Hello,
I'd like to invite you to join me for a brief arrival practice.
This practice is something that you can put into action between meetings,
Before an interview,
Before switching from one large task to another.
And the idea here is really just to give ourselves an opportunity to arrive to whatever our experience is.
So often we can go from task to task or event to event and we really don't know what's happening in our experience physically or emotionally and mentally.
And then we can become reactive and not really present to what's happening.
And that can lead to all sorts of things.
But by giving ourselves an opportunity to settle,
To ground,
And to arrive,
We really give ourselves the best shot of showing up in the ways that we would like to.
So for the next few moments,
Find yourself in a comfortable seat.
You might sit in a way that allows you to feel your feet on the floor.
This can also be done standing.
And I'll often use this myself when I'm waiting in line or when I just have a few moments before the doors of an elevator opens or before I go through a doorway.
I like to use the touching of a doorknob as a signal to check in and to arrive.
So just sensing your feet on the floor,
Gravity holding you fast.
You might scan from your toes at the top of your head and just notice physically any sensations that are present or lack of sensation.
Maybe tingling or pressure,
Tension.
There's no need to do anything here.
No changes that need to be made.
Simply noticing.
How does my body feel in this moment?
You might bring your awareness to your breath and just notice how are you breathing in this moment?
Is it shallow or deep?
Is it a long out breath or a short in breath?
Just noticing.
For some of us,
Bringing our awareness to our emotions and thoughts can be challenging.
Feelings and thoughts might in fact be mixed or hard to parse.
You might start with just sensing if there's a feeling tone present,
Positive,
Negative,
Neutral.
And from there you might be able to sense if there's a mood,
Frustration,
Anger,
Sadness,
Joy.
I find it helpful to try to determine where in your body the sensation is most vivid.
Maybe in your chest,
Your belly.
Is there a thought that goes along with this feeling?
Maybe there's a story you're telling yourself about how things should be.
Maybe you're avoiding some feeling.
Or maybe it's just unclear.
It can be helpful to pay attention not to the content of the thoughts themselves but the quality of the thoughts.
Are they positive,
Negative,
Neutral?
With this new awareness of what's happening in your experience,
You might ask yourself,
Is there anything in my experience that needs nurturing or attention?
It could be as small as a stretch or a deeper breath.
Maybe there's an opportunity for self-compassion,
A soothing of whatever part of yourself is still hurting.
As we close out this arrival practice,
I encourage you to set an intention for how you might like to show up for the rest of your day,
Or the rest of your week,
Or the rest of your life.
Perhaps that intention is to just be a little bit more open,
To slow down,
To do your best.
And before you transition to the next thing,
Just remember you always have the opportunity to pause and to arrive.
And the more you do this,
The more often you practice,
The less time it'll take and the easier it will be to put words to what your experience is.
And in some cases,
It can make it a lot easier to ask for what you need from others or from yourself.
Thank you.
