Paradox At Play

Season 1, Ep. 2: Dog Tongue

I get anxiety. Not as much as I used to, but it still shows up — in packed grocery stores, intense social situations, the usual suspects. Over time I've collected some tools for those moments.

This episode is about one of them. It is strange. It involves your tongue. It is also, I'd argue, a legitimate practice of ridiculous mindfulness. Before I walk into something hard, I send in my dog tongue, a phantom pet made entirely of tongue, to lick the room for safety.

It works.  And it is ridiculous. Come try it.

Episode Transcript

Ridiculous Mindfulness: Dog Tongue

[podcast theme sung with cavernous reverb]

♪ Paradox at play. Paradox at play. ♪

[bright xylophone-like synth melody]

[changes to a quiet lo-fi beat in the background]

PARADOX: Paradox here with some more ridiculous mindfulness. Did you know just how powerful the imagination is in your tongue? Perhaps, look around you right now. Look at all of the surfaces near you. And now, without considering the taste, just consider your tongue against any one of these surfaces. [lo-fi background is joined by a high-pitched energetic arpeggio going higher and higher] Almost immediately, you should notice an understanding, a sense of texture, an awareness, a mindfulness, if you will.

[arpeggio ends, leaving the lo-fi beat in the background]

PARADOX: That is very likely ridiculous. Silly. Who knew? Well, definitely some people know. But it’s not common knowledge that we can imagine if we consider that surface against our tongue immediately understand within our body what that texture might feel like.

[Jonathan’s voice with reverb: the tongue. The tongue. Tongue. Tongue. Tongue. The tongue.]

PARADOX: Why do I bring this up? Well, I get anxiety attacks. Not as regularly as I used to, but they still happen. And, um, I’ve come to find that there are a few tools in my toolbox when it comes to proactively supporting my nervous system in circumstances where I might get more anxious, more anxious than I have capacity for. And one of those tools is what I like to call my dog tongue. I imagine that I have a dog, a pet dog in the shape of a tongue.

[Jonathan’s voice with reverb: the tongue, the tongue, tongue.]

PARADOX: And before I go in to a challenging experience, be it a very packed grocery store or a very intense social situation, I like to call on my dog. [lo-fi background is joined by a high-pitched energetic arpeggio going higher and higher] My dog tongue and let it run throughout the room.

[Jonathan’s voice with reverb: tongue, tongue, tongue.]

PARADOX: Let it rum the room that I’m in. I ask that the dog lick every surface for safety and interest and curiosity. It works for me. And it is ridiculous.

[Jonathan’s voice with reverb: tongue, tongue, tongue]

[arpeggio ends, leaving the lo-fi beat in the background]

PARADOX: And I wonder one more time if you might consider the textures you know in this room. Consider unleashing your own dog tongue. [lo-fi background is joined by a high-pitched energetic arpeggio going higher and higher]

[the narration pauses]

[Jonathan’s voice with reverb: tongue, tongue, tongue]

[arpeggio ends, leaving the lo-fi beat in the background]

PARADOX: What is it like to do something silly like this? What is it like to allow your imagination and your body to conspire towards something ridiculous like this. Something that’s not common. Not something we talk about regularly. Oh yes, I had my dog tongue run around the room today.

[pause in narration]

PARADOX: And it is ridiculous. This has been another moment of ridiculous mindfulness brought to you by Paradox at Play.

[changes to bright xylophone-like synth melody]

[podcast theme sung with cavernous reverb]

♪ Paradox at play. Paradox at play. ♪

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