Connecting through senses & stand firm when they want you to break

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This is a Stereo Forest production from StereoForest

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.com.

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Information, resources and opportunities to support the show

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and connect with others are available at StereoForest

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.com slash Daily Reconnect.

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This podcast is for informational and educational purposes

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only and is not a substitute for medical

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advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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If you have specific mental health concerns, please

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consult with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Now, on to the show.

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This episode begins with an exercise designed to

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connect to the present using textures and then

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we have a discussion on standing firm when

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opposing forces want you to break.

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Welcome to the Daily Reconnect.

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It's Wednesday, March 19th and I'm your host,

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Jenda Han.

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This quick episode is designed to ground you

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in the present moment when you're feeling separated

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or out of touch with the world around

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you.

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And after our exercise, we'll find some motivation

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together to embrace the day ahead while standing

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firm on the ground and persisting.

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Embrace and use whatever works for you during

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this exercise and you're free to adapt or

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set aside anything that doesn't feel good or

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meets your needs.

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This space is yours to center and to

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find balance.

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Our theme for this week's exercise is News

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Overwhelm and how that can disconnect you from

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your immediate reality.

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In today's exercise, we're going to use our

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senses, physical touch and tactile experiences to bring

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you into the present moment.

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After this exercise, we'll conclude with some thoughts

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to help you maintain a grounded presence throughout

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your day.

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So let's begin by finding a comfortable position

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or a sustainable walking pace and then take

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several deep breaths.

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Now start by bringing awareness to your hands.

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Rub your palms together slowly and notice the

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warmth and the friction that this creates.

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Feel the unique lines and contours of your

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own hands.

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This is an experience that's unique to you.

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Now reach out and touch something nearby to

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you.

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It could be furniture or it might be

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an element of the environment if you're outdoors,

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some leaves, a branch or it could be

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the fabric of the clothing that you're wearing

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today.

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Notice that object's temperature, its smoothness or its

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roughness, its weight and its resistance against your

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hands and explore this texture with just curiosity

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as though you were encountering it for the

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first time.

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Does the sensation change as you apply different

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amounts of pressure?

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Does the texture of that object have any

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variations within it?

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Now find a second texture that contrasts with

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the first one that you chose.

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If you started with something soft or pliable,

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perhaps now find something firm.

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Or if the first object was something smooth,

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seek something textured this time.

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And in this part of the exercise, compare

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those different sensations, noting how your nervous system

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responds to each one.

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And as you continue to explore these textures,

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notice how focusing like this brings you into

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the present moment, the present experience.

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When we're fully engaged with physical sensations, our

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attention can shift from worrying about something or

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ruminating about the future or the present to

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concrete experiences in the now.

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As you explore these textures, notice how the

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sensory focus naturally brings you into the present

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moment.

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When we're fully engaged with physical sensation, our

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attention shifts from worrying or ruminating to this

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concrete experience in the now.

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Now let's consider some options for using this

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exercise to help you during times that are

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of stress.

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Choose one texture that feels particularly grounding and

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then designate that as your anchor.

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This is a sensory experience that you can

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return to when you feel overwhelmed, perhaps by

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the news.

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And perhaps this is something that you can

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take with you.

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It might be a bracelet or it might

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be the weave of your wallet, say, or

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it could be as simple as clasping your

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hands together.

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Now take some final deep breaths and let's

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return to the present moment.

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In the previous episode, we recognized how our

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systems in place can deliberately, intentionally isolate us.

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Today, we'll explore another difficult idea that these

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systems also often want you to give up.

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To give up hope, so you give up

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trying to resist.

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When power belongs to fewer and fewer people,

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when fascist rhetoric becomes mainstream and normalized, when

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basic needs become increasingly inaccessible, there are pressures

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that are designed to exhaust your capacity.

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And when that capacity is gone, you won't

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resist.

