On Self-compassion

Resiliency Building Skills to Practice for Trauma Recovery

Much of trauma healing is helping the nervous system become more “resilient.” Rather than spend a few hours or even days drowning in a state of terror, tension and nervousness after getting triggered, doing one or more of these exercises can help the nervous system shift into a different state sooner.

Each time you do an activity or exercise like the ones below, this teaches the nervous system to be more flexible and rebound from activation sooner.

Take Your Nervous System to the Gym

After some type of physical injury that leaves some of your muscles weak or atrophied, you may need to go to physical therapy and exercise the muscles to strengthen them again. After trauma, the nervous system is completely out of whack and the resiliency muscles, so to speak, are very weak. Practicing resiliency exercises on a regular basis is like going to a “Nervous System Gym” and exercising the healthy functions of your nervous system until they become strong once again.

In fact, going to a Trauma Resiliency Model or Somatic Experiencing therapist is kind of like seeing a Nervous System Physical Therapist or Nervous System Personal Trainer. When you see a regular Physical Therapist or Personal Trainer, they will give you homework to do in the gym or at home before the next week’s session. In the same way, if you go to therapy for trauma once a week, it’s good to also practice these things on your own between sessions to get those muscles worked out enough to improve your functionality over time.

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The Incredible Mind Altering Meditation of Sky Gazing and How To Do It by Chad Foreman

Sky Gazing

There is a meditation practice within Tibetan Buddhism called Sky Gazing it comes from the Meditation tradition of Dzogchen – which strongly emphasises resting in a natural state free from conceptual elaborations. This natural state is wide open, clear and lucid; it neither rejects anything or clings to anything and is sometimes referred to as spontaneous awareness. It is spontaneous because nothing has manufactured or created it, like having to meditate or having to be calm.  It always has been there and therefore is also called primordial awareness.

The clear blue sky is the closest external example of what this natural state is like. The clear sky is also a metaphor for the natural states indestructibility. Just like the sky is not affected by the passing weather neither is our natural state stained by thoughts or emotions no matter how strong they may be. This is a liberating view in the field of meditation. No longer do you have the idea that you have to purify and remove all the negative states of mind, now there is a teaching that directly points to an aspect of yourself which is your essential nature.

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An Introduction to Working with Unseen Worlds by Robert Owings

All spiritual practices maintain some form of connection to unseen worlds, be that Buddha fields or the heaven promised so prominently in Christianity and Islam. In some regard shamanism is not that different; however, where those religions offer the unseen world in an afterlife, shamanism opens those realms in this life as well. Plus, it’s a vastly more expansive, animated, and interactive version to the concept.
Shamanic practice has been described as crossing the veil, walking in other worlds, and a direct spiritual engagement with spirits, deities, and other realms. Naturally, such processes bring one into contact with unseen worlds, and the beings that populate these domains. It’s been going on since day one, since that first proto shaman took on the work.

A more contemporary interpretation of these beings is to refer to them as energies. These energies often come with different purposes and causality, meaning their own agendas. The description and nomenclature for these energies can be gods, goddesses, demi-gods, exalted teachers, bodhisattva, astral beings, guides, wise ancestors, guardian angels—to less anthropocentric beings such as plant spirits, power animals, the spirit of a forest or river, planetary archetypes, tricksters, demons, hungry ghosts, aliens and hyper-dimensional beings, and so on and so on. One might be advised to be prudent in selecting which energies to align with and such.

The Values of Ritual

"Even the simplest of rituals is a way of acknowledging the unseen, the unspoken-about, the holy, which feeds our lives with its inexhaustible generosity. Ritual restores us to one another and to that grander coherence to which we all belong. Devoting your time to a ritual is like tending to a living bridge between the seen and the unseen, keeping that reciprocity alive." -Toko-pa

Why Silence Is So Good For Your Brain by Huffington Post

Making time for silence can make you feel less stressed, more focused and more creative, according to science.

 
We live in a loud and distracting world, where silence is increasingly difficult to come by — and that may be negatively affecting our health.

In fact, a 2011 World Health Organization report called noise pollution a “modern plague,” concluding that “there is overwhelming evidence that exposure to environmental noise has adverse effects on the health of the population.”

