“Interrupting our destructive habits and awakening our heart is the work of a lifetime. Sometimes when things fall apart, that’s the big opportunity to change.” Pema Chodron

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake, is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” Pema Chodron

When you are reading signals of danger, pause - who and what is alarming you?

Is there a clear and present danger and do you need to take action? If not, resist the urge to go into fight/flight/freeze and stay with it to inquire.

Our way of life breeds unhappiness. Ayurveda teaches harmony with nature and how to live in a state of balance. This requires changing how we live, think and perceive.

As we learn to use the mind like a tool, we stop being dominated by impulses & conditioning. We are able to go beyond the mind into the stillness of Consciousness itself.

I’ve organized this step of understanding and applying Ayurvedic principles specific to balancing our doshas into three areas: pranayama, abhyanga (self-massage), and nutrition. You might be inspired to try one thing from each area or focus on one for awhile to see what happens.

The doshas are a fundamental concept in Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine from India. According to Ayurveda, the human body is composed of three primary doshas, or energies, which are responsible for different functions in the body. Your prakriti is what is most consistent over time and your vikriti relates to the present state in your constitution.

We trust them and they are reliably (not perfectly) well-regulated.

We don’t feel dread when we think about them or prepare to see them.

We have an ongoing consistent experience of kindness, respect, and authentic engagement.

We can relax knowing they will not be contemptuous or gaslight us.

There is a mutuality of interest in conversations and wanting to know each other.

We are on our own side and on their side - we are not competing with each other.

We are delighted when they experience good fortune.

“Safe enough” means we can be ourselves, relax, and have fun together.

Why do we minimize our own trauma?

We compare and see our trauma as less than other people’s

Why do we compare and try to one-up other people’s trauma?

We don’t want to believe it could happen to us so we blame them

Why do other people dismiss us?

Don’t be silly. You’re exaggerating. It won’t happen to you. We protest. You don’t know that. Bad things happen all the time!

Our predictive brain, with its negativity bias, tries to apply what it knows to other situations. If this bad thing could happen in this situation then ...

Are you anxious or terrified while driving? Have you stopped driving because it feels unsafe?

Fears and beliefs arise from our direct and indirect experiences. There are many ways to support ourselves in healing driving anxiety.

We can explore the exact thoughts and feelings causing the anxiety, and calm ourselves enough to safely drive again.

Our culture is fond of phrases like Just Do It! When we’re dealing with social anxiety and other types of fear, this is counter productive and shaming.

Our nervous system predicts safety and danger and generates survival responses based on our experience. We can hold ourselves with patience and kindness and also take steps to heal.

A fawning response is a submissive and excessively flattering reply or reaction to someone in a position of authority or perceived higher status. It can be seen as insincere or overly deferential, and may be used as a way to seek favor or avoid criticism. Fawning responses include flattery, compliments, or excessive agreement with the other person's opinions or actions.

We need direct experiences that it is okay to be present to our lives and our feelings. This is what updates our previous conditioning that it is not safe to be here.

Escape or flight takes many forms. We may be addicted to food, alcohol and other drugs. Perhaps we get relief using shopping, gambling or overwork. Addiction is a common trauma response and is rampant in our society because it is so effective in helping us escape.

Someone who is emotionally flooded into a fight response can be scary to be around. Lashing out verbally or physically triggers fear in others. We walk on eggshells to not set them off.

The brain likes electrical stimulation and feeds on anger like kindling. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and scared, someone in a fight response feels like they are taking action and protecting themselves.

We all move up and down the polyvagal ladder, and we usually have a go-to response based on childhood conditioning. Our nervous system assesses threat and the best option for survival, sending us into one of these protective strategies. Each form of protection has advantages and disadvantages.

Freeze can look like numb, disconnected, and hunkered down for safety. Freeze takes the edge off of painful, overwhelming experiences. We might hold our breath to avoid notice. We disconnect from others. It’s safer “in here”.

Working with the five koshas, we relax our body, our breath becomes diaphragmatic and smooth, and we work more skillfully with thoughts in the lower level of the mind (mostly generated by hypervigilance). This opens the doorway to our intuitive wisdom, and to deep layers of peace in the vast silence of the mind.

In this stillness, we develop the capacity to be aware of the ever-present Witness, the part of our being that is ever pure, ever wise, ever free.

Cyclic Physiological Sighing is two nasal inhales to lungs full, followed by a full exhale to lungs empty, via the mouth, pursing your lips as though you are breathing out through a thin straw.

This research found that cyclic sighing was more effective than meditation or other forms of breathing for reducing stress, improving sleep and heart rate variability and mood.

Love and compassion. Betrayal and rage. Grief and loss. Our heart has the capacity for extremes of emotion. We feel so deeply.

Our heart has its own knowing. Like our gut instinct, what the heart knows is somatic or body wisdom. Thoughts and how we interpret our experiences influence feelings. Whether we are open hearted and trusting, or protecting ourselves from being hurt, our history impacts how we feel in the present.

There are so many experts and they each have their own program and advice. How do I know which is the right method for me?

I’m getting older. How long is this going to take?

Stirring up the past hurts! Is it worth it?

The answers are as varied and complex as the problem.

One: Knowledge of How Trauma Works

Two: Regulating Our Nervous System

Three: Becoming Friends With Our Mind

The experiences of life in our body. The trauma we store in our body. The cultural conditioning and pressure to look a certain way and be a certain size. Whew! It’s a mine field.

We may have been at war with our body our whole life. It’s not too late to bring empathy and connection to one of the most important relationships we will ever have - that with our own body.

Through this work, we come to know ourselves and our experience through a lens of compassion. We become interested in connecting with all of ourselves, especially the scared hurt parts. We connect with attuned empathy. What a relief to come home to ourselves.

Where do you feel solid? Where do you need to heal, expand, or love yourself more? What would have to change for these to feel more true?

I know myself. I love myself. I feel free to be authentic. I am kind and on my own side. I feel at home in myself.