What if there was a way to live that didn’t demand that I spring back to my original shape after strain?
What if I didn’t need to recover at all, or to adjust?
What if I could tap into something bigger, deeper, and wider, a way of using my brain that honored and supported the new shape I was growing into?
What if I could live Beyond (outdated notions of) Resilience?
resilience, noun
- The capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation, caused especially by compressive stress;
- An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
Here’s what was getting to me during the COVID-19 pandemic: Constant change without a size or shape to return to.
That size and shape had disappeared, and my healthcare clients demanded “resilience tools,” so they could “meet the challenge,” and “come back stronger.”
But I could not respond. Everything was closed or closing; the streets were empty; information was scarce; the future was unclear, and there seemed to be no escaping our predicament.
Was pushing harder and “coming back stronger” something I could support? What was all this forced response costing us? Could there be a more merciful way?
I started hearing the word resilience as an archaic, macho call to arms — after all, Marines are resilient! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger! When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
I Needed Restoration, Not Resilience
In order to find my own way forward, I needed connection and solace, not another admonition. So I started looking around for restoration rather than resilience, and I found what I needed in two practices I already love: Open Focus and frame drumming.
Both of these practices affect brainwaves directly and create brainwave synchrony -– which is the modern, scientific way of saying they induce trance.
Trance is the vacation your brain needs. And when I say vacation, I really mean home. Your brain needs to go back to its home state so your mind can let down its guard and rest, and so your body can heal. Making room for trance is common in many cultures, and a necessary part of being alive. Drumming is an ancient trance technology – more about that in subsequent blogs. In place of centuries-old cultural traditions, we have scientists and research, who have come to trance through many different paths. Open focus is one of those.
Lower frequency brainwaves -– in the alpha and theta range -– and brainwave synchrony automatically produce mental rest and physical healing. That’s what decades of research showed the late Les Fehmi, Ph.D. He perfected his Open Focus methods using neurofeedback equipment he designed.
Open Focus practice is silently responding to a series of questions that ask you to imagine space in and around your body. Imagining space in this way shifts the brain into a slower synchronous brainwave pattern –- in the alpha and theta range -– which causes your mind to calm down and your body to release the effects of stress.
The more time you spend in Open Focus, the more quickly you heal and are able to immediately release stress, rather than accumulate it in your mind and body.
Our shortest Open Focus sessions are 10 minutes and, as you practice, you will begin to be able to access Open Focus even more quickly.
Open Focus Goes Well with Drumming
Drumming also produces synchrony in the brain, and you can simply listen to the drumming or play along.
By “play along,” I mean you can tap your hand on the table top or on your thigh. You can tap your foot or sway to the beat. What matters is that you are actively engaged with the beat, not just passively listening.
The Beyond Resilience podcast combines these two approaches in a single session: We follow Les Fehmi’s Open Focus protocol with 5-10 minutes of frame drumming to extend and enhance brainwave synchrony.
Want to learn more about Open Focus? Here’s an intro video explaining its origins and the science behind how it works. You can also check out three pre-recorded Open Focus sessions, or listen to the Beyond Resilience podcast.
If you like what you hear, consider joining me for our weekly Open Focus Friday group sessions, or contacting me to learn more.
I hope to see you soon!