Sensations – Park LA

* This section is under construction.

The beauty of the body is its finitude. Immortals we are not; the body is born and dies, and can be nowhere else than the here-and-now. It keeps us grounded when our minds get swept away by flights of fancy, and our hearts overwhelmed by strong emotions. The body is our first home, and houses our soul in this lifetime. The body communicates through instincts, drives, and sensations, and it is the ego’s sacred duty to take care of and safe-guard our bodies, not just our own but every-body. When we love our bodies, our bodies love us back, offering vital energies that keep us alive and well, until death do us part.

Safety First

Whether by evolution or intelligent design, our bodies are wired to put safety first.

Neuroception. In his widely acclaimed “Polyvagal theory” that unearthed the neurological basis for the “freeze” trauma response, Stephen Porges operationalized the concept of Neuroception, in which our nervous system automatically scans environments for signs of danger, and only after safety is determined, we are able to engage socially in an open, curious, and compassionate way. Trauma amplifies neuroception not only by making us more vigilant, but also pre-emptively projecting danger onto people and situations that may actually be safe. Thus, it may be helpful to consciously look for signs of safety, in addition to danger, to have a more balanced and accurate view. Even in real dangerous situations, one can find a sense of safety in ones survival instincts, thinking of people we can turn to, presence of good Samaritans, and even faith in a benevolent higher power. [add polyvagal chart]

Discern Danger from Fear. In uncertain and ambiguous situations, it is left to the imagination to fill in the blanks, in which we can easily project our fears even though there may not be any actual danger. For example, during one of my night hikes in pitch black darkness, I approached an odd-shaped boulder and confused it for a bear. My body reacted immediately in a fight or flight response despite the trigger being a figment of my imagination. The darkness revealed my fear of encountering a bear, but more specifically, a fear of a violent and untimely death. Fear in the right amount is our closest ally in keeping us safe, however, an unregulated fear can be a convincing liar. It is helpful that acronym for fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Thus, when fears speak to us through anxious thoughts or tensions in the body, it imperative we listen and be informed by what is being communicated, but not necessarily to buy into them without further discernment.

Fight and Flight.

Reclaiming the body.

Inner Safety. Jack Kornfield often tells story of a client who said, “my mind is like a bad neighborhood, I never want to go in it alone.” the mind creates the abyss and the heart needs to cross it. Not only the heart, but the body needs to cross it.

Energy Flow

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all,” wrote Vince Lombardi on the wall of the Green Bay Packers locker room in 1964 amidst a disappointing season, in which the team had won the NFL championship the year prior. Winning a championship in any context is no easy feat, and can be quite fatiguing, yet seasons and demands of life keep flowing regardless. Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against cowardice or losing, they have of their benefits and are parts of the human condition. However, whether fast or slow, effective or not, energy needs to flow like water down a stream, or else it becomes stagnant and can lead to decay.

Movement

Dancing

Qi Gong. There is a park near where I live where scores of Chinese elders practice qi-gong. They don’t seem to mind when a join them for a portion of their practice. Excited by this experience, I once recommended this practice to a Chinese college student, and the response was that qi-going is only for old people. I privately disagreed. However esoteric a practice like qi-going may be, those elders are doing something right, to be as fit and active as those elders in the park.

Yoga. The origins of yoga is said to be developed to prepare for long hours of sitting meditation.

Bilateral Stimulation.

Chronic stress. Patch energy drain.

Anxiety. all those “what if” thoughts have a cost. the brain is a resource hog. it occupied about 3% of the body’s total weight but uses 20% of its energy.

Connect with Shadow, a powerful source of untapped energy. the shadow is often thought of the red flags of a perosn. robert johnson says there is “gold in the shadow.” the shadow is the darker side of the psyche, but not necessarily bad or good. for example, an adult who was parentified growing up has their inner child in their shadow. the gold in our shadow can be a incredible source of vitality. when you think the energy of children, whizzing around in the playground, there is a well of vital energy just waiting to be accessed.
alot of what we repress is our childhood vulnerabilities (e.g., being scared, weak, helpless, dependent), however something children have and do better with than adults is energy. what i love about shadow work, is it inevitably leads to ones inner child and once we re-establish connection with this part, the energy just flows out.

Natural Rhythms

Ebb and Flow. Animation video from USC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVkdJ4z0qCw

Homeostasis
Heart Rate Variability
Chanting
Connect with Nature. waves, sunset/sunrise, seasons changing.
nature imagery e.g., fire

physically engage in rhythms
watching and hearing ocean waves,

Embody the Inner

Cast away, Wilson.

In “Sun and Steel,” acclaimed Japanese novelist, Yukio Mishima, posited that words fail to capture the fullness of life, and only through the body can the divine be reached. Take sunsets for example. Whether poetic or scientific, volumes have been written about sunsets, but a mere thousand words does not do the magical experience of a sunset any justice. Despite being a master of words, Mishima’s romanticized view of the body lead him to embody
words reductionist, abstract and take away beauty, espoused first hadn experience, words can last forever but artificial
body building, martial arts, and acting
our physical state, movements, posture, etc… determine how we understand, process the internal
“language of the body” words are “corrosive”

Philosophy around how other appearance fits with inner (Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel)
“If my self was my dwelling, then my body resembled an orchard that surrounded it. I could either cultivate that orchard to its capacity or leave it for the weeds to run riot in. There are some truths in this world that one cannot see unless one unbends one’s posture.” – Yukio Mishima
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEgBI8_R9l8

Dance with your Anima

Shout!
Kihap! in Taekwondo) Ki (life force), hap (to gather and focus)

Silent Scream

Engaged in physical activities that don’t involve thought. swimming, dancing for me.

Rituals. mishima boy carrying shinto temple story. body building became a ritual of honoring the beauty of the body. anything can be a ritual as long as you ascribe sacred meaning to it. Here are some examples from my life.
crying ritual.
bowing ritual. every morning i get on my knees and bow down to the rising sun, placing my forehead on the ground. this ritual humbles humble my ego. sometimes i imagine bowing to someone i have wronged.
dish washing ritual.
for someone feeling imprisoned, breaking a chain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBxgm5VfOYQ

Somatic Experiencing

Peter Levine
Body Scan
Interoceptive awareness

Basic Needs

Maslow hierarchy of needs.

Breathe 3 weeks without water, 3 months without food, 3 minutes without oxygen.
Rest. stress-recovery, stress-recovery, stress-recovery.
Sleep
Eating
Exercise
Sexual: Sex Education clip

Own your Limits and Boundaries

Me Too movement.

Affirmative consent
Work-life balance
Boundaries keep things in, and keep things out.
we are not limitless

Detox

Because of the self-reinforcing aspect of our dopamine-reward system, in which a sense of euphoria accompanies each dopamine hit, whether it be a like on social media, a shot of expresso, or a smell of a rose, our bodies can be easily manipulated and controlled by harmful addictions that compromises our inner freedom and self-control.

Social Media. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Substances
Thoughts, engage in activities that require no thinking.

Yield to your Body

“Go, go, go,” is the cultural ethos of our capitalist society, and when people are asked how they are doing, “busy” is one of most common responses.

See with your own eyes. See with your own eyes, hear with your own ears, and feel with your own heart. Now more than ever, we need to discern fiction (e.g., fake news, propaganda) from reality by relying on our senses, instincts, and intuitions.

miracle of nature

Quick Links