Become More Resilient in 2 Quick, Fun Ways
It takes bravery to face and manage stress, instead of avoiding or denying it by saying things like “I don’t have time for this!” or “I’m fine!” We all have a tendency to use forms of everyday dissociation to dodge our pain or the pain of what our loved ones are going through.
Instead, turn up the dial on your body and heart and with sensory awakening. Notice what you’re doing when stressed, and ground down instead of hovering above your life. Lay a strong foundation in your very being, so that your instinctive ability to handle adversity kicks in when tribulations land in your life. If someone you care about is struggling with addiction or mental health you need extra doses of bravery to cope, building resilience and adaptability.
Make it fun some days! Stir your wildish nature with these 2 techniques for awareness.
1. Wake Up with the Fox-Walk
The world has caught on to somatic awareness and somatic experiencing, especially through conscious breathwork. These types of therapy tools can be enjoyable to learn. Try this fun, 2 minute way to dial into what’s happening during a calm, pleasant moment, and instinctually store the awareness and presence you’ll need for handling a difficult situation in your body’s memory.
Start by imagining that you’re a fox in the forest. Get wild. Turn on your instincts. Walk around quietly wherever you are, inside or outdoors, with your breathing dial turned up, and all your senses engaged. Turn your head to hear and see everything you can. Sense what’s around you as if looking for your next meal or a safe place to bed down.
You’re broadening your peripheral vision to its widest extent. You’re listening like the world directly around you is a magical place and you want to soak in everything about it. It’s a pleasurable experience to saturate yourself in this moment! Fully alert, allow what you’re noticing to soak in. Take in everything, without judging it. Some things are more pleasing to you; others are less. You may notice things that need to be done or taken care of. Simply be aware of all of it, as if you’re a fox passing through.
See all the variations of color. Notice textures. Movement. Sounds. Pay attention to what you’re feeling in your essence, too.
Try it now! Get barefoot if you can.
You’re curious. And, your safety depends on it. Your joy requires it.
You’re engaging in the ultimate mindfulness.
I call it: WHOLEBEING awareness.
Consciously aware, you’re wide-eyed and awake!
This practice of “Fox-walking” isn’t merely a fun thing to do, it’s a technique for waking up that you can consciously take into hardships to help you compartmentalize. You’ll simultaneously see both the big picture and the little things that are all important in varying degrees, noticing your own experience and honoring it.
By separating out what’s troubling you, you can handle each moment with grounded alertness, not being dominated by anxiety or fear.
Invite a sensory awakening! Call forth a soulful, sensory, instinctual wake-up. Fox-walking is about getting into your body and embodying every feeling rushing through your being.
Fox-walking is a tool to develop conscious bravery because it allows you to rehearse the very senses and tools, the bravery, that you may need to call upon in an instant.
2. Enhance Your Vision with Owl-Seeing
While fox-walking is about getting into your body, “Owl-seeing” is for calming your mind, ascertaining your surroundings, and developing broader perspective with keener viewing.
You enlarge your peripheral vision to its widest extent. You listen as if the world directly around you is a magical place and you want to soak in everything about it.
Colors. Textures. Movement. Notice your visions, even when your eyes are closed.
Try it right now! Take a deep breath, and enjoy the sights around you.
Notice the dimension in the clouds.
See and feel the vibrancy of the trees.
Sense the warmth or coolness of light.
Now close your eyes; what do you see?
What colors, textures, and movement float in your mind’s eye?
Visualize your surroundings and your body from toe-to-head, acknowledging how each inch feels and what it looks like in your full awareness.
Perhaps you view things so extensively you can see our planet. Or the stars. Things in other dimensions. Other beings. Maybe you see yourself from afar. You may perceive one color, or many colors. Let all your visions come and go without judgment.
Consciously sentient, you’re wide-eyed and awake! You’re expanding what you see and know in this moment, on multiple levels.
This practice of Owl-seeing, just like Fox-walking, is a technique for freeing your mind, viewing things as they truly are. Owl-seeing requires you to slow down and focus, which may be exactly what you need when a moment calls for conscious bravery.
It’s a sensory arousal. A soulful, instinctual awakening. Owl-seeing is about releasing your racing thoughts. Your whole-being comes alive and you rise up with amplified awareness, ready for anything.
Practice these two strategies indoors or take them outside and get barefoot while you ground into the earth. You’ll build strength, resilience, and adaptability to cope with all types of stressful situations.
For more stories like this, sign up for my email newsletter here, and receive my free bimonthly Bravery Bites straight to your inbox.
~Gratitude to my friend and way-finder Mariah Mann, Kona Cloud Forest, Hawaii~