Hi friends,
This is Sadie and I'm a yogi in recovery.
Step 10 in the 12 steps and 12 traditions offers us the spot check inventory,
Taking at any time of the day whenever we find ourselves getting tangled up.
So what's happening inside us when we get tangled up?
One of my teachers,
Angela Grace Falk,
Explains that from a neuroscience perspective,
The nature of any experience has three parts.
Physical sensation,
Emotional reaction,
And cognitive reaction.
For instance,
When you're meeting with your sponsor reading something new,
You're likely sitting upright,
Perhaps leaned a bit forward,
Eyes alert,
Eyebrows slightly lifted.
If a painful memory is triggered,
You feel sadness,
Regret,
Or anger.
Finally,
Your cognitive response is calculating what your next step is to be,
What you're going to do about it.
I remember one time my sponsor told me that there was nothing to do,
That I just needed to sit and be.
What?
I was so confused.
But now I know what she meant.
Sometimes there's nothing to do but sit still and notice.
This short three-step spot check practice should be used during neutral situations that don't feel like distress.
And the more that you practice,
The easier it will be to come back to it during more demanding or stressful times.
So let's practice now.
Close your eyes,
Sit upright,
Be alert but not rigid,
And just bring your awareness to your breath for a few breath cycles,
Breathing in and out through your nose.
.
.
.
Step one,
Body scan.
Bring your awareness to your face.
Notice your eyebrows,
The space between your eyebrows.
If it's tight,
Relax it.
Notice your jaw,
Your tongue.
Soften your jaw,
Soften your tongue.
Notice your shoulders,
Are they tense?
Your arms,
Are you clenching your fists?
Release,
Relax.
Notice the center of your chest,
Does it feel tight?
Your belly,
Invite those parts to relax.
Sometimes they're really stubborn,
The chest and the belly.
So if they don't let go right away,
Don't panic.
Just keep asking them gently with care in a friendly way to relax.
Are you feeling tension in your hips or legs,
Your feet?
How about the back of your body,
Your neck,
Behind your shoulder blades,
Low back,
The back of your hips?
Soften,
Relax,
Release.
Let your whole body just be heavy in your seat.
The earth coming up to meet you where you're at,
Life meeting you right where you're at.
Take a deep breath into your belly and let it out through your mouth,
Slow as you can.
Step two,
Emotion check.
Be aware of the emotions that you're experiencing.
Give them a name.
Remember that you are not the emotion,
But you are experiencing the emotion and everything that comes with it.
Remember you can say hello to the sadness,
Hello to the grief,
Hello to the anger.
I see you there.
Step three,
Reaction check.
Move your awareness away from the feeling mind into the thinking mind.
Notice what plans you're making.
What is your next step to be?
What strategies are you calculating?
Just notice what that looks like and remember that you don't have to act on it.
You can just sit still and be.
Page 84 of the book Alcoholics Anonymous.
We have entered the world of the spirit.
Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness.
And we have ceased fighting anyone or anything for by this time sanity will have returned.
Namaste.
