By Thomas Hübl

Click here to jump to the guided meditation practice.

At a time when many of us are feeling the emotional impact of the crises unfolding around the world, it becomes even more important to find ways to stay grounded. In my work, I often share tools and practices for self-regulation. I sometimes hear from students that, in moments like this, these practices feel selfish. But I want to offer a different perspective.

Taking the time to reflect, process, and tune in with yourself is not selfish. Learning how to deal with your emotions and triggers at difficult times is actually an essential practice that grounds us and enables us to deal with the stress we’re experiencing. Many of you are engaged in social impact work or are involved in supporting relief efforts, community building, and collective healing. Self-regulation does not take away from that work; it actually brings it to a higher level of maturity. It allows you to respond to crises more appropriately and from a more authentic and grounded place. It helps you make space to be present for what’s happening, and it helps you lead by example.

Meditative, somatic, spiritual, and other self-regulating practices help prepare us for these moments when things feel particularly difficult. Your regulation and awareness have a ripple effect that benefits everyone you’re in contact with.

Put Your Practice Into Action

The collective grief in the air is undeniable. We cannot ignore the magnitude of the events we’re witnessing. One way that we can honor the gravity of these crises is by acknowledging how they affect us and bringing the abstract sensations we feel into the realm of consciousness. From there, we can begin to take action, even if it’s only on a small scale.

If we can’t be present with these emotions, our instinct is to disconnect from the pain, to go numb or shut down. But in doing so, we disconnect from an important part of ourselves and from our community. To honor the pain of others, we need to also honor our own pain. Instead of allowing these feelings to overwhelm us, we must learn to be present with the pain, even (and especially) when it’s difficult.

These moments are an opportunity for us to put our practices into action. If we can slow down, stay connected, and approach them with embodiment instead of reactivity or dissociation, then we can be a beacon of light for others. When we’re resourced and able to resource others, we’re less likely to repeat the patterns of the past. Our connections give us the power to bring new ideas and innovations to life. We can be a small part of the change that our world so desperately needs.

4-Sync Meditation: A Guided Practice for Nervous System Regulation

Practicing in more relaxed and safe moments helps us to build a resource that will be available when we really need it, when we are triggered, or when some challenging moments happen in our life, or when we read news that really disturbs us – then we can come back to that resource.

So, I will introduce you to what we call a 4-sync meditation. It is a meditation to synchronize different parts of our nervous system. And I invite you to practice that multiple times a week and to notice both the awareness effects and the regulation effects.

That is how we train our nervous system and create certain pathways in our inner world that we can access faster and better in challenging moments. When stress comes up, we will have more tools to regulate, to find a friendly relationship to stress and not try to get rid of it.

You can watch the guided practice below, or click here to download the audio version.