The Whoosh.
What is a whoosh?
You know that feeling in your body when something triggers you? Like a sudden surge of energy that washes over you like a wave.
Sometimes I feel it like a rush in my ears, the muscles in my head get tight, my stomach clenches. My sight can get blurry. My face gets hot. The pressure in my chest builds. Sometimes I want to run. Sometimes I feel the urge to yell.
Our friend Terry Real calls this experience a whoosh.
If you really pay attention you can actually feel it in your body.
The moment when it happens is often when your Protector is prepared to take over and react with the perspective of the old stories and patterns of your past. The ones that helped you survive when you were truly helpless and small.
Whether you are consciously aware of it or not, in that instant, there is a perception of danger, and so without a pause, the reaction takes over before your Adult self has an opportunity to take the wheel.
Such power in becoming aware of the whoosh!
When you have this ability you can recognize that there is a big difference between actually being unsafe versus feeling uncomfortable.
Your Protector doesn’t know the difference.
Your Wise Adult does.
Here is a practice to try:
When you feel the whoosh, stop.
Inhale deeply through your nose, and exhale fully through your mouth.
Do this at least 3-5 times.
Notice what you feel in your body, and in your heart.
You don’t have to do anything, just notice.
Watch how your whole being starts to settle.
Imagine grounding yourself to the earth.
Notice how your inner state shifts into calm.
Bravo, my friend! Here is where your power is.
You have let your nervous system know that there is no real danger.
And as you move into a more settled state, more energy is available to the part of your brain where your Wise Adult lives: the pre-frontal cortex.
Your Wise Adult knows that discomfort isn’t deadly.
When your Wise Adult is in charge, you can breathe through the pain of things not going as planned or desired.
Slowly, and with this kind of practice, you will have more and more access to your Wise Adult, and your Protector will know it is safe to step back a bit and let your Adult drive.
Don’t let your life be lived in reactivity, there is no breathing room there.
Pause, allow, be kind and gentle to yourself, and remember there is a way to connect with that calm, grounded, inner space.
From here, your life belongs to you.
Let me know what your WHOOSH feels like.
Always and with much love,
Carol
P.S. Ask about my new monthly Conscious Conversations video series.
