Someone asked in the Adults With Overexcitabilities group a while back, something along the lines of “where do you keep all your mental difficulties, while you face the world and get on with life?”.

I gave an answer which seemed to resonate with people, and I now recognise my response as an autopsychotherapy practice. So I thought I’d blog about it and share my thoughts with you. It’s a mindfulness practice I call my Cosmic Pocket.

Why have a Cosmic Pocket?

I’ve come to realise lately how critical such a practice is for people who have overexcitabilities. Because we can have really strong (like visceral, nasty-strong) emotional reactions to very small stimulus, kinda like that time I had a complete meltdown over a hamster…

The problem is, that you can’t really pick and choose when or where these reactions occur (wouldn’t it marvellous if we could choose?). When they occur might not be convenient in the scheme of adult daily life. Like when you’re at work, or out doing your groceries, or sitting in a movie theatre, or in the middle of a difficult conversation with someone.

Point being, you really need a way to quickly (and I mean very quickly) control these feelings until such time as you can sneak away from the world and deal with them properly – have a constructive meltdown, and then process things using root cause analysis techniques, or by reaching in to your autopsychotherapy tool kit.

What is a Cosmic Pocket?

It’s really just a metaphorical place I use to quell my “brain hurricanes” until I can effectively deal with them. In reality it’s a mindfulness exercise, like a watered-down guided meditation, which helps get my emotional reactions under control.

And it’s all about perspective…

Think of it this way – you can’t always change the way you feel about a thing, because your feelings are usually valid. You can’t always solve your problems on the spot. And you can’t just “feel less” when you’re overexcitable! But by bringing some additional perspective to your issues, you can bring proportion to your feelings and thoughts to reduce the size of them temporarily.

Think of it as putting a measuring tape up to your troubles, so you can see them at scale.

Using My Cosmic Pocket

The Cosmic Pocket is the place in me that remembers the vastness, incredible age, and infinite beauty in the universe. It remembers that life is joyful and enduring, and troubles are fleeting. The imagery, and the positive emotions associated with those images, are the focus of the exercise.

I take a deep breath, and visualise the things I carry around in my Cosmic Pocket…

• I feel right into the far reaches of the pocket. I feel the motion of the seas, the solid forms of the mountains, and infinite air in the sky. I remember that the planet existed long before I arrived, and continues to breathe around me.
• I carry around a small snippet of bird song in my pocket, so I listen to that. It reminds me nature doesn’t care about human things. If society collapses tomorrow, I can still survive as one of nature creatures.
• I also carry a flower in there, so I smell it and feel it. The flower reminds me of the impermanence and beauty of my life. Life is joyful, and we should enjoy it now. And my trouble? Like the flower, once picked up, it will soon wither.

What Happens Inside the Cosmic Pocket

When I do this, I remember on the grand scale of things, my troubles aren’t so bad. It puts my human worries into context. I appreciate the beauty in life, and feel awe at the world’s vast strength. It helps me understand my troubles are fleeting (yet I will endure). 

By holding up this universal measuring tape, I can see everything with perspective and scale. When my troubles are scaled down, they then get slipped into the pocket for later.

In reality it’s a miniature guided meditation using those key images, and feeling the positive things about those images. And I can do very quickly within myself these days (the sea, the mountains, the sky, the birds, the flower – done). The beautiful thing is the more you practice it, and make positive emotional associations with the images, the more powerful and responsive it becomes.

Taking Things Out of the Pocket

Sometimes the cosmic pocket is enough on its own, and stuff just dissapears in there (much like my car keys). 

Other times, it’s good enough to hold stuff until I’m in a position to deal with it. And some things do need to be dealt with properly! You can’t keep cramming things in your pockets indefinately!

When I need to take things out of my pocket, the first step is to have a constructive meltdown and process all the emotions. Feel the things. This is something which I also do as part of my process when I’m having a partial disintegration. You’ve gotta let those big-assed feelings out some time. Don’t bottle them up!

After that, I look to my autopsychotherapy toolkit, and deal with what needs to be dealt with. This includes using root cause analysis to get to the bottom of my feelings.

Lastly, I invest in some proper self care. After all, it’s probably been a long day!

Final Thought

The Cosmic Pocket works as a temporary place to put the things until we’re ready to deal with them. It’s a good thing to practice, but it’s also just as important to practice taking the things out and dealing with them effectively. Don’t treat this as an invitation to bottle things up. 

And remember that if you are an overexcitable person dealing with big emotions – you’re certainly not alone!