Hi everyone.
Today I'm going to share another somatic experiencing principle with you known as pendulation.
And how we can use pendulation within our conscious awareness.
To help us manage pain or discomfort in the body,
And also to expand our window of tolerance for pain or discomfort for stress.
Pendulation is a term from somatic experiencing and it means,
Just like it sounds,
Like a pendulum would swing from one side to the next.
That's what we'll be doing with our awareness.
We'll be going slower than that.
We'll be slowly moving our awareness from one point to another point.
And back to that first point and just shifting back and forth.
With our attention,
With our awareness.
Within the body as a way to.
Just really help to regulate some of that internal stress and internal tension that often are there when we have chronic pain in the body.
And when you're ready,
Go ahead and just get settled in.
We'll find the comfortable seat together.
And if you're lying down,
Lying down is fine too.
Just want to feel supported.
And my apologies about the wind.
It was a beautiful day today,
So I couldn't help but go outside.
But now I'm wondering if it's a little too windy in the headphones.
So go ahead and get settled in.
See if you can be supported underneath your seat and behind your back.
Maybe take a deep breath.
Just kind of arriving in your body,
In your chair.
Or on whatever surface is supporting you.
And for this exercise,
We'll be moving our attention between an area of discomfort or pain in the body.
And an area of comfort or neutrality in the body.
So you might already have an idea in your mind of what those places are.
Maybe it's your shoulders or your jaw that are always in tension,
Always in pain.
Maybe it's your neck.
And maybe your thighs or your feet or your legs always feel pretty stable,
Pretty good.
So those would be two good options,
Just kind of checking in with yourself.
What are places in my body I'd like to pendulate between?
And one of them will be the discomfort,
And one should be,
Again,
Neutral or comfortable.
Now,
For anyone who's worried right now because nothing feels comfortable or neutral in your body,
That's okay,
Because you can also pendulate your awareness between the discomfort somewhere in the body.
And an external resource.
Now that may be something in the environment around you that you can orient your gaze to or orient your hearing to.
So maybe it's.
A beautiful photograph on your wall that brings you joy and happy memories or Maybe it's your cat or your dog that you love that brings a little of that softening into your system.
So if there's no comfort in your body to be readily identified here,
Go ahead and just find something in the room around you that's nice to look at,
That you like to take in.
And if it's outside and if you're like me,
It won't be hard to find things that are beautiful to gaze at.
With your either external resource or your internal resource,
That place in the body that actually feels okay,
We're gonna start there.
We're gonna start by just gently inviting our awareness.
To hang out in that neutral or comfortable place.
Noticing if it's an area in the body.
Qualities of temperature or texture.
That resourced place,
What's it feel like?
What do you imagine it looks like?
And if you're gazing at something in your environment as a resource,
Just notice if there's any softening that might happen in your body as you take in.
That thing that you enjoy looking at.
And once you've had a chance just to notice,
Just to titrate and touch into that feeling.
Let's shift the awareness and instead of going right into the heart of the pain or discomfort,
We're just going to go to the edge.
We're just going to explore that periphery.
The idea is like drawing a big circle around the point of pain or discomfort and just feeling into that circle,
Feel into the border,
The periphery.
With curiosity,
Just notice.
Say hello to it.
Hey there,
I feel you.
Notice you.
And then again,
We'll shift the awareness.
We just go ahead and move the awareness,
Come back to that place of comfort in the body,
That other place,
Or open your eyes and take in that item of comfort,
Item of resource.
That can offer a subtle soothing and down regulation.
Hang out in the resource until you feel the softening,
Until you feel a little shift.
Little satellite.
And then gently.
Pendulate your attention again back to the edge of the discomfort.
Being curious.
Noticing if there's any difference this time.
Just enough to say hello to that discomfort.
Notice it.
Rita.
And on again.
Let's shift the awareness one more time.
And move it back to that place of comfort.
Bring the attention outside of the body into the body.
Something that helps you feel a little more settled and present.
And then if you need,
You might need a little wiggle or a little shake there after some deep internal presence like that with our discomfort,
A little movement.
Can often offer a great reset for you.
