Whenever we're sitting with something that's hard to absorb,
Our body usually contracts.
We tighten up against it.
We might notice that we go into a fight,
A flight,
Or freeze response.
We might feel numb,
We might feel dissociated,
Our mind might go other places.
We might feel anxious or angry.
We have these nervous system responses to everything that happens.
One of the things that we could do is to notice the safety that we have here in our own physical body.
So we can do that by noticing our body is safe.
We can use our hands to just kind of come in contact.
Pat your arms,
Your shoulders,
Your legs.
Notice your feet on the floor or however they're situated.
If you're sitting,
Notice your seat.
If you're lying down,
Notice how you're supported.
So you might be laying back or lying down,
But you could actually let your body go into the support that's here.
And that's something that when we're scared or hypervigilant doesn't really happen so much.
We're holding ourselves stiff or we're holding ourselves in readiness to move into action to protect ourselves or to fight.
So just this pulling back and knowing right now,
This moment,
How could I let my body know that I'm safe?
So one of the ways that we do that is we look around the room.
Notice if there's anything in your immediate environment that might be dangerous to your body that's a threat.
We listen to sounds.
Part of what you're hearing is my voice.
And I'm not,
Oh,
Kind of,
My breath is smooth.
I'm breathing continuously.
My throat is relaxed.
I feel safe.
I know that I'm safe.
So that's one of the ways that we broadcast that to each other.
If you think of the contrast between that and some media and emotionally,
Energetically,
Socially,
Our sense of safety is compromised today after the verdict yesterday.
So when something happens that feels so unfair,
So unjust,
It shakes us up.
It makes us afraid.
What kind of a world are we living in that someone who murdered two people could go free?
That feels really scary.
And we also have the knowing that millions of people really care and don't believe that that's correct or just.
There are some people who think that that verdict was okay,
But there are millions more who don't.
Just because something happened doesn't mean it was just and it doesn't mean that it is supported by all of us.
We could know that too.
We could let that in.
What happened was wrong.
I'm not alone in that knowing.
Most people don't believe that that verdict was right.
If you think about all the people that you know and all of the people that we don't know,
People don't support that verdict.
Notice what that feels like in your body to know that.
Let your shoulders soften a little bit more.
We often hold our shoulders up around our ears.
It's one of the ways our body contracts.
Notice if your breathing is contracted or constricted in some way or if you're breathing fully.
Try a few breaths and see if that feels okay.
Full continuous smooth breath is a powerful signal to the nervous system that our body is safe.
As you're breathing in and breathing out,
Notice what that feels like to let your breath be deeper.
And if it feels like that's too much,
Then bow back a bit.
Maybe just notice the softening of your belly as you breathe out.
It's always good to follow the cues of our nervous system and to let ourselves ease into things.
Even something like the breath,
Which seems so simple,
Is actually a very powerful indicator of our nervous system,
Our neuroception,
Our threat of safety or danger.
We're just working very kindly and gently.
As your breath does come into more regulation or maybe you're starting to breathe more fully,
Notice the whole of your body from head to toes.
Notice your back body,
The back of the head and neck,
Your shoulders,
The large muscles of your upper back.
As we exhale,
Let a little bit more tension slide off each time.
And as your shoulders settle down away from your ears,
Maybe those large muscles that cover the shoulder blades soften a bit.
Bring your attention down into your legs,
The back of your legs and the front of your legs.
And notice if your legs are being held stiffly still,
If they're restless,
If they're moving around,
What would it feel like just to stretch your legs a little bit?
And sometimes we need to complete a motion that we're holding down.
So in a case like this,
You might want to do some running in the spot or move your legs or shake them somehow.
Let that energy release out of your legs.
And if your legs are feeling kind of numb,
A little bit of shaking and stretching can also help.
It can kind of wake them up a bit.
We wake up out of dorsal or freeze.
We come into a sympathetic arousal,
The fight or flight.
And it's really only from there then we can continue to come up into a state of connection and trust and safety,
The ventral vagal.
So notice your legs and then notice your arms as well,
From the sides of your neck,
Your shoulders down into your arms.
For several breaths,
Let waves of relaxation and softening come through your arms,
Down through your hands,
Fingers,
Fingertips.
And every time you breathe out,
Let your shoulders,
Your arms and hands soften a little bit more.
And when we are afraid or worried for our safety,
When we're outraged,
Our arms and hands can be part of that.
We can really feel that energy.
We want to strike out or move.
