Welcome.
Thank you for being here,
Especially if being still feels like the last thing that your body wants to do right now.
If your system is activated,
If your heart is racing,
If every part of you is saying move,
Run,
Or do something,
You're not broken.
Your body is doing exactly what it is designed to do.
Allow yourself to arrive here without needing to be calm.
Allow yourself to find a position that feels a little bit safe.
Maybe that's sitting,
Lying down,
Or standing.
You can keep your eyes open if that feels safer.
There's no right way to do this.
Start to invite a breath in gently into your chest,
Maybe down into your belly.
Begin noticing where your body makes contact with the world,
With the chair,
The floor beneath you.
Feel the weight of you being held by something solid.
Gravity is here.
The earth is here.
Now start to bring your attention to your breath,
Not to change it,
Just to notice.
Is it fast?
Shallow?
Are you holding it?
Let it be exactly as it is.
I invite you to take a breath in and gently let it go.
Start to gently scan your body.
Start to notice where there's activation living in your chest,
Maybe in your throat,
Or your jaw,
Your hands,
Maybe your belly.
There's no need to fix it.
Just notice.
This is where my body is holding the alarm.
I invite you to place one hand on your chest or your belly,
Wherever feels like contact.
Feel your hand there.
Feel the warmth.
This is you meeting yourself in the middle of the storm.
Now start to widen your awareness beyond your body to the air,
To space,
The room that you're in.
You're held by something larger than the alarm.
What are you feeling right now?
Racing heart?
Tightness in your chest?
Maybe the need to move,
Freeze,
Or collapse?
All this is your body's ancient intelligence trying to keep you safe.
These three responses,
Fight,
Push back,
To defend,
The flight,
To run,
To move,
To get out,
The freeze,
Shut down,
To get small,
To go still.
These are not choices.
They're reflexes,
Older than thought,
Faster than decision.
Your body doesn't always know the difference between a real threat in this moment and an old threat still living in your system.
The alarm goes off,
Even when you're safe.
Body is just trying to protect you with old information.
Now with as much gentleness as you can find,
I invite you to start to notice which response is alive in your body right now.
Is there a fight?
Maybe it's tightness in your jaw or anger beneath the surface.
Is there flight,
A restlessness,
A need to move,
Pace,
To escape?
Maybe it's a freeze,
Some numbness,
Or a sense of being far,
Far away.
You don't need to name it perfectly.
Just notice what's there.
Now,
Instead of trying to stop the response,
Can you meet it?
Can you say to the part of you that wants to run,
I see you.
Thank you for trying to keep me safe.
Can you say to the part of you that's frozen,
I'm here.
You don't have to do this alone.
Can you say to the anger,
To the tightness,
To the alarm,
Been working so hard.
I love you.
I'm listening.
This is not about calming down.
This is about a relationship.
Your survival response is not your enemy.
It's part of you that has been standing guard,
Waiting for someone to notice.
I want you to breathe with it,
To stay with it.
Let it know,
I'm here.
I'm listening.
We're safe enough.
You can start to rest.
Now,
Begin to let this settle in your body.
Turn to your breath.
Start to return to the weight of your body in the seat,
To the ground beneath you.
You don't need to have anything figured out.
You've done something that most people never do.
You stayed.
You met the alarm without running from it.
Allow your hand to rest on your chest,
Your belly.
Feel yourself breathing.
You're here.
You're safe enough.
Now,
Start to bring your awareness back to the room.
Start to notice the sounds,
The light.
I invite you to start to wiggle your fingers and toes.
Maybe bring some movement to your shoulders by rolling them.
And when you're ready,
Ever so gently start to open your eyes.
You've walked towards something that most people run from.
You've met your body's intelligence without trying to override it.
Carry this with you.
Your body is not broken.
Your survival responses are not the enemy.
They're old protectors,
Just waiting for you to take the lead.
May you meet yourself with kindness today.
May you trust that your body knows things that your mind has forgotten.
May you remember you are safe enough to feel what is here.
