My Body Is My Friend

We look around the space we're in and notice there's no danger here that matches the level of stress we're feeling. We practice cyclic physiological sighing, a double inhale through the nose and a long exhale through pursed lips, to come back into our body. We explore the idea that our body is our friend, always doing its best for us, and we notice the inner critic that says we shouldn't feel what we feel. We stop being so hard on ourselves and start making kindness a practice. We let nature support us, even if that's just looking outside for a minute or remembering the feeling of our feet on the earth.

Transcript

Like everyone, I have ups and downs of what's going on in my nervous system. How am I responding to what's happening in the world? And one of the things I enjoy every single day is coming on here and doing a practice. When we come on and we're not alone in the world. That we have this capacity to be together and to enjoy a practice of coming into presence and coming into this moment. It's this delicate balance that we always have around, Can I bring in reality so that I'm not living in a Disney movie? But I'm actually here in my real life with what's really going on, Can I bring that in without being overwhelmed by it? One of the ways that we're not overwhelmed by it is that we connect with each other and ourselves, And also that we connect with the earth. We can't care for something if we're disconnected from it. Like, Who's their body? If we're disconnected from our body, Which is really common. Our culture, Just the sensory overwhelm and the busyness and the hurriness. Having to work so hard to make a living because of the concentration of wealth at the top, And all of those things have contributed to much less ease in our life. Let's start with looking around the space that you're in. And as I'm looking around, I'm just noticing there's two juvenile hummingbirds that seem to just be zipping around in a pair all the time. And they were just at my scarlet runners. They love those red blossoms. So that's something that I get so much satisfaction from every time I see it. So what is it for you as you're looking around? One of the things that's very helpful is consistency. Our nervous system does well with consistency. Because it's predictable. So often people will stay in a not great situation just because we're not sure if getting out of it's going to be worse or There's a lot of other reasons, Of course, Too, But as we're looking around, What are the cues for you? That you need to move into immediate action or are there any? Usually there's not. As you're looking around, Is there anything signaling through your eyes, Through your hearing? Is there anything signaling that there's danger? As you're looking around, Are you actually seeing actually there's nothing here that would match this level of uneasiness and stress and fear that I feel? What does it feel like maybe to move your body around a little or to take some deeper breaths? Cyclo-physiological sighing is a great practice just to come right back into our body. So it's that deep double inhale through the nose. Breathe out through pursed lips like you're breathing out through a straw. It's like letting an air out of a balloon. As you're breathing out, Everything kind of softens. Breathing in, Double inhale through the nose. And out through the mouth. Let your exhalation be as long as you have ease. Tune into My Body is My Friend. It's always doing its best for me. I'm connected in a friendly way with my body. My body is where I live. So that seems a little, This is my head, That's I am where I am, And then here's my body. But just to explore, Is there anything coming up for you around that? Does it feel true, Pretty much, That you have a friendly relationship with your body, That you're often taking your body into account? Maybe there's more of a disconnection. There's so much now around somatic, Which means body. Somatic inquiry is what I do. And there's a lot of talk about somatic healing. And there's a recognition that our bodies are part of our healing journey. Could we look at that layer of interpretation? How am I interpreting what's going on in my body? And so many people have such a strong inner critic. Well, I shouldn't feel that or I should feel this or I shouldn't eat for comfort or I shouldn't be stressed. I should be more relaxed. I shouldn't worry. I mean, We have so much of that in our head. One thing we can all do is stop being so hard on ourselves. We could start to be kinder, Make that a practice. Take some breaths. And then there's a deeper issue here of why do we push through? Why do we keep pushing our body? And that's something we can bring into awareness and that we can work with. We live in a culture that's very pushy. And we also have a lot of pressure, Especially if you have a lot of responsibilities. It might be hard to change the big picture right away. But what we could always do is a couple of cyclic physiological sighing breaths. Or we could try to relax our neck and shoulders while we're working. We can build in like getting up and walking around or just looking up from the screen for 30 seconds is helpful. Bring in how could you let nature support you? I've been someone who's always felt very comfortable in nature. As a kid I used to ride my bike out into the country, I lived in a small town, And just lay in the prairie grass and look up at the poplar trees in the sky and at night I'd lay out and look at the stars. I've always felt a lot of nurturance from that. And so I've continued that through my adult life. But what is that for you? So maybe for you, You don't feel as comfortable in the forest or the wide open spaces. That maybe you feel comfortable in a park nearby or in your backyard in a garden or with your plants on your deck or something. Is there something that you could do to bring in some kind of connection with nature? And it often involves something simple, Like I could just look outside for a minute and notice the nature that I can see. Even in a city, There's often plants or trees. And I could let myself remember. Maybe I could walk outside and feel my feet on the earth or raise my arms up as I breathe. There's so much wonder in the world. And I really try to not eat my meals at my desk. I can walk right outside, Or at least I could look outside and let myself connect with my body. But also with what's around me. I guess maybe the closing thing is don't give yourself a hard time for whatever situation you're in. We live in a culture that is hard to be connected with our body. It's hard to love ourselves and be kind. There's a lot of pressure, There's a lot of busyness. Many of us grew up with an inner critic or an outer critic that turned into an inner critic. We're in these complicated lives and yet still we can breathe. Still, We could come into our heart for a moment and connect again.

Reviews

Thank you for a lovely and hopeful pause.