Some helpful resources no matter how long you’ve been practicing
A really important part of practice is our ability to resource ourselves. Resources are anything we can do, think, feel, imagine, or sense that brings us a sense of safety and supports the body to settle.
Here are some short videos from my good friend and co-teacher Balajit that can support us in resourcing ourselves on a regular basis.
'Basic Exercise' for Nervous System Well Being
Easy to learn and simple to do, the 'Basic Exercise' helps bring an immediate shift in psychological and physical well being. How? It helps optimise nervous system functioning, bringing the body into a state of safety that activates our bodies innate ability to heal itself. This technique was developed by the world renowned physical therapist Stanley Rosenberg.
Orienting practice: moving out of constriction
Being conscious and curious of our environment, helps our nervous system move towards, and become established in - relaxed content openness. This is wired into us. Neurologically and physiologically - seeing and registering the environment around us - is conducive to lowering stress.
In times of stress our focus narrows, tension forms, and we easily loose this source of well being. Through Orienting Practice we can help resource ourselves back into more ease and openness. Part of the gradual training to help our system only go into threat survival mode when really needed.
The Reptilian Brain and Buddhist Practice : Working with Fight, Flight and Freeze
We are wired to at times respond to stress and threat with fight, flight or freeze. This creates a powerful shift in our physiology and heavily conditions our thoughts and emotions.
There is a strong conditioned relationship between the activity of this threat system and the patterning of our thoughts and emotions.
Given the threat system is governed by the early reptilian part of our brain and is autonomic - not under conscious control - what are the implications of this for Buddhist practice?