Jessica Stover (00:06):
This recording is an offering of Networks for Training & Development's Online University.

Jessica Stover (00:15):
Hi, everyone. Welcome to this month's Networks Healing Circle Call. I'm Jessica Stover, of Networks, and I am absolutely delighted to be with you all this evening on the East Coast in the afternoon where you're located, or it may be early morning or late at night. But I'm glad you're here to join in with us.

Jessica Stover (00:39):
If you hear any clickety clacketing in the background, those are my puppers dancing around the house, having a good time because it's eight o'clock at night here and that means it's party time and we're gonna try to keep the party, you know, fun. Thanks so much for joining in and I'm so glad to be able to spend this time with you all.

Jessica Stover (00:59):
So today, you're joining tonight or today, it is May the 2nd. And here on the East Coast, I'm located in Pennsylvania, spring is in full swing. The leaves are budding, they're popping out. The flowers are coming out. We're seeing more of the greenhouses coming alive with beautiful flowers and new beginnings. I always think time for growth and awakening and life anew. And as I was getting ready for today, for this evening, I was thinking about rituals, about awakenings, about maybe beginning anew or continuing what's working. An I sup- I- I was really thinking about rituals, and I thought that's what we talk about night and spending some together.

Jessica Stover (01:51):
So, as I was working through this, I started with thinking about my own rituals, and I'm gonna to invite you to think about your rituals, or maybe your patterns. So, how do you start your day? What are your rituals that start your day? That, that's the most commonly talked about.

Jessica Stover (02:13):
So what do you do? What are your rituals to begin? To begin your morning or to begin however, whatever time of day your day might begin? But how do you break up your day? Do you have rituals that break up your day? Do you have rituals for midday? Are there any rituals that you do for the evenings? Maybe before you go to bed? Whether it's at night or maybe you have a different sleep schedule and you go to bed when the sun's coming up. What are your rituals?

Jessica Stover (02:48):
Now, the harder question is, are there any rituals that you should break? Are there any rituals that you do that no longer serve you, or maybe serve you as well as they used to?

Jessica Stover (03:06):
Take a moment and reflect on that and just walk through what your rituals or routine or patterns, what does your morning ritual look like? What does your midday, your evening ritual look like, and ho- what does it look like before you go to sleep to end your, end your day, however that may be?

Jessica Stover (03:31):
For my own ritual, I get up in the morning, take a big stretch, kind of get myself settled for the day. I have my coffee pot programmed. I go out and have my cup of coffee by myself, quiet before any creature, doggies included, are even stirring. And I sit there and I try not to get on my phone. I try not to read the newspaper from the day before. I get the, I still get the newspaper. I try not to do anything of that and I try to have time and space.

Jessica Stover (04:18):
That continues to serve me well. But I have rituals that many, that maybe don't serve me as well. I love to have a snack before I got to bed. That ritual doesn't serve me as well anymore, for a lot a different reasons. So it's a pattern. Is it a behavior, is it a ritual?

Jessica Stover (04:42):
When we're thinking about our rituals, are they random, or are we doing them in response to something, or to something? So is it a pattern, a behavior, a response? Or is it something we do, something we need to do? Mm, I don't have the answers to that for you. But these are all just kind of ponderings. Do you do these consciously or subconsciously? So I'd encourage, if you do have a ritual, if you do have a pattern, that you do them very consciously.

Jessica Stover (05:22):
So with my coffee in the morning, I feel very ... Even though I'm not fully awake yet, I put a very conscious act on my part. I know myself very well at this point, and I'm still getting to know myself even better. But I need that time and space in the mornings with no sounds. The TV's not on, there's no radio. The dogs aren't up yet. My significant other isn't quite moving around the house yet and it's time to just center and wake my body up.

Jessica Stover (05:59):
And I'm gonna encourage you, as you go through your day, whatever time of day that is, to notice your patterns, to notice your rituals, to notice the maybe subconscious behaviors, or conscious. Just notice them and if you find yourself noticing them and you feel okay, you just notice them and watch them go by. But if you notice them and you're like, "Mm, why do I do that?" Maybe start examining, become the, become a very curious detective in your own life.

Jessica Stover (06:41):
Why do I do that when this happens? Why do I have that reaction? Or why do I do this thing? And it might be curious to investigate that a little more as you're comfortable. Just something to consider, to think about.

Jessica Stover (06:59):
Again, taking this all back to it is springtime and it's time for life beginning anew and waking back up in the full swing for the summertime, for that warm weather here on the East Coast, and hopefully for others around the country and around the globe.

Jessica Stover (07:21):
So again, take a moment to yourself. Get yourself comfortable. And you could be sitting or standing. You could be laying on the floor if you wish. I myself, I'm leaning up against the doorway and I'm feeling my back up against the doorway and I'm making myself stand up straight and tall. And you can sit straight and tall in your chair, as your body allows you. And you can lay, quote unquote, straight and tall, really feel your body pressing to the floor as you're laying on the floor. But just become really conscious of what your body feels like and what it's touching.

