Both Hands

Both Hands

This is the third Sourel of the week, and it brings together the two practices offered earlier, the object held in one hand from Tuesday, and the hand placed against the chest from Thursday, into one small, complete gesture for closing the week.

This episode begins by acknowledging something simple: that whatever the week has actually contained, evenings with a drink or without one, something has kept bringing the listener back to these few minutes, three times this week, to sit with their own experience rather than look away from it.

The practice itself is gentle and physical. Holding a chosen object in one hand, grounding in something real and chosen, while the other hand rests against the chest, acknowledging whatever has actually been true this week, without needing it to have been any particular thing. One slow breath, held in both positions at once.

This episode is explicit that this is not a ritual requiring perfect repetition. It is simply a way of marking an ending, deliberately, rather than letting one pass unnoticed the way it once did.

It closes by previewing Week Three, a sense of mental clarity some people begin to notice around this point, arriving in its own time, regardless of what the listener's relationship with alcohol has actually looked like so far.
 
 If you find yourself wanting something to return to between these reflections, in the actual moment a habit like this one takes hold, I also built an app called Settle and Source. It offers a ninety-second guided practice for exactly the kind of moment this essay has been describing, the gap between noticing an urge and knowing what to do with it. It is not a replacement for anything here, simply another door, in case it is the right one for you. https://settleandsource.com

Settle and Source: The Podcast is created by Angela M. Carter, founder of Trauma Release Centre and a trained IFS therapist with over thirty years of clinical experience.

Each episode is a Sourel: a short voiced reflection set to sound. Designed for the small pauses of a full life.

Find Angela and more of her work at www.traumareleasecentre.com.

If today’s reflection landed for you, share it with someone who needs it. That’s how a quiet message travels in a loud world.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome. I'm glad you're here. This is the clearing. A special month-long companion for anyone choosing to put alcohol down this July, even just for a little while, to see what is on the other side of the habit. You don't have to have this figured out. You don't have to do dry July perfectly. You simply have to be curious about what might shift if you let your body and your mind have a little more space this month. Each week, we'll walk through something different together. What it feels like to break a pattern. What happens as the fog begins to lift? What it means to maintain something you have started to value. Settle in. This one is for you.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Week two, Sunday. Invitation.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

This is the third time we have sat together this week. And I want to begin today by acknowledging something simple. You're still here. Whatever this process has actually looked like for you, whatever your evenings have or have not contained something in you has kept returning to these reflections that matters, regardless of anything else. On Tuesday, we found an object to hold, something small enough to fit in one hand, a way of marking the hour that used to belong entirely to habit. On Thursday, we talked about letting go of the perfect streak, about choosing curiosity over judgment, when the week did not go the way you might have hoped. Today, I want to bring those two things together into one small, complete practice. A way of closing this week, regardless of what your drinking has actually looked like. Here is the invitation. Find that object again, if you still have it nearby, or choose a new one if you do not hold it in one hand. And with your other hand, place it flat against your chest, the way we did on Thursday. Stay like that for a moment. The object in one hand grounding you in something real and chosen. Your other hand against your chest, acknowledging whatever has actually been true for you this week without needing it to have been any particular thing. Take one slow breath while you hold both of those positions. Nothing more is required than that. This is not a ritual you need to repeat perfectly every Sunday from now on. It is simply a way of marking an ending. The way an ending used to be marked by something else entirely. Except this time, the marking comes from you, deliberately, rather than from a habit running on its own. I want to say something honestly before we close. Whatever this week has actually contained for you. Evenings with a drink, evenings without one, evenings, you do not feel entirely sure how to categorize. You have continued to show up for these few minutes. Three times this week, to sit with your own experience rather than look away from it. It is not a small thing, even though it will not look like much from the outside. Next week, we move into something many people find surprising: a sense of mental clarity returning. Sometimes, in moments they did not expect it. This is not something that requires you to stop drinking entirely to experience. It tends to arrive in its own time, in its own way, for whoever is paying attention closely enough to notice it. If that sounds intriguing to you, come back on Tuesday. We will be here. Until then, hold whatever you are holding in your hand and in your chest with a little more gentleness than usual.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

That's the end of today's sorrow. Whatever shifted, whatever didn't, let it be there. You don't have to understand it yet. You are exactly where you need to be in this process.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

The clearing continues three times a week throughout July. If this found you at the right moment, share it with another woman who might be doing this with you. Even quietly. Even on her own. Until the next one.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Take good care of yourself.