My favorite technique from inside The Rageheart Academy is something called “multi-tasking awareness”.
But before I tell you how to do it, I need to lay some ground rules:
This technique is powerful… and you need to be careful with it.
It works by driving awareness out of the mind and into the body. While this sounds like a lovely thing, it’s not always so lovely (or comfortable).
For example, as you connect to your body and what’s truly happening inside of you, you don’t simply feel bliss and joy and happiness by default.
No.
You feel what’s there.
If you’re feeling really good, you might feel even better.
It might feel easy, fun or magical.
But if you’re already feeling anxious, this may intensify the anxiety (because now you’re more available to actually feel it).
If sadness is close to the surface, you might feel like crying.
If anger and aggression is bouncing around, then you might want to growl or scream.
For that reason, it’s important that you understand that this exercise can lead to a sense of overwhelm or that this is “too much”.
If that’s what arises, STOP. Take a break. Do something else.
In the world of nervous system healing, this is called resourcing. We shift our awareness away from a sensation, memory or experience that triggers a sense of overwhelm to an experience that soothes and settles our nervous system.
When it comes to overwhelm, resourcing is your best friend.
A resource can be anything… as long as it helps you relax out of overwhelm or activation. Cups of tea. Long walks outside. Playing a musical instrument. Even Netflix, beer, porn or spending money you don’t have.
As you get better at working with your nervous system, you’ll develop more effective resources.
Instead of a beer or cigarette or spending money you don’t have, you’ll reach for a cup of tea… or you’ll resource to your internal sense of safety (to soothe and settle your nervous system).
But for now, use what works (knowing that it will evolve and change over time as you do this work).
In summary –
Try this exercise out and see how it feels… and if it ever starts to feel overwhelming or like it’s “too much”, take a break and try again later.
As that old saying goes…
If you want to eat an elephant, you have to eat it one bite at a time.
Now…
Here’s my favorite exercise from inside The Rageheart Academy:
Look around, feel the ground and notice your breath – all at the same time.
It’s like weaving 3 threads of string together… but instead of string, you do it with what you’re focusing on.
Look around…
…feel the ground…
…and notice your breath (without changing it if possible).
Environment.
Ground.
Breath.
Individually…
…and then together.
If all 3 at once is too difficult, try 2 points of awareness. Look around and feel the ground. Or feel the ground and notice your breath. Or notice your breath while looking around.
Be curious, gentle and playful.
If you can’t do it perfectly, that’s perfectly fine. This (and the entire Rageheart approach) is not about perfection. It’s about learning. Trying things out. Cultivating a childlike sense of wonder and curiosity.
Developing this ability to be IN the body (instead of the mind) is a huge part of what I teach at Rageheart and in The Rageheart Academy.
It starts with this exercise, and then over time, we layer in increasing levels of complexity.
Sort of like how if you’re learning to play the guitar, you learn some chords and scales before you start learning songs.
Our capacity increases over time and thoughts or emotions that would have knocked us over in the past are no longer a big deal. A big part of that is feeling into and through (and expressing) what arises as we do exercises like these.
How does it feel when you do it?
If you feel like sharing, post a comment below and tell me about your experience. I’d love to hear from you.