Tuning In 11.1.2021

Each week I post an update called Tuning In on what I'm up to and ideas for grounding, connection, and discovering vitality in your life. Most of the links on this post are informational only, but a few are affiliate links that help me keep up my website. 

Events:
November 3rd is National Stress Awareness Day 
November 5th is National Doughnut Day 
On November 7th Daylight Savings Time Ends 
November is National Native American Heritage Month, National Adoption Month, Alzheimer's Awareness Month, National Diabetes Month, National Gratitude Month, and National Novel Writing Month. 

​Ideas for Grounding: In other parts of the world they work with the seasons and adjust to changing light and weather rather than going at the same rapid pace all year long. Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday and we enter into the darker, quieter months of the year. Imagine ways you can adjust your lifestyle to the time of year. Maybe fewer plans, maybe more time inside cozying up with a fire or candles, maybe going to bed earlier or sleeping in later—there are many opportunities to slow down and align with the season. 

Ideas for Connection: Imagine the ways you have become disconnected from yourself? It happens to all of us, usually when we are tired and overwhelmed. Remember a time you felt connected to yourself and try to remember the circumstances. Are you able to recreate any of the circumstances? This is not an immediate process. Give yourself time to realign to who you are. 
​
Ideas for Creating Vitality: The word "vitality" has an active, energetic connotation, but vitality is simply the feeling of being alive. What are the calm, nurturing activities that make you feel alive? Perhaps curling up with a good book, getting a massage, or even taking a nap? These can all cultivate vitality. 

Why grounding, connection, and vitality? Because these are the ways we regulate the nervous system. Spending intentional time in a regulated state allows our nervous system to wire in the direction of safety and aliveness. In other words, it's a big piece of the puzzle of how we repair the survival response of trauma.

Lincoln Park in West Seattle

What I'm Reading Related for Therapy: What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD & Oprah Winfrey

"Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain development and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry discuss the impact of trauma and adversity and how healing must begin with a shift to asking 'What happened to you?' rather than 'What's wrong with you?'" 

Relational and Body-Centered Practices for Healing Trauma: Lifting the Burdens of the Past by Sharon Stanley 

My Somatic Transformation consultation group is re-reading this book and doing a study group. Every time I pick up this book, I discover something new. 

What I'm Reading for Fun: The Bowl of Light by Hank Wesselman, PhD. 

"Ancestral Wisdom from a Hawaiian Shaman." 

(I'm a proud member of the sloth reading club, so what I'm reading will not change weekly.) ​

TV Show or Movie I'm Watching: Ghosts on CBS
​​
Projects I'm Working On: Self-development book on trauma and worthiness, book of poetry, ongoing content for various publications. Considering next steps in career training—psychedelic assisted therapy, biblio/poetry therapy training, or yoga teacher training. ​

Lincoln Park in West Seattle

​Dropping Keys
By Hafiz 

The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He
Knows.
While the sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.

Meme of the Week: 

Quote of the Week: "Your natural state is Grace. You do not have to seek it, find it, or keep it...all you need to do is accept it...with every breath." - Guru Singh
​
​I'd love to hear how you are grounding, connecting, and creating vitality. What is helping you feel calm and alive? Or comment below on what books, podcasts, songs, shows, poetry, or quotes are resonating with you right now. ​