The Orienting Response
Reflection
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The practice
The orienting response is a slow scan of your surroundings:
- Slow and deepen your breathing a little
- Slowly turn your head from side to side and look around the room
- Let your gaze stay soft and don't focus on anything in particular
- Let your body know that the surroundings are safe, and notice any shift as you do
If you notice yourself getting caught in a story about something you see, let it go and keep scanning.
Why it works
The nervous system is always scanning for threat, whether or not we ask it to. It runs automatically and often notices danger before the mind does, which is why the hair on the back of your neck can stand up before you know what caused it.
That same system takes in information through the eyes, which gives us a way to show it that the current situation is safe. A slow scan can give the alarm system the information it has been looking for.
Is the alarm accurate?
Our sense of safety doesn't always match actual security. Some people feel little alarm in situations that carry real risk, and others feel a strong alarm when they are quite safe.
Learning to read your nervous system gives you a way to check. The alarm sounds, you regulate, and then you can ask whether there is real danger here. Sometimes the answer is yes, and the activation is doing its job. Sometimes the situation is safer than the alarm suggests. This practice is meant for the second kind. It isn't a way to override your sense of danger when something is wrong.
If your mind gets busy
Some people find this one harder than the breathing practices because the mind keeps making stories while the eyes scan. For others it works better than breathing. Both are normal, and that's the kind of information this series is meant to surface.
You can also combine practices. Adding slow, deep breathing to the scan works well for many people.
When it fits
- In a room where you aren't sure you belong, such as a ward activity, a family reunion, or a new group
- In a church meeting where your body has tightened and you need to settle without leaving
- When you walk into a space where you expect a difficult conversation
- When you are on a screen for long stretches and your body feels braced