emotions are like breathing (a living room picnic)
on Monday, 21-Mar from 7:30-8:30pm EDT
the invitation —
Like breathing, emotions pass through cycles of intensity: sometimes you’re breathing heavily, fast and hot, other times your breaths come more slowly, or more lightly, or your holding, still. Varying in rhythm and intensity, quality of breath varies, cycles in and out and this happens on its own, or per your leadership (like calming yourself, or inhaling deeply to ready to speak up).
We can control how we breathe. Most of the time our body leads on this.
Relying on its inherent know-how, your body naturally maintains and regulates breath levels for you. And some of the time, for different reasons and purposes: say…cardio exercise, sex, fear, excitement of a game, other kinds of wins, losses…you intervene, take over the reins, (try to).
How you breathe affects your overall health. Also, you can practice breathing, learn its ways and get better at it.
Emotions, like breathing pass through cycles of intensity, vary with situations and serve a purpose that your body understands and that your mind can’t always perceive. Much of the time they / your body lead(s) — it feels first. Your mind can interrupt, redirect the energy. Though, unless you’re practiced at it, and at noticing, what’s going on inside you/r body, you’ll miss the chance to step in. And, like breathing, while you can step in and give direction, emotions are integral being human, and are primarily ruled by the body.
In contrast with breathing, there’s a diverse range emotions; they have history; we have opinions about them and they have a decidedly wider pendulum swing to their cycling of intensity. Emotions are complex experiences, though they are often treated as if they are merely positive / negative indicators. Good feeling / bad feeling.
Like breathing, emotions are a foundational aspect of experience that I’d like to better understand, and, if I can… to - eh, improve our relationship.
How about you? What’s your relationship like with your emotions? Can we invoke the experience of breathing, another natural functioning of our bodies that we cannot live without, as a way to better understand and relate to ourselves and each other?
Let’s picnic!
what to expect
Most living room picnics mix good-natured, intellectual nerdery with deeply personal storytelling (whether you share with the group or just tell yourself).
There’s nothing you need to know or do beforehand to participate - it’s nerdery, not snobbery. Here’s more or less how it’ll flow —
- opening dip into the topic to get to know each other a little
- journaling session to gather our thoughts
- discussion time to unhurriedly think out loud together
- closing moment to collect ourselves and cross back over
when: Mon 21-Mar from 7:30-8:30pm EST
to attend:
Discussion prompts are sent out over the weekend (in case you just like to know what to expect).
