Greetings from Austin!
We received a helpful meditation (see below) from David Field who is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in England. David has been a friend to Dr. Vim's since contributing to our PowerPlant podcast on PTSD, which you can listen to here on Spotify.
We found the meditation really works as a 'reset button' and we hope it helps all of you in the same way.
We would also like to invite you to follow us on Instagram and join David via an Instagram Live this Sunday, April 12th at 12:00 Noon EST, where he will be speaking with our friend Blanca Padilla about creating balance in the face of overwhelm.
Looking forward to seeing you this Sunday, If you liked the meditation (below) please let us know via direct message in Instagram.
Cory @drvims
MEDITATION: Come To Your Senses
Most of us now find ourselves in a state of high alert—a state which is often accompanied by a heightened sensory awareness. We can actually put this heightened sensory awareness to good use by utilizing the five primary senses. In doing so, we can create a touchstone of calm, and an orientation towards beauty, in the hope we can then increase our tolerance for turmoil.
From whatever you have close to hand, bring together some things that are uplifting to smell, hear, taste, touch and see. One thing for each of the senses. For example, the smell of citrus, a favorite song, the taste of chocolate, the touch of warm or cool water, an image of extraordinary art, or of nature. Then, from these five things, choose any three. Your meditation is to try and hold this sensory triad in your awareness for three minutes, with an equal amount of focus on each. As you hold the triad in your awareness, notice how the experience is showing up in your body—is it relaxing muscle tension? Is pleasure showing up as warmth? Or tingling? If so, where?
Each time you use this meditation vary the combinations—taste, smell and sound will have a different effect than touch, sound and sight.
The purpose of this meditation is to feel into the self, into the inner space we call our ‘being’ with curiosity, to discover that we can enter into an inner- landscape that contains the sensations associated with anxiety and fear, without being overwhelmed by them. If we must meet them, better to do so on our own terms, so that we are having the experience, and the experience isn’t having us. If we can integrate and hold discomfort at the same time as feeling into joy, the two are no longer polarized opposites but are part of the whole; the human experience.