“I believe in intuitions and inspirations… I sometimes feel that I'm right. I don't know that it is me. "~ Albert Einstein
I've thought a lot. Maybe you too
Nowadays there is a lot to think about.
I take in information, process new ideas, adapt the conditions of my life to the current circumstances and establish new modes of behavior. Perhaps that sounds familiar to you?
All of these considerations are primarily a frontal cortex function. When we understand and organize information, this function occurs at the front of the brain. This part of the brain creates order out of chaos. Structure made of disorder.
The threads of sensory and experimental inputs are woven into an integrated material that transforms different threads of information into something cohesive and understandable. Logic and language intervene to further clarify and consolidate the process. Our experience of the world around us becomes something that matters. It's a handy tool. It's a good part of our consciousness.
An interesting and often overlooked fact is that our brain does a lot more than that. When we label someone smart, we are often referring to their intelligence. And by intelligence we often refer to fact-driven logical skills. Our language shows a lot about how we interpret our skills.
Even if we only consider physical evidence, we have the ability to do so much more. Our brain is more than smart. Our intelligence is more than intelligent. We're not just here to understand things linearly. Our existence suggests that there is more to this. Our purpose is greater.
That brings me to this pandemic that comes with a volatile economy, massive dysregulation of most of the systems that determine the rhythm of our lives, and a social awakening at the core of our society. That brings me to the reason I've been thinking a lot. I've been thinking because survival and purposeful existence in this world require it.
And.
There is always an "and".
Purposeful existence requires more than just thinking.
The brain stem is located on the back of the skull where the brain meets the spine. The brain stem regulates breathing and heart rate. It regulates basic movement and sensory experiences by acting as a conduit for input from the spinal cord to the rest of the brain and vice versa. It is the center of your most important involuntary survival processes.
This is the place of your most basic human presence. It is your sign of life. There is no logic, no language, no meaning or order here. The brain stem is a portal from the nervous system to the brain. Nothing in the portal is interpreted or coherent. It's just nerve impulses and stimuli, electrical currents and rhythms. A jumble of inputs with no meaning or filters. The brain stem connects your body to consciousness.
This meeting point is powerful. It is the threshold between a functioning, perceiving, present body and the consciousness of observing, understanding and trusting it. The brainstem is a border container, a passing passage of uncensored, unrefined experience.
Formation of meaning is of course necessary. The stories we weave about the world from our conclusions are essential (although they can also be dangerous if we are embroiled in negative stories about anything that could go wrong).
But first there is the elementary material of existence, the origins of presence. This is the feed that converts our presence into energy. Our existence becomes a determined force.
I have offered myself permission to think less and feel more. I step out of the front of my brain and sink into the back of my skull, right where the skull curves away from my neck. That place behind my throat. Sometimes I breathe deeply into this space, release my jaw, relax my tongue, and open my mouth to exhale.
Life was incredibly chaotic. No work. New job. New learning curve. No child care. New life situation. Every habit I had a few months ago has been completely reinvented. Most of the assumptions I had about how the world worked from day to day have been decimated. I had to get creative. I can't figure it out.
When I avoid my intellect, something else comes up. When I breathe in the back of my head, a different type of intelligence informs me.
Instead of thinking or thinking about it, I feel myself into something. I get a nudge, a pull, an instinctive reflex to start in a certain direction, whether there is a path or not. I get nudged and so I go. It's often messy, circular, and headstrong. But I'm going anyway. Usually there is something. It's always worth going. And it's absolutely never what I expect.
This place rules much more than my heartbeat and breath. I am writing here. It's the place I tap while teaching yoga when I want to take care of myself and those who practice with me. It's the place I sink into when I feel insecure and unmated. I don't get any answers here, but I get clear. Here I go into the essentials. The dwelling of my instincts. The meeting point of my sensitivity. The sparkling nerve fibers of survival, function and purpose.
I'm getting out of the way. I'm immersed in an old, intuitive, easy part of myself. I feel and see in the most essential way that I know. The brain stem is a portal that combines simplicity with intentionality. It's a different kind of intelligence. I connect awareness to my body, awareness to my experience. It's that simple. And it's so much more.
Would you like to try it out? I find this practice to be most visceral for me when I am lying down. So if you can find a good place to sit back and rest. If you can't lie down now, it's fine. Sit down and relax.
Inhale a few times and sink into the place where you are. Let your body settle down and feel present in your space. Become aware of your breath. Now send your breath back to the base of the skull. Feel the room swirl where the back of your head meets your neck.
Release your jaw, make room between your teeth and relax your tongue. Let your mouth pop out and sigh from that space at the very back of your throat. Repeat a few times.
Notice how it feels to focus your awareness on the back of the skull. Also, be curious about what happens when you lean into this space. Which feelings, thoughts, images, ideas or sensations arise? What if you purposely bypass your mind and sink into another part of your consciousness? What wonderful things could happen if you trusted the most important parts of you?
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