We’re constantly filling our ears with music, TV and radio news, podcasts and, of course, the multitude of sounds that we create nonstop in our own heads. Think about it: How many moments each day do you spend in total silence? The answer is probably very few.

As our internal and external environments become louder and louder, more people are beginning to seek out silence, whether through a practice of sitting quietly for 10 minutes every morning or heading off to a 10-day silent retreat.

Inspired to go find some peace and quiet? Here are four science-backed ways that silence is good for your brain — and how making time for it can make you feel less stressed, more focused and more creative.

Sleep in 60 Seconds by David Wolfe

Train Yourself to Fall Asleep in 60 Seconds With This Simple Technique

Many people have trouble falling asleep at night. This is a common problem, and I even struggle with it. I find that I cannot get my mind to slow down and relax. Sometimes it can take me up to two hours to get to sleep at night.

Sleep deprivation is bad not only for one’s health but also for work and personal life. Being tired all the time kills productivity and can cause serious health issues. According to WebMD, chronic sleep loss can put a person at risk for the following:

• Heart Disease
• Heart Attack
• Heart Failure
• Irregular Heartbeat
• High Blood Pressure
• Stroke
• Diabetes

It is in our best interest to get the sleep we need. However, how? The “4-7-8” breathing technique, developed by Dr. Andrew Weil, may be the answer. Dr. Weil is a Harvard-educated wellness practitioner who studies meditation, breathing, and how both can be used to counteract stress.
The technique is easy to learn and use. One only has to breathe in through the nose for four seconds, hold the breath for seven seconds, exhale for eight seconds, and then repeat three more times. This exercise will slow down the heart rate and prepare the body for relaxation.The “4-7-8” breathing practice is also useful for removing stress during the day. If the pressure of life or work is becoming a bit too much to bear, this short easy trick could be just the thing. I gave it ago while writing for a deadline, and I could instantly feel my heart rate slow down. That anxious energy (that seems always to be there) all but disappeared. I look forward to seeing what it does for my sleep.
To learn more about the breathing technique and how to perform it correctly, watch Dr. Weil’s video here.

Transform into your New Self

"Emergence never happens all at once. It is a slow stepping into the expanded capacity of your next self. You may need practice at releasing in those places you've grown accustomed to bracing which, like a tight swaddle, was comforting in its limits. But when the time to remain hidden comes to its natural end, you must begin to inhabit your new dimensionality. Breathe into the fullness of your gaining altitude and consider that what presents itself as fear may actually be exhilaration. As your future approaches you, worry less how it may receive you and say a prayer instead for your becoming approachable."Toko-pa

Emergence

"It helps to think of our swamps of despair as the necessary muddle before clarity. Actually, swamps are incredibly fertile places full of life. In mythology the heroine must cross such a place in her darkest hour, where she comes to face her unlived life - meeting each of the divine allies disguised as regret, doubt, and insufficiency which swell up from the mud of her despondency. If she is willing to consummate the full encounter, they will reveal themselves in service to the vitality of her true being." Toko-pa

To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved by Shirely S. Wang

Putting off a work or school assignment in order to play videogames or water the plants might seem like nothing more serious than poor time-management. But researchers say chronic procrastination is an emotional strategy for dealing with stress, and it can lead to significant issues in relationships, jobs, finances and health.

In August, researchers from Stockholm University published one of the first randomized controlled trials on the treatment of procrastination. It found a therapy delivered online can significantly reduce procrastination.
Psychologists also are studying other ways people might be able to reduce procrastination, such as better emotion-regulation strategies and visions of the future self.

Scientists define procrastination as the voluntary delay of an action despite foreseeable negative future consequences. It is opting for short-term pleasure or mood at the cost of the long-term. Perhaps we didn’t finish preparing a presentation on the weekend because we had house guests. That is just intentional delay based on a rational decision, says Timothy Pychyl (pronounced pitch-el), a psychology professor at Carleton University, in Ottawa, who has published extensively on the topic.

What triggers procrastination and how can people overcome the urge to put off tasks? Prof. Timothy Pychyl of Carleton University joins Lunch Break for some advice. The essence of procrastination is “we’re giving in to feel good,” Dr. Pychyl says. “Procrastination is, ‘I know I should be doing it, I want to, it gets under my skin [when I don’t].’ ”