1d • General discussion
Body Scan
This morning, I woke up with my cat, Luke, snuggled close against my side. He's a big cat and he gives off a lot of heat. So you know he's there.
He is a good grounding tool for me, so I buried my hand in his fur, and as he purred, I did my morning body scan.
I had slept well, other than waking up to attend to my bladder. (I never wanted to disturb Luke, so I always climb out the other side of the bed, which it's much more inconvenient.)
When I do my body scan, I like to use the 4-7-8 breathing technique, a calming, yogic-rooted exercise designed to reduce stress, anxiety, and aid sleep. It involves exhaling completely, inhaling through the nose for 4 seconds, holding for 7 seconds, and exhaling audibly through the mouth for 8 seconds. Repeat this cycle 4 times. This technique sends messages to my brain and nervous system that all is well.
My body felt very good, overall, other than some remnants of back pain from giving my car a full thorough cleaning inside and out a couple of days ago. Boy did it NEED it! (I also ordered Colorado dinosaur plates for it and I felt like it should be all clean to receive them!)
What I noticed more than my physical body sending messages were the emotional messages I was receiving. As I thought about what my day would look like, I felt slightly anxious because I know that I need to record video today, and that tends to make me anxious.
I recognize that the anxiety I feel comes from a cognitive imbalance between wanting to get my message out there, which requires being SEEN, and early childhood trauma, which, even after all this time, sends messages to HIDE.
What I have learned is that this imbalance is a recipe for paralysis.
And the way that I've shifted my thinking is:
Imperfect Progress Beats Perfection Paralysis EVERY TIME.
Perfectionism is about how others perceive us. When I focus on the message, and the ways that it can help this community, the fear goes away.
I know that what I have to teach you here has helped me maintain a symptom free life for 20 years. And that is far more important than how others perceive me, which I have no control over anyway.
So, I sent myself some calming messages to tell myself that this is something I can do. Something that is IMPORTANT to do. I am perfectly capable of doing video and I know that it will help YOU.
That's my motivation, and that calmed my anxiety.
The thought of connecting with you made me feel happy and excited!
I allowed those feelings to override any feelings of anxiety. And I reminded myself that I can do hard things.
After 4 rounds of 4-7-8 breathing, and some positive messages and affirmations, I had flipped the script, and I felt ready to get up and face the day ahead.
Tell us how your body scans are going. What messages are you receiving from your body when you listen to it? How are you answering those messages? What small shift do you feel?
Keep showing up for yourself! You are doing this for all the right reasons. 💜🧡
Pic of Luke hanging with me through my morning meditation. 🧘♀️
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Body Scan
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