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And the constant barrage of news, of crisis,

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the normalization of the suffering, the undermining of

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facts and truth itself, all of this kind

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of creates emotional or mental fatigue that makes

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surrendering to all of it seem like the

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only option that we can do.

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And the message that we receive, even our

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own self-talk, it can be relentless.

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Your efforts, they don't matter or nothing will

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change.

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Accept things as they are.

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And that can be pretty damaging too.

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So I want you to recognize this for

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what it is.

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It's a strategic attempt to break your will,

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to fight for something better, to fight for

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that change.

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And we need to recognize that before we

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can really resist this idea.

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So this resistance really starts with identifying what

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remains within your control, even under these really

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immense pressures that we face.

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While the systems, they might limit your material

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or your environmental circumstances, but they cannot unless

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you allow them to take over your mind.

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Your thoughts remain your own.

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You can choose what narratives you accept and

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which ones you question.

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When the media presents human suffering as inevitable

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or normal, you're allowed to reject that idea.

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When consumer culture equates your worth with your

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productivity or what you own or where you

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live or however you were born, you can

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choose to accept alternative values.

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Your words remain your own.

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How you speak to yourself matters so, so

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much too.

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Self-talk impacts a lot of your capacity

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for endurance, really.

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So does how you speak to others, of

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course.

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And you can choose to speak with kindness.

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You can choose to speak with clarity about

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what's happening for real.

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And all of that creates a space of

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resistance, even when we are surrounded by people

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who try to dehumanize others.

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Your attention is yours.

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What you choose to focus on or learn

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about or share or amplify, all of that

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shapes your community around you and their understanding

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of what can be achieved.

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You don't need to ignore hate or ignore

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damage or remain silent, but you can choose

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to draw attention to the positive or what

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needs our shared momentum.

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What you consume, that remains yours to choose.

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This can be constrained by circumstance, of course,

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but there are many opportunities to align what

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you buy with your values.

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Each decision to support local economies or support

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small business or not support the animal agriculture

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business, ethical production choices, for example, all these

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things represent removing some of the power from

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exploitative, destructive, or misaligned value systems.

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And this can make a huge impact like

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buying Canadian products.

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Your capacity for connection, that remains your own

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too.

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Even small acts of solidarity, checking in on

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your neighbor or sharing some resources that you

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have or volunteering your skill set.

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These connections can help build the world that

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you want to see and sustain you when

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individual resistance feels futile.

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Today, I invite you to identify just one

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thing that you can control.

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What is one thing in your control?

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Choose something that feels like the most accessible

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thing right now and see if you can

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put that into practice or if you already

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are, maybe a little bit more or find

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something new.

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This could be as simple as shifting your

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self-talk after watching the national news, perhaps.

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Perhaps you swap participating in a negative online

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thread with instead searching for an organization to

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volunteer with or something, or maybe it's shifting

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one of your purchases to a small company

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instead, one that aligns with your values, like

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say a local farm stand.

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Resistance has typically started with us humans, groups

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of us, who refused to surrender our autonomy,

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even when it has been severely restricted or

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even lost entirely for a while.

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Even from some people in the most dire

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circumstances within history, people have protected what they

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can control, to think clearly, to connect with

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others sharing their values and to act with

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dignity.

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In tomorrow's episode, we'll explore how to connect

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this personal resilience to collective movements that multiply

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its power.

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You are part of this great history.

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Your refusal to be broken is itself a

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meaningful act of resistance.

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We're all woven into something more expansive than

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ourselves, a world that holds possibility for improvement

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and is a lot better because you're here

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existing within it.

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So that's it for today, March 19th.

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Thank you so much for joining me and

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let's connect again on Friday for a Vagus

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Nerve Reset Exercise.

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Thank you for listening to The Daily Reconnect.

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Episodes are released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

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every week.

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This show was created, written, hosted, edited, and

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produced by Jen DeHaan.

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Links to contact information, ways to support the

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show, transcripts, the free newsletter, and our community

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Discord can be found in the show notes.

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This is a Stereo Forest production.

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