Compassionate Integrity Training CIT-Faciltator-Guide-2.1-Final | Page 51

C OMPASSIONATE I NTEGRITY T RAINING
A S ECULAR E THICS A PPROACH TO C ULTIVATING P ERSONAL , S OCIAL AND E NVIRONMENTAL F LOURISHING
5.
If someone states an unpleasant sensation during this activity, ask, “Is there a place in the body that
feels better than the unpleasant sensation?” Once they identify this place, say, “Simply notice this
more pleasant or neutral sensation and rest your attention there.”
6.
Once you get to the last person, you may explain, “In order to learn Skill 1: Calming Body and
Mind, it is important to build up our vocabulary of sensation words and practice locating
sensations in the body. We tend to use emotion words like ‘happy’ or ‘stressed’ to describe how we
are feeling, but body sensations can give us important additional information. Sensation words are
the ‘language’ of the autonomic nervous system—the part of our body that registers safety and
danger and regulates our organs accordingly. Understanding this is at the heart of the skill of
calming our bodies and minds.”
C ENTER FOR C OMPASSION , I NTEGRITY AND S ECULAR E THICS | L IFE U NIVERSITY | M ARIETTA , G EORGIA
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