Today I'll be guiding you through a brief practice called Resiliency Reset,
Which stems from the work of mindful self-compassion.
We'll spend about five minutes together,
Centering,
Noticing the breath,
Returning to the body,
And walking through three simple steps that you can practice and apply to difficult mental states,
Triggers,
Stressors,
Or any afflictive experience.
Without further ado,
Let's begin.
Initially,
I invite you to just settle.
Find a position that feels supportive,
Comfortable,
And empowered and rooted.
Notice any bodily sensations,
Touch points of your form against the seat,
Cushion.
Noticing the rise and fall of your breath,
Fullness and expansion of your inhale,
And the descent and settling of your exhale.
And taking a couple intentional,
Conscious,
Deep breaths.
Just connecting to yourself,
The body,
And this moment.
And now I invite you to conjure a difficult experience.
I would select something relatively mild,
But something that is a stressor,
A tension point,
A challenge.
And I invite you to apply the following three steps to whatever that particular pain may be for you.
Step one comes from neuropsychology.
And it's the principle that if you can name it,
You can tame it.
Here we simply observe the state.
We are impartial.
We are simply a fly on the wall,
Witnessing and reporting what we see.
We use simple,
Clear phrases,
And ones that create some distance between self and the challenge.
This is painful.
Stress is present.
Anger is rising within.
You are the container in which these emotions emerge.
You are not the emotions.
And allow yourself to find language that resonates and speaks to you.
Step two,
Tap into universality and your shared humanity.
This is about accessing your intuition,
Your knowing that our struggles connect us to one another.
I don't know about you,
But I feel closest to the people who held me in my darkest hours,
Not the people that went to the parties.
This is what binds us.
This is what connects us.
Again,
We use simple phrases.
I'm never alone.
Being human is hard.
We all suffer in life.
This is part of being alive.
This is my humanity.
And step three,
Manifest what you need this moment.
Conjure the words you long to hear in this moment.
What would ease your heart and mind?
Often we struggle with compassionate responses to the self.
But most of us are quite good at generating that response to others.
Imagine how you would respond to a loved one,
A close friend,
A child.
Again,
We use simple phrases set as intentions.
May I trust in my capacity.
May I feel grounded and safe.
May I know my innate goodness.
May I stand in my power.
May I learn to accept myself as I am.
May I forgive myself.
Again,
With all of these,
I invite you to find the words that sing to your heart.
The words that stir something inside of you.
And now we'll take a couple deep,
Rich breaths.
Remembering that this practice is inside of you at all times.
Willing and ready when you remember.
As usual,
I invite you to jot down any gleanings or takeaways,
Insights or ahas.
And carry them with you.
And remember the resiliency reset.
A simple,
Elegant,
Three-step process to meet tension,
Stress,
And painful situations.
To change and alter our default mode network,
The DMN,
That so many of us acquired from childhood.
That often needs significant revision.
Until next time,
Much love,
Be well,
Center your heart,
And thrive on.
Fellow Voyagers
