Connecting with your emotions by noticing the weather

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This is a Stereo Forest production from StereoForest

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.com.

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Information, resources and opportunities to support the show

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and connect with others are available at StereoForest

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.com slash Daily Reconnect.

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This podcast is for informational and educational purposes

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only and is not a substitute for medical

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advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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If you have specific mental health concerns, please

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consult with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Now, on to the show.

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Welcome to the Daily Reconnect.

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It's March 7th and I'm your host Jen

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deHaan.

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You might be feeling disoriented, depressed or dissociated

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from the world due to stress or something

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else.

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It'd be lovely if we were living in

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mundane, boring, uninteresting, mind-numbing, average times that

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resembled watching paint dry.

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But we're not.

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So here we are.

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This brief episode will use an exercise to

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help you reconnect to the present and together

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we will re-engage with this wild world,

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our bodies and our minds.

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So let's get started and reconnect with reality.

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In the previous exercise on Wednesday, we visualized

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a root system that extends out and connects

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us with others.

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In today's episode, we will become aware of

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the present using another natural element, the weather.

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You'll attune to atmospheric patterns outside and relate

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it to what's going on within yourself.

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This helps you acknowledge your emotional climate while

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reconnecting with the present moment.

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I will follow this with motivating guidance to

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navigate whatever weather your day brings.

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So find a comfortable position, either outdoors or

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near a window where you can see outside.

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If this is not possible, visualize an approximation

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of the current weather.

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Bring your awareness to what it's like right

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now.

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Notice the temperature of the air against your

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skin, even if you're indoors.

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Is it warm or cool?

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Humid or dry?

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Feel how it touches different parts of your

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body like your face, your arms or your

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hands.

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Become aware of any air movement.

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Perhaps there's a breeze flowing through an open

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window, a subtle current from a ventilation system,

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or complete stillness in the air.

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Now listen for sounds associated with the weather.

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You might hear rain tapping against the windows,

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or maybe there's wind that's rustling leaves or

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branches, or perhaps there's the absence of weather

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sounds if you're, say, in a climate-controlled

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space.

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Now let's practice visualizing a shift.

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Wherever you are, turn inward to visualize in

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your mind a shifting weather pattern.

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If you're experiencing a warm, sunny morning, visualize

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a chilly wind picking up speed.

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Or if it's raining, perhaps you visualize the

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clouds breaking up and rays of sunshine descending

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from above.

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Or if you're inside somewhere, perhaps the ventilation

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system changes.

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Now allow your body to attune to these

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visualized, imagined changes.

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Just as trees and animals adapt to seasonal

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shifts, your body carries this ancient wisdom, too.

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Notice how your breathing naturally adjusts to these

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weather changes or changes in your environment, perhaps

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deeper in some seasons, perhaps shallower in others.

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Your breathing is perhaps deeper during some seasons

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and shallower in others.

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It might change depending on where you are

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in your community.

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Now shift your attention to your internal weather.

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What's the emotional climate inside your body today?

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Is there a storm of thoughts?

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Are you in a fog of uncertainty?

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Or do you have sunny and bright clarity?

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Or like a gentle rain of sadness?

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Take a moment to notice what that feels

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like.

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You don't have to understand the emotion or

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make any changes to it.

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Just notice whatever you're feeling right now.

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And just as the external weather exists without

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our judgment, neither good or bad, simply present.

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It simply happens or is there.

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Allow your internal weather to exist without that

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judgment.

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It's just there.

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Now notice how these two things, the weather

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and your emotions, how they're either different or

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they align with each other.

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Does what is happening outside mirror your emotions

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or are they in stark contrast?

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Do you enjoy this difference or do you

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prefer them to mirror or be aligned with

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each other?

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Remember that all weather, the weather outside and

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our emotions inside, it's temporary.

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These storms pass.

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The clouds can clear.

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The seasons will change eventually.

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Your awareness of how nature changes, just like

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ourselves, through this you might be able to

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use this to help you to remain present

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and focused rather than disconnected.

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Now if you're visualizing a different location, bring

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your attention back to your present surroundings and

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let's get prepared for the day ahead.

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Remember that your presence is radical in a

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world truly designed for distraction.

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The clarity that you've cultivated isn't just personal,

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it's often very political.

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When systems of power gain from our disconnection,

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from our isolation, the act of simply showing

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up fully for yourself and other humans becomes

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very impactful, even revolutionary when it's sustained.

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Today let's notice the spaces where we can

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transform isolation into connection.

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Figuratively or literally if you like, join hands

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with those around you.

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Remember that throughout history every significant change began

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with people who dared to imagine something better

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together.

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Your awareness, your voice, your actions, however small

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they might be, are all threads in a

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larger tapestry of transformation.

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Carry this truth with you.

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We are stronger in community than we could

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ever be alone.

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We can find greater success together in a

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single unified action than if we were doing

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many different isolated actions separately.

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So find your group, find your people, accept

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everyone in it, include them, accommodate them, and

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then march forward.

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Thank you so much for joining me

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here today on March 7th for The Daily

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Reconnect.

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I'm Jen DeHaan and I'll be back on

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Monday for another exercise to help reconnect us

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with reality.

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Thank you for listening to The Daily Reconnect.

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Episodes are released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

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every week.

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This show was created, written, hosted, edited, and

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produced by Jen DeHaan.

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Links to contact information, ways to support the

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show, transcripts, the free newsletter, and our community

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discord can be found in the show notes.

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This is a Stereo Forest production.