How To Do a Little Reality Check Wherever You Are
I realized in my last article I used Somatic Experiencing jargon to explain a really simple practice. If you watched the accompanying video you probably got the meaning of it, still, I want to spend more time with it because it's easy to "get it" intellectually, and it's quite a different thing to get it in your bones, to value it, and to practice it.
So what's this "orienting to your environment" about? It's a way to very consciously direct your attention in order to help yourself make the transition from a preoccupied mental world to an engaged, aware, curious interaction with life.
Why is that important? When we're dealing with a traumatized world with ongoing stress, it's easy for our nervous systems to fall into patterns that are expecting constant stress - even when it's not there. While awareness of this moment is the most natural thing, for nervous systems hijacked by stress, it's difficult to access. Orienting to your environment is all about accessing curiosity and awareness of what's actually here.
There are boatloads of books written about this. My hope that these bite-sized newsletters help to remind your to practice orienting regularly.
So here's another short video to follow along with "orienting to sound." Join me for a 2 minute walk in the woods... then get on out there yourself!
Wherever you are, help yourself more immediately access your present, fresh aliveness. Help yourself transition from mental chatter and agitation to inhabiting the human/animal world of feeling and being alive.
Notice what you hear
Name what you hear, either in your head or out loud
Notice what is happening in your body as you hear the sounds
This practice can be done anywhere, inside our outside, alone or in a crowd. Continue a few minutes of consciously noticing, what do you hear? Name those sounds in your head or outloud. Every once in a while, notice how you feel inside.
Return to noticing what you hear... naming it... noticing what's happening in your body. If you stay with it a while, at a certain point the naming might drop away and you're just hearing. If mental chatter arises, notice it, let it pass by, and return to noticing what you hear.
I'd be interested to hear how this is for you. Do you feel a little more spacious? A little more here?
I hope so. Because the brain and all the thoughts it secretes can be a pretty crazy place to live. We all need a reality check of what's actually going on around us... and to allow that updated reality check to land in our bodies, hearts and minds. Then our brain has half a chance of taking action, making decisions, living from where we actually are.
Whenever I write these newsletters, I try to convey one thing, and at least 10 other things come to mind - like what about when your environment isn't peaceful, then what's the use of this practice? What about when your mind won't quiet down? Or when you quiet down a bit just to notice that your heart hurts? If you have questions like this, feel free to reply and I'll add that to my list 'another one-thing-at-a-time' to address in the next newsletter.
Take good care til next time.
Amy Shoko Brown (MS, SEP, ISP, RCST) is a trauma resolution specialist and body-mind guide with over 33 years of training deeply rooted in compassionate mindfulness and creative process. She helps people struggling with health or trauma issues who want relief, strength and resilience so they can be their best selves. In private practice, she offers the modalities of Somatic Experiencing, Integral Somatic Psychology, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, and QiGong to support healing and transformation. She also enjoys smiling :-)