Today is a bit of art, and then an activity to help boost your resilience by practicing the skill of switching emotional gears. Please find a place to sit comfortable and play the audio by clicking on the arrow above.
Transcript
If you found the resilience-building/shifting emotional gears activity helpful, or if you’re curious to try it again, the transcript is below so that you can practice it. Improving our ability to switch emotional gears is like anything, it gets better with practice.
Sit comfortably. Take a slow, deep breath.
Then what I want you to do is think of a small to medium uncomfortable feeling. It might be annoyance. It might be embarrassment. Just think of a feeling you want to work with today.
And then think of where you notice it in your body. Very often we notice uncomfortable feelings in our jaw or in our stomach, sometimes in our shoulders.
And just put a hand there in that place where you can notice that uncomfortable feeling. And just be with that feeling for a moment. Just acknowledge it and be with it.
Then what I want you to do is think about the bottom of your feet. Are they warm? Are they cold? Are they stretched out in front of you? Are they flat on the floor?
And then switch your focus back to the part of your body where you have that uncomfortable feeling. And again, just notice it. Be with it for a moment.
And I want you to switch gears and notice your breathing. Notice your inhale and your exhale. When you inhale, the air is a little bit cool in your nostrils. And when you exhale, it's a little bit warmer.
And then again, shift back to the uncomfortable feeling and pay attention to it. Just acknowledge it.
Then what I want you to do is shift your focus to sounds. What sounds can you hear in the room that you're in? What sounds might you notice in another part of your house or your office or the building you're in? Or what might you hear outside?
And then one more time, switch your focus back to your hand and that uncomfortable feeling, and notice your hand.
Is your hand flat? Or are your fingers curved? Is your thumb touching your index finger or is it spread out?
And then notice that your hand is being comforting to yourself. Even if you've had an uncomfortable feeling, there's a comfort in taking care of yourself and in noticing that that hand is being kind to you.
And then take a deep breath, slow breath in, slow exhale, and then go ahead and slide into your day.
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