The Sensational Experience of Having a Body (Part 3)

The Sensational Experience of Having a Body (Part 3)

The Sensational Experience of Having a Body (Part 3)


Last week, in Part 2 of this newsletter series, we talked about our window of tolerance and how we can attune to our nervous states.


As mentioned, many of us run hot (hyper) or cold (hypo) and have specific nervous system reactions to certain events.


These events are usually tied to our past and influenced by our conditioning.


This is the foundational level of nervous system reaction. Once we start to master internal attunement, we get to expand our awareness and attune to larger experiences of sensation and meaning.


BUT to be consistent, we must make sure our everyday regulation is dialed in.


Imagine having a filtration system that takes regular flushing and maintenance. If you don't clear it out, then it builds up, and you aren't able to pull water through the filter.


This is how I like to think of our nervous system, except it's not water; it's toxic energy that gets caught in our filter (the body).


We owe it to ourselves to continually detox, dump energy, and clear the vessel so that we can attune to the larger world.


Let's outline this with a relational example.


Imagine that you continually feel uncomfortable as you get close to people. Intimacy and closeness feel quite threatening to your system, even when it is the thing you want most.


The baseline foundation of nervous system recognition would be to notice that this is happening and make an effort to cope with hyper or hypo-aroused states as they come up. In this example, we are already there.


Beyond that, we have TONS of opportunities to expand our awareness and to drop deeper into this experience.


So we get to start attuning to things like,


1. What about this makes me feel uncomfortable?

2. When I get close to a person, where is the threshold where I begin to push them away?

3. What sensations do I feel when I am around this person? When have I felt that in the past?

4. Who am I with, and very close to, that doesn't make me feel these sensations? What is the difference?

5. Can I cope with these sensations when I am with this person? What happens when I get overwhelmed?


These questions are examples of a deeper, more nuanced exploration of your nervous system and sensational experience and will yield profound realizations if taken seriously.


Now, our relationship becomes an opportunity to explore deeper parts of ourselves and become an internal pursuit for meaning. We get to learn and explore, and we follow the sensations to do so.


I made a YouTube video this week talking about the intersection of mindfulness and psychedelic medicine. It has some concepts in there that build on the content discussed here over the last couple of weeks!


Thank you, as always, for reading this newsletter. I am profoundly grateful for every one of you who shares your time and attention with me each week.


With gratitude,

Christian