Are you really where you are?

I can name that emotion in..... Oh, wait, that was a different show (Name That Tune)!

I happened onto this great little exercise in learning to really be where I am. It comes from the fine folks at Gravity Leadership via their weekly curated links email (you can sign up for it yourself on the bottom right of their main page). I've tried figuring out the best way to share this, and hopefully they won't mind if I just copy and paste the bulk of the email. It's pretty good. So...

One of the core axioms of our training is that God meets us right where we really are. One of the most surprising realizations of my life was discovering how much time and energy I spend avoiding being where I really am, emotionally, spiritually, physically.

So the simple practice of recognizing and feeling how I actually feel right now in my body has been profoundly transformative for me. I limit myself to a list of 6 "core emotions" to give myself a framework for the exercise without overthinking it: joy, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, and excitement.

I simply name the emotion, where I feel it in my body, and how strongly I feel it on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the strongest).

Here's how I do it (you can try it right now as you read this email!):

1. Sit down in a chair, close your eyes, take 4-5 deep, cleansing breaths, and seek to simply be present to your body.
2. Notice where you feel sensations in your body, and how strongly you feel them.
3. Notice the strongest sensation, and discern which of the 6 core emotions it feels like.
4. Say (out loud), "I feel [core emotion], in my [body part], it's at [number]."

For example, as I write this now, I feel sadness, behind my eyes, and it's at 4.

After acknowledging where you're at, just quietly welcome whatever you are experiencing in your body as the place of God's dwelling with you. Embrace the moment as it is without trying to change anything.

Sometimes we'll start meetings this way as a way to ground everyone in "where we're really at." It also fosters empathy and compassion in community. And it's also where God waits for us. So not only do we become present to ourselves, we become present to God, who is present with us right in the middle of our reality. Give it a try!

 

Isn't that good? I highly recommend their their weekly email. I'm not even a leader and there are almost always all sorts of helpful and practical things to learn and discover.

Ben closed this particular email with the following prayer:

 Oh God,
grant me the grace
to live in the space
between impulse and action.
Amen.

***

 Psalm 95:6-7

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”