Ep 54: [BONUS] Using Household Chores to Ground Yourself & Demand a Gaza Ceasefire

[EPISODE]

Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American journalist, reported quote “four days ago the Israel Defense Forces told Palestinians in Rafah to move to an area it calls “Block 2371,” designated it a “safe area.” This is the area Isarel just bombed refugee tents, carrying out a massacre.” End quote. 

This moment calls for our direct action to keep demanding a ceasefire and to keep pressuring institutions to divest from funding war. But as parents who are already stretched too thin and can’t afford to fall apart, we have to fiercely take care of our nervous system to keep our advocacy going. 

In this quick bonus episode, we’ll explore three body-based self-regulation exercises you can experiment with while doing household chores to get out of the freeze response and get back into direct action. I’m not talking about household chores to advocate for you to keep your house clean and perfect to be perceived as a quote unquote good parent. My intention is to turn the things you’re already doing into something grounding during these heartbreaking times. Please experiment with what resonates and what feels right to your unique body. Leave the rest. And more importantly, make it your method. 

At Come Back to Care, decolonized parents and I don't use somatics to in air quotes "regulate" our rage, grief, and heartbreak...just to be calm or be convenient for someone's comfort.

We use somatics to move with the movement for justice. We use somatics to stay in the struggle for liberation. We use somatics to stay anchored in our dignity so we can take action for collective liberation. 

I invite you to replace "somatics as individualistic self-regulation" with "somatics as a reclamation of your voice" so that you and I can take action, take risks, and take a stand from a place of our dignity, solidarity, and radical collective care. 

The first invitation is for when you sweep the floor and wipe the countertops. If it makes sense, try pushing firmly into the broom or the wiping cloth. I invite you to notice the muscles and joints in your fingers, hands, wrists, shoulders, and upper back come alive. You can use this muscle and joint activation or proprioceptive input to ground you in the here and now instead of numbing out and checking out. 

The second invitation is for when you load your laundry in the washing machine and dryer or when you load your dishes in the dish washing machine. I invite you to pay attention to how you’re moving across your midline or your torso. Perhaps picking up clothes on the floor to your right-hand side and twisting your torso to put the clothes in the dryer on the upper left-hand side. If you’d like, notice that when you twist your torso from left to right, your diaphragm loosens if you’ve been holding your breath watching graphic images in the news or on social media. Holding your breath can easily lead us to shrink and stay small instead of taking up space and taking action. By regaining your breath, I hope it mobilizes you towards direct action again. 

The final invitation is for when you pick up the toys on the floor. If it feels okay in your body, I invite you to exhale as you fold your body forward to pick up each toy. If your body wants to make an audible sigh with the exhale, please do. Similar to when we hold our breath, shrink, and stay small, we also freeze our voice and don’t make sound when we feel threatened. By gently making sounds as you pick up the toys, I hope it mobilizes you towards using your voice for justice again.

I hope that these three exercises can fill your cup bit by bit throughout the day so that you have the bandwidth you need to join your co-conspirators and take direct actions whether through practicing targeted boycott, demanding a ceasefire, engaging in political education, or talking to your school board about genocide. 

For more somatic exercises, please visit Ep 42: [BONUS] Somatic Warm-Ups Before You Demand a Gaza Ceasefire.

This moment of liberation needs you, your voice, and your action.

In solidarity and sass. Until next time, please take care.