Conscious Re-Orienting of the Self

This past week I’ve been contemplating how we orient ourselves in the world, what we orient ourselves around, and how this determines our way of perceiving the world.

This is something I’m continuously exploring, especially when I find myself overwhelmed, or feeling too busy. I find that it’s so deeply wired in me to orient around the belief that I need to do more in order to have worth in this capitalistic model of society we’ve all been indoctrinated into. So when I can see this, I am asking myself how I can reorient.

I turn to my body, notice how it feels, track what's happening on the subtle levels, and reorient myself to my body.

I take time, alone, to let my body be in nature, in wild places, to reorient to the pace of the Earth, and let my body remember that it is, too, nature.

I find that we all have a version of orienting to unhealthy or unhelpful models, structures, or ways of being, especially those of us who are highly sensitive and/or empathic. Our energetic fields and sensory systems are more open, and many of us learned at an early age to orient around the external in order to feel safe. So we oriented around what’s happening around us so we weren’t caught off guard by a loud sound, big energy, or bright lights. Or we oriented around the feelings and needs of another person so we didn’t have to deal with/feel the fall-out of them being upset. Or we oriented around how to do it better or work harder or more perfectly in order to get approval from a culture who values productivity.

So I invite you to get curious today about how you’re orienting yourself.

What is the center-point that your actions and perceptions are moving around and from?

Where is the center-point of your attention?

And what do you want it to be?

I find that the more we orient around our bodies, the more easeful and peaceful it feels being in a body.

I find that the more we orient around the pace of the seasons and cycles, and gentle pace of the Earth, the more connected and nourishing life becomes.