Having Compassion For Our Humanity: A Journey Of Regulation

In this 35-minute rest (note that in the beginning, it says it will be 10ish, but I wound up extending it) we co-regulate our brain/nervous system by slowly including the senses and connecting them with what is simply here now in the actual factual. As we find ourselves somatically anchored and co-regulated at this moment, we slowly allow ourselves to notice and include other aspects of our experience that we may be struggling with, and we slowly bring compassion to ourselves about all the various parts of our humanity.

Image by Jen Peer Rich

Transcript

All right,

So yeah settle in a little bit wherever you are situated we'll be doing this rest for maybe Who knows ten minutes ish?

Yeah ish So make sure you're in a comfortable spot of your choosing and of course You know We can rearrange that can become something different if you want it in the course of this ten minutes if you need to move or adjust And we're not looking for perfection because um That's an idea.

We're just looking for what is okay in this moment with regards to what you're sitting upon or lying upon with regards to the location that you're in that you have chosen on some level or another even if it's a busy situation That you might be in this morning or there might be noise around or something like that.

There's still we're still reminding ourselves that we've chosen the seat that we're in or the bed that we're on or the floor that we're standing upon and Choice is really important when it comes to brain regulation and to empowerment So whether we like it or not,

Whether things are going well or not We can also acknowledge the very same time I have chosen to be in this chair in this Spot for my butt to be planted in for the next bit of time or at least for right now So with the eyes open we might even just take a moment to see our location see what we have chosen to sit upon or Let gravity hold us through And so we're just letting our eyes calibrate to the fact that what we're sitting on or standing on or laying on is stable As far as we can tell and in some way or another predictable in other words none of us have to worry about floating up to the ceiling or I don't have to worry about my Chair object dumping me to the ground.

For example,

I can look at it.

I can see it's pretty stable I can know from my experience that it's holds my body the full weight of me So we're letting our brains just calibrate with that with the eyes open to see what is true in the most simplest of ways We're seeing stability We're seeing predictability And the converse of that is we're not seeing imminent threat,

I'm not seeing anything chase me I'm not seeing anything dangerous in my chair and I can just verify that as we like to do just to inject very gently look behind us make sure There isn't anything dangerous behind us.

This is for the sake of the brain It really needs to know we're in stable ground.

So to speak and I look both ways just very gently Also engages my vagus nerve when I do that through the psoas I Can also just see in my space the wall behind me the wall is also really stable Predictable and then I can look and notice the other walls in my room There they're also stable.

The ceiling is stable predictable The floor is stable predictable I'm Letting just taking a moment to let our brains really calibrate to that fact that actual factual simple reality of stable walls stable ground stable ceiling And back to stable chair You can let breath breathe any way that it's breathing But I would invite us to not hold breath or if we notice breath accidentally holding it's like oh,

Yeah I don't need to hold breath the breath is just breathing And we're not holding the breath or trying to breathe in a certain way we're just noticing breath is here,

Too And we can have eyes open or closed here at this point To feel what we had been seeing so we had been feeling I'm sorry We had been seeing a stable chair and now we're just gonna see how our body finds it Where is that stable chair that I had been seeing?

And maybe your sit bones Connect to it Maybe your feet are connecting to a stable ground and that's where your body is finding Stability in this moment that you had been seeing but now you're feeling through the feet Maybe You're feeling it through the space of the back So we had been seeing stable and now we're gonna just let the body Show us where it is in direct experience through the bones through the flesh through our Our bodies are breathing bodies The breath is coming in and out and we're asking the body what where it perceives solidity Where it's making contact with solid Breath is still happening Sitting is still happening And we're we're feeling the sitting happening as our eyes are either open or closed.

We're feeling Sitting happening in the simplest of ways We're inviting our attention to connect in the simplest of ways We might also be perceiving solidity Through the hands.

I just noticed my hands are Holding one another and there seems to be stability there or solidity there.

So I'm just noticing that in my own experience Other people might be noticing a sense of solidity that word may not make sense anymore,

But some kind of ease with like the air on the face or the sensation of armpits It's letting attention continue to connect to What is so simple in this moment what doesn't need to be managed in the sitting body sitting breathing body Hmm So we've connected to the sense of sight We've connected to the sense of touch.

