for leaders. My name is Christopher Wilson. I am a somatic psychology master's degree student at California Institute of Integral Studies and an integral development coach. Today we are going to be learning and practicing the three-by-three check-in. This is our level one training in the three-by-three check-in and there's going to be three levels to this training. In today's training, We're simply going to discover the script of the three-by-three check-in. This is a beautiful practice that you can do on your own or when you're working with somebody else on your team or engaging with a group. When we do a protocol like this, There's three core skills that we're developing. The first one is our sense or ability to come into our sense of interoception. That is the ability to bring our awareness into the body, Into the felt sense to experience what is happening in our bodies. The second is self-regulation. And the third is emotional fitness. When we practice this for ourselves in relationship with others, We become a regulating resource for those we are collaborating with. And this becomes a practice of embodied leadership. Because when I show up in the default flow of our work and life and I choose to do this check-in, I am getting out of my head and whatever state I was in prior to this meeting and I am performing a practice to turn on that sense of interoception to become more aware and more present, To self-regulate, And to develop that capacity of emotional fitness. And then through a process of co-regulation, My nervous system becomes a regulating resource for those that I am with. And so let's begin. First, I'm going to tell you what the three-by-three check-in is. I'm just going to walk through the script or the stages of the three-by-three check-in. Then I'm going to do it myself. And then I'm going to give you an opportunity to go. And I just want to appreciate that I go first. And so when you do this with your team or with those that you care about, Recognize that this is the pattern that we do this in. I go first in order to regulate for you. And so that's what you can do with those that you collaborate with or want to work with or want to support. This is always an invite to be able to participate in this together. So here we go. The three-by-three check-in. First, It begins by saying your name, And I am checking in. Then I'm going to take a deep breath in my nose and out my mouth, And bring my energy and awareness out into the space around me. The first step is to notice three things in the environment around me. And I'm just going to tell you what I see. I'm just going to label what I see out in the world around me. Then I'm going to take another deep breath in my nose and out my mouth. And I'm going to bring my energy and awareness into my body. I'm going to zoom in to different places on or in my body, And I'm going to tell you three physical sensations that I notice on or in my body. This is really important to notice these physical sensations and to learn to describe them in whatever way feels aligned for you. Then the last step, I'm going to take another deep breath in my nose and out my mouth, And I'm going to bring my awareness into my emotional state. And I'm going to describe it in three ways, Always giving permission for myself to be creative. And then I will close out with, My name is Chris, And I am checking in. And then when I'm doing this with someone else, I always just ask that they affirm that they heard me. So they could say something like, Thank you, Or I heard you, Or good to be with you. Okay. In our next session, Session two, We will, Now that we've learned the script of the three by three check-in, We're going to layer on top of it formative language. Formative language is the language that we use to describe our experience, To relate to our experience, Whether that's inside of our bodies, Inside of our heads, Or a relationship with the world around us. Formative language comes in four parts, Amplification, Suppression, Judgment, And story. This is a look ahead for our next session. When we use formative language, We amplify, We suppress, We judge, And we tell stories. In this first session, I want you to practice the script in whatever way feels natural to you. In our next session, We're going to reflect on this and learn how to notice amplification, Suppression, Judgment, And story as we become more attuned to this practice. So here I go. I'm Chris, And I'm checking in. I notice a pair of white sneakers in the corner, And the bottoms of them are dirty. I notice a blue sky with no clouds. And I notice the shades in the window are blowing in the wind. Physically, On or in my body, I notice the cat just rubbed against my ankle. I notice the tingly coolness of the air inside my nose. And I notice that my mouth is moist, And my lips feel chapped. Emotionally, I feel caring, Creative, And patient. I am Chris, And I am checking in. Now it's your turn. Go ahead and pause this recording, If you want, And give yourself the opportunity to perform the three-by-three check-in. Allow this practice to unfold. This is your first time. I'll see you in here for session two. Go ahead and pause this recording and perform your check-in. Great. Welcome back. Good to be with you. So if we were together in this space, I would welcome and affirm you after your check-in. My invite to you is to practice this check-in two or three times a day, And to teach it to somebody else in your life and in your relationships. Maybe that's somebody you're working with on your team, Or maybe it's a loved one, Somebody that you want to share your practice with. And again, When we do this, We're doing it from a place of inviting people to participate with us. We're not making a request that they do it. I'll see you in here for session two of the three-by-three check-in, Where we will learn how to relate to formative language and how to notice and become mindful of formative language. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to share my practice with you. May your practice continue for the good of yourself and all things, And may you get what you're looking for.