When we set out to “heal our trauma,” or to feel good again after a hardship of some sort, to shift out of coping patterns that we know aren’t serving us anymore but can’t seem to kick, or (the one I have the most opinions about, though we’ll save that for another day) to “regulate our nervous system,” what we’re usually really after is the capacity to be present to both the hard realities, and the sweetness of our lives.
When life begins to feel like too much, when we can’t “fight” or “flee” our way through stress or when stress is chronic, we often freeze, numb, shut down. This is a highly adaptive and intelligent response from the nervous system, in an attempt to protect us from too much pain. But freeze not only numbs the pain, it dulls capacity to feel life’s goodness too.
Many (if not most of us, unfortunately) have gone a long time living in this freeze state; on autopilot. Managing to function through our days but not truly present to our felt experience throughout. This can leave us feeling like we’re watching a movie of our lives– we see ourselves going through the motion, but don’t actually feel anything, or at least anything other than overwhelm or anxiety.
Rebuilding our capacity to feel good again, requires us to learn to feel at all, and to feel for stability and safety in the present, so that we might build up an inner well of support that can help us hold the weight of whatever pain we’ve been numbing from inside.
One of the best (if not only?) ways we build a sense of felt safety within, is by supporting our nervous system to be present in the here-and-now, when it is safe and comfortable enough to do so.
Presence –truly being in the here-and-now with what is– is one of those things that’s “simple not easy” though, for so many reasons we won’t get into right now.
This video offers a series of 3 variations of "presence practice” using proprioception, exteroception, and (when you’re ready) interoception.
Before you dive in, know that you’ll need a *ball, a book, and a safe place to do these practices without the worry of being watched.
I hope you enjoy! If you found this helpful, please like this post!
And if you have questions or just something interesting arise for you through this, I’d love for you to share in the comments or DMs.
Happy practicing <3
*Giving credit where credit is due! This ball-balancing practice comes from Jane Clapp and Laura Wenger, and their Sensation to Symbol class I’m currently taking.
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