Jessica Stover (08:11):
Because I'm standing, I can feel my feet, feel my socks, feels my slippers, into the floor beneath me. I can feel that, I can feel the connection to that. I can feel my ankles above my feet. I can feel up to my knees. Working my way, way up to my thighs, up through my torso, and I'm just noticing. Okay, I'm moving around back and forth, kind of feeling maybe a creakiness. There might be some creakiness in those bones and in those joints, but I'm noticing it, and I'm appreciating it.

Jessica Stover (08:57):
And as we're sitting, or standing or laying down, we're noticing from our torso, up through our spine, and if we're able to, allow ours bodies to be as tall as you can. Pulling your shoulders up and back as you're able and feel your shoulders, of your spine and your neck, mm. Feel at the top of your spine to your head. Maybe notice what your forehead kind of feels like, or if th- there's a hair wisping by your cheek.

Jessica Stover (09:35):
Notice and feel breath as it comes in and out. Whether it's though your nose or through your mouth, however your body is breathing, because we're all doing that. Just notice it and feel that breath in through our mouth, into our lungs. And as we exhale and we release it back out of our lungs and back out through our mouth and our nose, just notice it. Notice what this feels like, notice what your body feels like.

Jessica Stover (10:17):
That's the real message for tonight, is just noticing. Noticing our bodies and our body patterns, how we move. And maybe, if you're comfortable, just, uh, questioning it. Just wonder why, do a little inquiry as you're comfortable. A little self-discovery as you're comfortable and just ask the question of, "Mm, that's interesting. That feels a little different." Or, "Mm, that's an interesting thought. Wonder where that came from?" And we just let it float away. You can dig into it another time. But just start noticing if you're not already.

Jessica Stover (11:02):
And we're still sitting, standing or laying on the floor together, and we're again noticing as we're coming back down with our neck, to our shoulders. We're rolling them front and back, up and down. We're feeling our arms and we're rolling our wrists as we're able and wiggling our fingers.

Jessica Stover (11:29):
We're coming back up to our shoulders. We're rolling them again and we feel our spine pressing again the wall, or as we're standing and just letting gravity make itself known. We're feeling our spine against the chair down to our torso. We're moving our hips back and forth and as we're comfortable, we're swinging them around, again just feeling that body move.

Jessica Stover (11:58):
We're going back down to our thighs. We're going to our knees a little bit, our ankles, maybe wiggling a toe. Again, feeling that floor beneath us, whether it's under our feet or our back, our legs, feeling everything around us. And again, if you feel a little creak, which you might, I know I do. I'll have a little creak and I'll have a little pop and I'll be like, "Ooh, that didn't happen yesterday. Where did that come from?" Then I say, "Thank you for reminding me that I'm here." And that's what those creaky creaks do for me (laugh).

Jessica Stover (12:40):
And as we're coming back together, again I want you to think back to your day. Again, this all circles around to noticing our body, noticing our movements, noticing our thoughts, noticing our actions, our behaviors, if you will. Noticing our rituals and our patterns throughout our lives and thinking about them as we move from point A to pint B throughout each of our days in that 24 hour cycle. And take a moment and just consider your, consider your day. I'll sit here with you while you do.

Jessica Stover (13:52):
Thanks for doing that with me. So to wrap up, I'm just gonna invite you, when we're done here, or tonight or tomorrow or next week, next month or even next year, whatever, whatever works for you. Start thinking about noticing what your days are, noticing your rituals. Noticing if they're seemingly random what you do, if they're a pattern. Are they in response? And are these rituals, patters, are they serving you well or are they no longer being of service to you. And if they're not, which happens to all of us, what could you do differently? What could be something new to try? Or even to consider, well, I wonder why these aren't working for me anymore. With no self-criticism, but just curious observation and say, "Hmm, I wonder, I wonder." And just be inquisitive with yourself. We are glorious creatures indeed.

Jessica Stover (15:16):
So I want to thank you all for being with me this evening. And everyone that's listening in, thank you so much for spending time, all of us together, and I invite you to join in our next Healing Circle Call. Again, these are the first Monday of every month at 8:00 PM Eastern Time, and our next will be June 6th. You can also find these on the Networks website. You can go to www.networksfortraining.org and find them on our calendar of events there. You can also follow us on social media. You can find these reminders also on Facebook, as well as Instagram. And again, the first Monday of every month.

Jessica Stover (16:09):
We also have, oh my goodness, years of these Healing Circle Calls available online through our website through our online university, where they're available to you on-demand at any time. And generally they're not any longer than 20 minutes, so you can spend some time and take a break. Maybe that becomes one of your rituals and one of the things that you do to take care of yourself.

Jessica Stover (16:37):
So again, thank you all so much, and I look forward to spending time with y'all very soon. Take care. Bye-bye.

Jessica Stover (16:47):
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