Welcome,
Today we're going to focus on beginning our nervous system reset,
Because this is
where lasting change begins.
That's because your nervous system is your body's command center.
Everything we do or feel is processed through this network of billions of neurons that could
wrap around the earth four times,
Let that sink in.
It's the foundation for how we understand and experience the world.
And over the next few meditations,
We'll make our way through our owner's manual of our
body and mind.
And you may hear words like rewiring and regulation of the nervous system.
And this is the active process of balancing our internal world so that we can have access
to greater resilience and ease.
In particular,
It's about balancing the two complementary parts of our nervous system,
The sympathetic or the fight or flight response,
Which can both energize us and protect us,
And our parasympathetic or rest and digest response,
Which helps us to feel calm and
more grounded.
And while these functions operate largely unconsciously,
So we don't have to think about
reading or digesting our food,
We all possess the tools to dial them up when needed or slow
them down when they've gone into overdrive.
And having this kind of agency over our reality starts with awareness and our ability to notice
what's going on in our body and how our environment is affecting us,
And then responding with
tools that return us to equilibrium.
One of the best tools we have is our breath.
It has a direct line to our nervous system.
And with small shifts in pace and pattern,
Our breath can change our mental and emotional
state instantly.
Ultimately,
This is about coming home to yourself,
Understanding how to work with your body and
mind in ways that will directly influence your mood,
Energy,
Relationships,
Sleep,
Stress,
And overall health and well-being.
As we begin our meditation together,
This may be new for some of you,
Just gently settle
in your chair,
Whatever surface you're sitting on.
If you'd like,
You can close your eyes and just begin to breathe deeply and relax.
And in this moment,
Just keeping your awareness on your body,
As you start to bring attention
to the soles of your feet.
Notice how they make contact with what's beneath,
Carpet,
Hard surface,
And you're just guiding
that awareness from the soles of your feet,
Up into your ankles,
Your shins,
And your
calves.
And just paying attention to any sensations here.
Notice your knees and then your thighs,
Observing your glutes and hips,
And guiding your awareness
up until you're noticing your lower back,
Noticing your belly,
Noticing your middle
back,
Upper back,
And your chest.
And just continuing to be aware all along the way,
Noticing sensations.
You may have an itch,
You may have a pain observing,
We're just applying curiosity towards
the sensation and feeling in our body.
Guiding your awareness down the arms,
Noticing the elbows,
Noticing the wrists,
And then
allowing your attention to rest in your hands.
Noticing any tingling or warmth,
And then moving your awareness back up into the arms,
Into the neck,
And from the neck to the jaw,
And noticing here if you are clenching your
jaw.
If it feels like you're doing this right now,
Simply feeling the muscles of your cheeks
relax and soften as you're noticing softens them.
Feeling around your nose and your eyes,
Gently feeling and observing across your forehead,
And feeling everything in your face soften as you continue to scan across your face and
your head without needing to shift or change anything.
This is just noticing.
Notice how your body has been breathing this whole time,
Tapping into the natural air and
flow as the breath enters and exits the body.
Being fully present for each part of the breath,
The clarity of the inhale,
The ease of the
exhale,
And the brief pauses in between.
If you find it helpful,
You can mentally say to yourself,
In,
On the in-breath.
Sometimes the simple act of naming what's happening allows you to focus,
Allows you
to have better awareness,
And if other thoughts arise,
Which they probably are by now,
Simply
acknowledging those thoughts and then returning your attention to the feeling in the very
next breath,
Allowing your attention to rest on the breath,
Beginning to find comfort in
noticing intrusion thoughts,
Noticing when they come,
Greeting them with awareness and
simply letting them go as you return to the breath.
This begins the basis of our practice,
The noticing,
The letting go,
The returning to
the breath.
This is the cycle that we're working towards,
And it's gentle work.
It's about awareness,
Not forcing.
So today we're becoming more aware of our body,
Of our breath,
And we're laying a soft
and gentle foundation for this awareness,
For our ability to observe,
Because this is
something we tend to neglect in our day-to-day experience of life,
Beginning to have awareness
of the way our body and breath respond to calm and presence,
As well as the way that
we respond to stress and anxiousness.
This awareness is the basis for your mindfulness practice.
With observation and curiosity,
We aren't trying to change anything right now.
We just want to notice,
To know,
And to begin to connect the dots as to how our experience
of life is impacting our nervous system and our body.
And when you're ready,
Very gently let go of the breathing,
And let's close with several
final,
Deep breaths,
Taking a deep breath in,
And holding it,
And then releasing,
Taking
another deep,
Long breath in,
And then opening your mouth as you exhale,
Letting something
go,
Returning to normal breathing,
And just slowly beginning to open your eyes and reconnect
with the room you're in,
And just take a moment and notice how you're feeling,
Notice
any tingling,
Any sensations,
And in our observation,
Just an awareness that we live in a beautiful,
Brave,
And fast-paced world,
So it's essential to recognize that our overall well-being begins
with inner harmony.
Cultivating self-regulation starts with awareness.
Whether you seek to explore your boundaries or simply find equilibrium,
It all commences
right here with your breath,
With your presence,
And in these moments of practice.
Thank you for joining me today,
And I will see you tomorrow.
