M5 : Lesson 3: Somatic Orienting Practices
Yes, you’ve already begun doing somatic orienting throughout the Regulate program. The “awareness-be here” practice, the polyvagal ladder awareness, and nature orienting option for ABC are all beginning orienting practices. We take these practices to the next level in module 5.
Please see the Module 5 Workbook for Lesson 3 materials.
Transcript
Lesson 3, somatic orienting exercises. Now that we have a basic understanding of the importance of consciously looking for safety, even when the body is sending threat back to the brain, we’re gonna be learning more tools to send safety signals from the body to the brain. In module 3, we started doing this with our vagal toning exercises, but now we’re gonna do things in a little deeper way by becoming even more aware of our internal state. In order to assess safety or threat, the nervous system is constantly scanning our environment. The orienting response is how the nervous system assesses for safety or threat.
This is a process where we use our senses, to determine if all is well and if we can relax. When we’re in safety, our eyes easily wander and focus on things that interest us. And so by recreating motions of a relaxed orienting response, Using our eyes, we send messages of safety to our brain, and this results in improved nervous system function as we practice this over time. And another benefit of orienting is gaining a broader perspective of our body function and the inherent safety of the environment at the same time. We do this by noticing hearts of our body that feel good and stable and noticing good and supportive things in our environment.
This sends messages of resourcefulness and stability that often get clouded by a limbic system stress response. Basically, we’re going to be reshaping the filter with which we habitually perceive the world. Over time, these practices of orienting can teach the limbic protection mechanism that the body is supported and the environment lends inherent safety that we can relax into. For me, orienting was how I forged my way into being present with my body, and it was one felt sense at a time. So do not underestimate the impact of these exercises.
They are so powerful. I finally discovered a felt sense of volcanoes. It took me 40 years to find it, but I did. And it’s not about thinking it. It is a feeling It’s a feeling.
These exercises were such an important part of developing what I call primal trust. The innate safety in my body and in life itself. I learn how to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Did you get that? And the result was a healing of my internal fragmentation, which I’ll talk a little more about in the trauma module.
Now orienting, as I discussed in ABC, part c, the 5th option was nature orienting. So again, if you can’t do the visualizations very well, please choose one of these following orienting exercises for Part C of ABC. They’re still effective, and they still have a great impact on your nervous system. We’re going to learn 4 orienting practices. In less than 3.1, we’re going to learn quarantine practice number 1, which is environmental orienting, which we’ve already discussed in the ABC practice, will learn orienting practice number tool, which is dual awareness orienting.
So we’re gonna be looking at our environment and into our body. Less than 3.2 will go over orienting practice number 3, which is pure internal orienting. Or we’ll get in touch with our sense of touch and our felt sense a little deeper. And less than 3.3 orienting practice number 4, which is also another internal orienting practice that I call somatic tracking, especially for chronic pain processing. This practice is not just for chronic pain, but it’s a great one for chronic pain.
Before we move on to the practices, I just want to again say that these practices will help us to become aware of and track our own needs. This is so important. We often get caught up with our needs to fix our self and our needs to respond to every little symptom, but there’s actually underlying needs that we’re not meeting. We have needs for movement, for food, for certain types of rest. And when we when we get more in touch with our internal state again and again, we’re gonna feel our deep unmet needs.
This also will help us to develop something called energetic boundaries that helps us to keep our energy inside of us, our vital force flowing through us, and not being so attached to everyone else and what they’re going through. Orienting helps us to develop a sense of I, I feel, I want, I desire. We’re tracking ourselves. We’re becoming more consciously aware. Sometimes as children, we might have developed survival patterns to keep us out of our needs, and we might have confused boundaries.
I know I did. So these orienting practices of simple somatic tracking or body tracking helps us to reset that confusion. With that, we’ll move on to the very first orienting exercise in lesson 3.1.