When you don't believe what's happening
How does it frame what you see? How does that frame make you breathe?
photo by Nathan Bingle
It’s a striking moment.
Yes, I do mean the new US administration, but not only that. All kinds of things are unfolding in the world right now that we’ve never seen before. But my focus here isn’t on the unprecedented events themselves, but, rather, how we respond to them.
Many people are having a particular experience right now - in all kinds of different domains. They ‘can’t believe their eyes.’
What does it mean to ‘not believe your eyes’?
If I stay basic, the first thing that comes to mind is that, if I DO believe my eyes, I will trust the ground under my feet. Because of that, I will not be afraid to move.
But in the moment that I ‘can’t believe my eyes’ -
😳
- I’m paralyzed.
In the moment when I am stunned, my honest report is that I can’t explain what I am seeing and feeling. Because this is unprecedented, I don’t have a ready-made story.
We all experience this repeatedly in life.
A loud sound startles us. Without conscious thought, the body goes into temporary shock. This could be in response to an alien invasion or just an unexpected comment.
Disbelief creates the opportunity to recalibrate perception - something we should all wish to do on a regular basis if we are to stay in sync with the tempo of world events.
But it isn’t useful as an ongoing disposition.
Notice how your body reacts when you ‘don’t believe your eyes.’ Do you feel agile?
Only when you can trust your eyes are you in right relation with your own body.
Who will you trust as the future keeps coming faster at us like an oncoming train?
I plan to trust my body.
Here’s what I know without need to fact-check via external sources:
When I can’t believe my eyes - when surprise is the sustained expression I wear on my face - my breath will be shallow if it moves at all. My throat will be constricted and my belly will be tight. My joints may be excited, but only move through rigid pathways.
I believe millions of people are in such a state right now. Although there are many ways that I can not assure them the way an AI chatbot can, I’d like to offer this:
You may exhale now.
It can be helpful, any time your eyes and your mind seem to argue, to use this practice:
Exhale and wait . . .
Exhale as completely as you can without strain, then do not demand the inhale.
Simply wait for it to come in its own good time.
Make no effort whatsoever to breathe in.
Instead, simply allow yourself to be breathed.
Here is one thing in this world you can rely on:
Whenever you feel that no special effort whatsoever is needed for you to breathe, that’s when your perception is the cleanest.
This is when the report of your senses - and your sense-making - is most trustworthy.
Outdated narratives and ideologies cloud our vision and hijack our bodies.
Just because we are watching unprecedented events, this doesn’t mean our muscles must be overly tensed. We are not required to hold our breaths.
Breath, ground, space, sound and light are ever-present qualities of every life moment.
When we are exquisitely aware of how these elements dynamically unfold for us, we are more agile in our perception, emotion, thought and action. Unprecedented events are seen more clearly for what they are, providing firmer ground for responsive action.
A spacious, willing body, an open, curious mind: this posture is the best preparation for receiving new information, feeling it and being shaped by it.
If news headlines or events on the street contradict what you previously thought was possible, your initial surprise is organic. But be careful if you continue to disbelieve what your eyes tell you about reality.
Some events may live outside of your worldview, but they are hardly ‘out of this world.’
If you are angry about what you see, really feeling that might help you respond.
But if your whole body screams THIS SHOULDN’T BE HAPPENING!, then you are at war with reality, fighting a fight you can never win. All you will achieve through this argument is duller senses, stiffer joints, and diminished impulse control.
Likewise, if you find certain political figures abhorrent - while that is your right, a permanent micro-expression of disgust will not make you a more capable human.
Emotion and posture are basically the same thing.
While AI is a million times better than you are at computational linguistics, your capacity to sense and feel is something those machines can’t match right now.
But, to build that capacity, you must learn to control the baseline disposition of your body, the filter through which you feel. It is a precise constraint on your potential for creative thought and action. When you direct it from the inside-out, it’s harder for an algorithm to control it from the outside-in.
The chief architects of today’s swiftly evolving digital landscape love AI because all the data it feeds them about you makes it so much easier to direct your behavior.
Yet it IS possible to compose your emotional/postural experience intentionally.
Even if world events are initially shocking, accepting ‘the new normal’ doesn’t mean you have sold your soul. It just means you haven’t forfeited your right to feel the ground under your feet. Getting over your surprise and orienting towards curiosity - even in apparently dire circumstances - gives you something much closer to poise.
And your poise impacts the well-being of everyone you meet.
What’s going on out there might seem crazy, but we don’t have to be.
Let’s practice together, shall we?
This video highlights 4 essential strategies for better “sense-making with your senses”:
slowing down time
discerning signal from noise
listening to the postures of the body
dialoguing with other points of view
Grounded Connection is a 16-week group coaching program designed to bring you into right relationship with your body, other people’s bodies and the world at large.
Through practices of Somatic Inquiry, Meditative Creativity and Embodied Dialogue, you can learn to fall in love with your life again - which maximizes your opportunities to make a positive impact in the world with your unique gifts.
To learn about the enrollment process, book a free call:
Brilliant, Seth! Thank you!