Tuning In 8.30.2021

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:
August 30th, 2021 - Grief Awareness Day 
August 31st, 2021 - International Overdose Awareness Day 
September 4th, 2021 - World Sexual Health Day 
September is National Suicide Awareness Month and National Self-Care Awareness Month 
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Ideas for Grounding: I recently rediscovered the Calm App. This was the meditation app I used back when I got my first smart phone. The feature that I'm finding most helpful is the moving images with sound on the home screen. There are images of calm lakes, waterfalls, and rain fall with corresponding sound. This is a simple nervous system break for those moments when we start to feel activation rising up in the body. 

Ideas for Connection: Connection continues to be difficult during the pandemic and the current increase in cases. Focus on connecting with others in ways that it feels accessible and safe for you in this moment. In these last few weeks of summer, I'm focusing on connecting with nature by finding new places to explore outside.

Ideas for Creating Vitality: Vitality is our life force. Drinking a glass of cool water is a simple way to increase your energy and life force. Remember when it comes to the nervous system, small shifts have the biggest impact. Feel into your vitality before and after slowly drinking a glass of water and identify if you notice a difference. 

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.

Rose at the South Seattle Arboretum

​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?'" 

What I'm Reading for Fun: The Last Season by Eric Blehm 

"Randy Morgenson was legendary for finding people missing in the High Sierra. Then one day he went missing himself." 

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

Podcast Episode with Impact: We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle "PLAYING OUR ROLES: How does culture's invention of gender typecast every last one of us?" ​

Song on Repeat: "At This Point in My Life" by Tracy Chapman
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TV Show or Movie I'm Watching: The White Lotus (like everyone else right now)

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. ​

Rose at the South Seattle Arboretum

​Poetry: 

Choices 
by Nikki Giovanni 

If i can't do
what i want to do 
then my job is to not
do what i don't want 
to do 
It's not the same thing
but's it's the best i can 
do

If i can't have
what i want... then 
my job is to want 
what i've got
and be satisfied 
that at least there 
is more to want 

Since i can't go 
where i need 
to go... then i must... go
where the signs point 
though always understanding 
parallel movement 
isn't lateral 

When i can't express 
what i really feel 
i practice feeling
what i can express 
and none of it is equal 
I know 
but that's why mankind 
alone among the animals
learns to cry 

Hear Nikki Giovanni read it herself here. 

​Meme of the Week: 

Quote that is Inspiring Me: "I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being." - Hafez 

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.