We might also notice the sense of sound Might just open our attention to what sounds are just simply here that don't need to be managed There might be sounds that do need to be managed or want to be managed and so just letting those be as they are We're not trying to eliminate Managing We're just letting attention Connect to what might not need managing in this moment If you're in a really noisy environment,

This may not be the sense mechanism that you choose to connect with You might instead stay with the sense of Simple sensation or sight There's no right or wrongs here.

We're just we're just playing and experimenting with the sense mechanisms What doesn't need to be managed in this moment?

Through sound Or through Smell can you smell also?

There's not much of a smell actually in my room,

It's very subtle I can't really even find words for it,

But I do notice I don't need to manage it and it's vagueness And again,

If there are smells that you need to manage,

That's okay.

We're not trying to eliminate that.

We're just Practicing building those neural pathways to what doesn't need to be managed in a moment in this moment We can also play with the sense of taste What tastes in the mouth don't need to be managed in this moment Just let yourself be curious The mouth is actually a big area There's lots of different Mechanisms within the mouth that provide different kinds of flavors and tastes So you can let your attention just meander So you can let your attention just meander Through the back of the tongue or the sides or the cheeks just take your time Just noticing what you notice.

Is there anything in the through that sense of taste that doesn't need to be managed in this moment?

Breath is still happening sitting is still happening And then letting yourself choose from a sense of touch sight smell Hearing Tasting what is easy for your attention To anchor with in this moment.

What is so simple and easy doesn't require any managing That your attention can just hang out with No,

Right or wrong choice.

Just whatever is so simple or easy for you in this moment And if you've chosen a sense mechanism like sight or sound or taste or smell You can kind of stay connected with that if you'd like and I'd also invite you to find Something for your attention to anchor into with your sitting body You're sitting breathing body whether it's the Sit bones under you or the back behind you or your hands feet doesn't matter what it is Anything head to toes.

It's just so simple in your sitting breathing experience.

That doesn't need to be managed but can just be Noticed or experienced Doesn't need to be managed doesn't need to be analyzed or understood or figured out.

It's just so simple Hmm body still breathing Letting your attention continue To just hang out with that simpleness that your attention had discovered has discovered Reminding your arms and legs in this moment nowhere to go nothing to do.

We just get to be heavy However,

We're positioned and the object that we're on will will and is supporting us holding us We can let the body be heavy I just noticed my shoulders drop a little bit like oh,

Yeah,

I can Let some holdings go I really feel that exhalation more fully the chair will catch it will catch the exhaling body We're gonna invite ourselves to drop an expectation that everything is simple this moment Likely not everything is simple.

There might be thoughts or sensations that are challenging or that are Yeah knocking on the door and We can acknowledge them And we can at the very same time So and both at the very same time we can also notice just what is so simple in this moment.

What doesn't need to be figured out To be figured out We're acknowledging that that is not perhaps our entire experience.

We can have and both experiences of challenge and ease Keep in this moment keep connecting to that ease that simplicity Will include some other perhaps in a moment,

But we really want to let the brain and the neural pathways Connect to what is so simple in this moment a couple more breath cycles If something pulls you away and and it off that's very common.

Just gently bring your attention back to what's so simple And while we're leaning into what's so simple.

This is our movie theater chair.

So to speak this is The way that we can really lean into Noticing actual factual We can really help the brain and nervous system regulate as we orient in this way As we're feeling whatever it is that helps us anchor here We can then also notice maybe other things that are happening.

Maybe there's grief And we might notice that through different sensations or ideas Thoughts meaning-making Maybe there's there's fear and we might notice that through sensation Again,

Or through ideas of the mind meaning-making and thoughts maybe there's anger and That's the same.

We might notice it through a sensation And that comes with some kind of story or meaning-making So from our anchored place,

We're just noticing other Dynamics here other expressions that may bring with them some unease or some unsettledness or challenge So we're going to come back with to our and both What is so simple and has ease?

We include that Orient here And from here,

We acknowledge the other terrain in our experience that may be a little different And that's allowed to be here,

Too and we might notice the different safe flavors between When our attention is with what's so simple I might notice what that's like In terms of how thoughts are moving or thoughts are grabbing or meaning-making is happening or not happening We might notice When we're anchored how attention is really connected to the simplicity of this moment in an actual factual way So we're just kind of studying the characteristics and qualities of Really being in the present in an anchored way And we can also from here notice the characteristics of other Experiences That we might want to acknowledge as well and what they come with Not making any of it bad or wrong.

