Sarah 0:07
Somatic snack time. I would love to share a strategy that I'm thinking about today at the end of a long hike, and useful in these kinds of moments when we have maybe well bitten off a little bit more than we meant to in situations where Maybe we're pushed a little bit more than is comfortable, or you know, outdoors. It's so often related to moving slower than you thought, or having running into some trickier conditions than you expected. And I just think there's so many examples of different ways we run into this in other parts of our lives too. So the strategy is something that I like to call a resources inventory, And I would think about resources in a bunch of different ways. So maybe you've been here around for a while for these co-regulation conversations where I've talked about resourcing before as a somatic strategy. Here we're leaning on that strategy and trying to have like expand it like an accordion. So yeah, the example of an outdoor day that's stretching your capacity a bit. The idea is to think through and identify, and spend some time letting your body come into relationship with or remembering of the all the different kinds of resources that you have, and the thing here that feels really important to name is that we're not trying to Pollyanna your nervous system into reading the situation differently than it is. My guess is that it is going to be a big day for you, or there are going to be some challenging aspects, and maybe there is even a question that's necessary about whether you're going to keep going or turn around, and what kind of yeah maybe there's some decisions that need to be made. This resources inventory will help with the logistics of the decision making if that needs to happen, and it will also help your nervous system hopefully land in like a more accurate picture of where you actually are. So I guess one way of thinking about this exercise is that it helps us sort out the potential overreaction that our nervous system might have if you know we're in one of those bodies that can tend to have a big reaction and help us. I mean, it's it's the practice essentially is helping the nervous system realize the body, like help make sure we're taking into account the things that we do have along with us that will help us get through these bigger days, these more challenging experiences, the stretchy times. So when I'm thinking outdoors, I'm thinking very practically first. Like the one of the levels of this accordion is the stuff, the physical things that you have with you, the layers that you have that will keep you warm or protected from the sun, the sunscreen maybe that you brought your first aid kit. If you have something like that along, your snacks. How many snacks do you have? It's in inventory, and it can be really helpful to remember and spend some time with the reality of what you have. Hopefully, you know if it's like most of the times when we do this practice, we're realizing, oh, we have some actual physical supports here that we planned. What we brought, you know, on purpose because we did a good job prepping. So hopefully, you still have some snacks left, and maybe a layer if it's getting cold. And Yeah, and you know, there might even be a way that noticing right now, the way your body is being resourced by the clothes that you're wearing, can function as a resource too. This one is like physical and experiential right now, especially if the clothes are actually helping give you some protection from the elements. Noticing the somatics of that, noticing the the pleasant texture against your skin, or the sensation of some warmth. My examples are all cold weather ones, so those of you who are in hot places and hiding from the sun, you're going to have to kind of flip this, But or yeah, apply it how you need to. But right, if there's a way that your clothes are working right now to keep you a little bit more comfortable, noticing the sensations of that experience can be one of the layers to this resource accordion. Okay, and then another layer might be the people you're with if you have a crew right now.
Sarah 7:22
If you're out with people whose skills you trust, who you enjoy being out with, and feel supported by, they are very critical aspects of our resources are our team, and if you're out by yourself or really everyone, also the resources, the skills that you yourself have is another one of these layers, the trainings that you've been to, the experience you've had, the strength you've built. This is one of the places that I've been training for this mantra comes in right here too. Yeah, so again, we're trying to do the one step, one two step with all of these that we always look for. Which one is letting the attention land on the thing, and the two is noticing the body, noticing if there's any shift or change in the body that you might become aware of if we just open up our attention in that way. So, yeah, your skills, your capacity, your training, your fitness, your strength, your resilience, And then there's the sensory layer of the accordion, which is noticing the environment around you, and particularly the things That are okay about it. I mean, if you're in a massive snowstorm, that might be hard to find, but some situations have some real beauty inside of them. That the practice of kind. Looking for the things that are unique or weird or delightful or surprising about the wild situations we find ourselves in when we're outside can sometimes really bring some levity to a situation, or maybe it's a settling experience to notice beauty. Okay, I'm walking by a creek, I hope that you get some of this water sound. As we're talking about the sensory experience, often the auditory one can be a sense that we don't always remember to bring on board. Might be something to keep a keep an ear out for. Okay, getting into our resource accordion. Our resources into inventory. If you have any spiritual resources or image channel resources that you've worked with and want to bring in those, might also be available right now, and they Might enjoy coming forward to be a part of the experience. Sometimes that's ancestors, competent protectors, maybe an animal, or yeah, Treaty inventory of the different kinds of supports that we can remind our body of. And you know, this is actually brings up a question that maybe I'll leave you with. With this one, the resources inventory. It it feels really important to me that a big part of this be looking at the supports that you have available, the resources, the things that are like okay about the situation you're in, or practicing working that muscle group because it's often underdeveloped, but and also while you're doing this kind of process, you might also notice naturally the things that are not so great about each of these categories, and I kind of wonder if a resource inventory is also just a practical assessment of the situation. Just being really intentional about looking at the potential threats and hazards, which yes we want to do, and then also and noticing the sensory experience of that too, because that's part of it. It's going to probably be pretty in your face often, but yeah, the social nervous system layer. I just realized we have to include that in the in the inventory too. Part of your team aspect, but often coming into the social nervous system. If you have people to chat with, have a conversation with, it's some of what I'm using you for in this moment, as I do some thinking and talking here at the end of my long hike and long day, waking up that social nervous system can be really supportive. Okay, so the question still remains, though I'll leave this one to us for pondering about how the awareness of the threats and challenges is can also potentially be a part of this inventory, and some of the skill just might be in making space for both, and then maybe. More advanced on here would be getting to know your own nervous system too, and how, what kind of space and time you need for resources to land. Often, for the like the way our nervous system is built, that sympathetic branch of the nervous system has myelin on it, so it moves pretty fast. That just means that messages move across it really quickly.
Sarah 15:27
And the parasympathetic, the branch of our nervous system that slows things down, gets us to rest and digest, and more than that. But it's unmyelinated, and that means that the messages along it don't travel as quickly, and it because of that, it often needs more time. So sometimes we, yeah, we need some real time and space with remembering our resources for them to land in the body, just because of that function of those different branches of the nervous system. So it's fine to look at the threats and the challenges. We need that too, and we might need more time with our resources in order to really feel them on a somatic level. Okay, play with this. Let me know what you notice. I'll see you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
