First we Must “Notice”

On signaling Safety, & inviting the body’s wisdom

I like to say “Creation is the opposite of depression.” (Which is not to minimize clinical “Major Depression,” as something one can just paint or sing away.) [Although creativity can absolutely help that too!] But to be in a “state” that is conducive to “create” one must:

1-Feel Safe 2-Create Space 3-Have Energy

*Starting with SAFETY,

I am talking about that “Felt Sense” of: Ahhh, this Feels Soooo Gooood (right here, right now, this moment, this smell, this person, this song, this fabric, this forest, this tea etc.).

Safety that feels Yummy, Inviting, like someplace you’d call “Home.”

For me, my Favorite, SAFE, “Feel Good” Place is the WOODS.

Give me tall pines that sway in the wind, sparkle & muffle sound with snowfall/ I savor the smell of chipped cedar, & marvel over 17 shades of moss, & ferns/ give me acorns to hold in the palm of my hand, their little cap hats & sturdy brown & green bodies, the promise of a thousand Oaks/ give me stones & scattered spider veins of roots & gnarly bark/ my eyes covet fuzzy covered logs, & amber, golden, paper white leaves on twigs/ I want puddles of rain, to make mud, & mulch to mark my path.

I want to notice how split tree trunks holed with rot, somehow still burst with popcorn puffs of mushrooms. Let me finger the bark of the Ash, the Hemlock, the Beech & wrap my arms around, press my ear up to, or rest under, the American Oak. I will root down, give her my concerns, & soak up her wisdom, while the sun shines through branches, warms my cheeks.

Yes, give me the woods for an 8 sense overload of Life itself, persisting, sprouting, thriving even, from decay & death/ my whole body seems to soften with the sound of the wind rustling leaves, and squirrels scampering, house & chipping sparrows’ tweeting to the sing songs of the Northern Cardinal & the American Robin. I want to come eye to eye with that doe again, talk to her with my heart next time, see if she’ll linger longer. Yes, please, give me the rhythm of one foot, and the other, a metronome of pace, a slow dance rhythm that melts me like butter, and nourishes me like warm bread.

(Are there places, people, smells, sights, sounds, things that your senses gobble up, or prefer?) I’d Love to hear about them!

You see, after decades of partaking in & practicing therapy, I learned that it turns out, we can’t just “talk ourselves” into feeling safe without our bodies feeling safe.

Feeling SAFE starts with the Body. Our body is regulated by a system (our Autonomic Nervous System) that evolved over 400 million years ago, a lizard brain, if you will. It was designed to seek out danger, to memorize it & to replay it in the name of keeping us alive. (We can’t just tell ourselves “get it together,” or “calm down.” Shocker, huh?) Nope, our lizard brain has motor & sensory neurons sending impulses continuously & faster than the speed of light & it won’t be “fooled.” It needs to be FELT. It also hasn’t adapted to our society’s culture of living indoors, artificial lighting, sitting all the time, isolated, grinding hustle.

So, what CAN we do?

Well, LOTS :-)

I’m So Excited to start sharing some Simple Nervous System Tools & Practices that have helped me & loads of clients feel safer in their own skin, confident in their ability to sense their own needs & equipped to use their own nourishing routines & resets. How to Create a Life that Feels Luscious & Full of Presence?

To Begin is Simple. It starts with NOTICING.

A tiny example:

NOTICE where you are right at this moment. Notice where your body is in space, feel your feet on the ground (or the bark of a tree😉) or your back against the chair; look around (up down, side to side-what’s there?; now lift your head from the screen, & look out in to the distance 4-5 feet):

Notice, how does that feel? (“Grounding,” “Soft eye gaze,” & extending the frame of our peripheral vision “signals safety” to the brain stem.)

Now, let’s notice the parts of your body.

Scan your body from head to toe, taking note of your neck, your jaw, your shoulders, your heart beat, your tummy, and so on down to your feet.

Notice any areas of tension & gripping. Are you clenching your toes? Grinding your teeth? Holding your breath? See if you can allow these areas (if they are not in use at the moment,) to simply “SOFTEN.”

*It turns out that we can’t Panic in a Relaxed Body. Clenching & gripping our muscles takes energy. By bringing our attention to our bodies, we can save that energy for when we Actually Need, or intentionally want to use it.😃

Now, if you’d like, add Some intentional noticing of Breath.

Breathe in through your nose, for the count of 4, exhale through your nose for the count of 8. Allow your belly to soften when you do this. Notice if you can feel the temperature of the air coming in vs. going out. Notice where you can feel your breath. Your chest? the sides of your abdomen? Your belly? Is your breath quiet? Is it smooth? Shallow, or Deep? Do this for 10-15 breaths.

JUST NOTICE.

If you are open to trying this out, an option I offer to clients is to set a timer for 2 or 3 times during the day when you might spend 3-5 minutes “noticing:”

where you are, how your body feels, & the qualities of your breath.

And that’s it for Today! 😊(The Beginning of Establishing Safety: Simply Noticing.)

EXTRA CREDIT:

For an added exercise,

You can:

Ask your Body what it would LOVE right now?

(A stretch perhaps? To close your eyes & rub your temples or the back of your neck for a moment? A foot massage? A warm drink? A cold ice pack? Something cozy to put on? A candle or hand lotion to smell? A blanket? A breeze? A walk? Soothing sounds or music? No answer is wrong, & if you can’t give your body its exact request at this moment, that’s ok. Perhaps noting this need & setting a time to meet it later? Perhaps some small shift in the direction of the need or desire?)

Let me know what you think of any of this! There is So Much More after the noticing (tuning in to our “senses” up next). But first, we need to notice the moment before we can begin to occupy it, meet it, move from it, & create from it, yes?

XoXo,

Colleen