We're just kind of studying it as a scientist Other Experiences of disease or discomfort or unsettledness with just different Aspects Concepts meaning-making should supposed to's have to's ideas of some sort past and future kind of a web of meaning-making And from our anchored place,

We're just noticing that we're not trying to get rid of any of that we're just noticing the composition of fear anger sadness joy Other things that might be have a connecting with ideas or concepts From your anchored place just continuing to notice Noticing breath Noticing sitting Noticing the simplicity Maybe noticing the lack of simplicity It's gonna let us be in quiet a little bit longer through a couple breath cycles Keep bringing attention So just noticing What doesn't need to be managed and anchoring here first so that we can then notice?

The terrain of what wants to be managed or fixed and changed Just observing our humanness in this way Breath is still happening the field of gravity still supporting us And I'm gonna bring in a concept that's a it's a tricky concept But we're gonna just see if we can feel into it and not get lost in the headiness of it It's gonna invite you to notice in this moment right now Where compassion lies for your yourself and your experience So we're not going to try to figure out this this prompt of a question Because otherwise,

We'll we'll lose the experience of possibility with it and we'll just go into Analyzing which is fine.

We can do that too.

There's nothing wrong with that,

But we wanted to see how The system might respond it's a really good sense of compassion for our humanness in this moment And it may show up in really strange ways like when I asked that I I Found it in the warmth of my hands on this heating pad That doesn't even make sense maybe but that's just what showed up for me So it doesn't have to make sense compassion doesn't have to show up in a particular way We're just being curious here,

And I'm sure that will change for me as I sit with the question some other part of me will perhaps show up With regards to where is compassion for?

Just this human experience.

I'm living in this moment the compassion for How there can be simplicity and so much complexity at the same time so much challenge and difficulty Can I have compassion for the part of me that gets really lost in thought Can I have compassion for the part of me that?

Really gets pulled in to past or future Can I have compassion for the part of me that engages in some funky behaviors sometimes Because human being is complicated sometimes Can I have compassion?

For myself That I forget or leave behind what's so simple Often leave behind what's simple I forget To include my anchoring I have compassion for that part of me that forgets to Remember and include what's so simple for my brain and my nervous system Can I have compassion for the part of me that's so used to urgency that I forget how to include simpleness And What isn't urgent in a moment of compassion for the part of me that forgets that the walls and the floor and the chair are Just so simply here so stable so available to orient with how compassion for myself that I forget to orient this way sometimes because I get really caught up and Things going on around me or my thoughts or perceptions of past or future Have compassion for that complexity of my humanness that gets caught up in those things Then have compassion for the part of me that then remembers Remembers,

Oh,

Yeah my sit bones.

Oh Yeah,

My hands Or whatever is simple Even having compassion for the part of me that remembers simplicity Remembers how to just be here in any kind of some kind of simple way Compassion for the part of me that remembers I can have a nice long exhalation And compassion for the part of me that forgets to breathe and accidentally holds breath And just for fun,

Let's call forth compassion in our last bit of time here We call forth compassion and we'll just sit and breathe with that Calling forth just noticing from our anchored space Call forth Let's change it a little bit.

Let's call forth loving simple compassion Just taking a breath Nothing to do Manage Call forth loving simple compassion.

I'm gonna be quiet here for a few cycles of breath I'm gonna slowly move out of this rest But if you're listening to this later,

You can push pause and stay with this as long as you'd like But for now Letting your fingers wiggle your toes wiggle.

Maybe he's letting your butt wiggle your sit bones wiggle a little bit Hmm You're letting yourself rock back and forth a little bit on your sit bones or letting your arms stretch out Hmm and then just taking your time when you're ready to slowly let your attention Your eyes open I should say eyes open Maybe include more of the senses around you sight or sound or smell And then if you'd like you can Just simply come back to screen or maybe take a few moments to jot some things down That revealed themselves for you today,

Maybe some learnings or some takeaways Or questions You're just letting yourself journal for a few minutes here before we reconnect I'm just thanking yourself for being here today to do this rest together