If there's anything that your arms and hands want to do,
Go ahead and do that.
And you can do it quickly or you could do it kind of slow motion,
Just to really give your nervous system time to feel that you're moving your body.
Sometimes it's helpful to open our eyes.
Opening our eyes can help us to stay in this moment.
And if you feel like it's okay to close your eyes,
Of course,
That's fine too.
If you find that you're getting kind of agitated or it's hard to focus,
It's hard to stay,
Opening your eyes could be something to try.
You know,
Let's come down through the front of the body,
The forehead and eyebrows.
And as you breathe out,
Soften through the forehead.
As you breathe in,
Keep your attention focused there.
And then as you breathe out,
We get to soften from there.
Just soften a little bit more.
And soften all of the muscles around the eyes.
We take in safety and danger through our eyes.
So if you're looking around again,
You might notice safety.
If there's anything of concern,
You'll automatically focus on that.
Notice the sensations of air in your nostrils.
That coolness as we breathe in,
The warmth as we breathe out.
And notice if you're holding your breath.
If you are,
You might soften your belly and see if you could get a bit more ease in your breath just by your focus and by softening your stomach.
Notice your mouth,
Your jaw,
Your tongue,
Your neck,
Your throat.
Notice if you're clenching your teeth.
And even if you're not clenching your teeth,
Put a little bit of space between your upper and lower jaw,
Move your lower jaw around,
Loosen the tension in your jaw.
Let your tongue relax.
And see if you could soften your vocal cords.
Sometimes we subvocalize.
There's a bit of thought going on and where our vocal cords are moving a little bit with that.
Even though we're not whispering or really talking,
There could be a little bit of activity there.
And then bring your attention down through the front and sides of your neck again,
Down into the collarbones and the large muscles that cover the chest.
Down to the belly.
Notice again your breath.
And bring your attention back to the whole of your body again,
Head to toes.
We haven't really been paying much attention to the thoughts in the mind.
And we don't always have to pay attention to that.
They have a way of getting our attention anyway.
Let's stay with the body and the energy that focus on the sensation in the body.
Come now into the heart center.
We might notice it almost feels physical when we have an experience that makes us feel heartsick or heavy in the heart.
Notice the muscles that cover the ribcage,
Notice the ribcage,
And then notice the movement of your body as well,
Especially in the lower ribs as you're breathing.
And then come to that interior focus in your heart center.
And for the next little while,
We'll just focus in the heart center.
Letting ourselves notice what's here.
And if there are intrusive thoughts that are feeling kind of alarming,
You might open your eyes and put them on a frame on the wall on the other side of the room.
You could do some tapping,
Bring your attention back into this moment through the sound and sensation of your fingers on your forehead.
So the real key to staying present with ourselves is to stay here in this moment.
So if you notice that you're getting dragged into traumatic memory or a train of thought,
Try to stay witness to it,
But not follow it really.
Keep coming back to this groundedness in this moment in our body right now.
Right now in our bodies we've ascertained,
We've noticed that we're safe.
We've looked around,
We hear sound,
Our body is safe.
We have time now and the safety now to tune into our heart.
What are we feeling?
What is the emotional felt sense in the heart center?
There could be many things going on,
Many emotions.
Anger,
Worry,
Outrage,
Grief might remind us of other times we felt this way.
Either in our personal lives when something's happened or other things like when George Floyd was murdered.
So this is not a neutral or a first time event for any of us.
We might be remembering either visually or explicit memory,
Some of these other things.
And it might be helpful again to open the eyes,
To look at the thoughts.
Notice that there's thoughts here.
Do some kind of regulating practice.
You could hold your own hands.
Stay present in this moment.
And really let yourself know how normal this is.
All of these reactions are normal responses.
There's nothing wrong with us that we feel sick at heart or angry.
Whatever it is that we're feeling,
Numb for another minute or so to stay with the sensation in the heart center.
And know how other people feel the same way.
We're not alone in this.
Most other people feel really heart sick when something like this happens.
When there's an injustice that happens.
We're affected by it.
We really care.
We feel powerless.
We might feel discouraged.
We care.
Let yourself bring in all of the other people who care.
We're not alone in this.
And it's a good thing to care.
Let yourself feel that.
Let that in as well.
I'm not alone in this.
And then open your eyes and look around the room again.
Stretch your body a bit.
Begin to move.
Take some different breaths.
Maybe some larger breaths.
You might stand and shake it out or shake your legs for a bit or just stretch.
Do what your body is wanting to do.
