Healing From Trauma: Body Connection

In this talk & meditation we explore how when healing from trauma its so important that we begin to re-connect with the body. After a short talk I guide you through a body sweep, from head to toe, & then up into whole body awareness

Transcript

When we go through some kind of trauma or pain in our lives it can lead us to become disembodied.

There's a sense where we need to reconnect to our body and a body sweep can be really helpful for this.

So that is what we'll do in this meditation.

We'll go from the top of our head and working down slowly through the body bit by bit until we reach the feet and the ground of our being.

We will then bring the awareness up through the body again into feelings and sensations within the whole body.

It's common for people to feel disconnected from their body so if you struggle to connect to feelings and sensations in your body please don't worry.

You may just need a little time to begin to trust your body again and to let go into it.

It's important to hold your space with a sense of love and compassion and allow yourself to trust the process.

So as we begin find yourself somewhere comfortable to rest.

You could be sitting on a meditation cushion or a chair or you could even be lying down as long as you're relaxed and you have a quiet enough space to be.

Once you're comfortable let's start by bringing your awareness to your breath within your body.

Awareness of the breath coming in and out of your lungs,

The ribs and abdomen rising and falling with each in-breath and each out-breath.

As you follow that breath within your body allow yourself to begin to relax and settle.

Now bring your awareness to the very top of your head,

The crown of your head and see if you can notice any sensations or feelings there.

Maybe you feel tingling or maybe some other kind of sensation.

Maybe you don't feel anything.

It doesn't really matter.

What we're wanting to do is just notice what is there and allow it to be as it is.

From the crown of your head bring your awareness down to your forehead and see if you can relax the muscles in your forehead and really open to sensation and feeling there.

Can you feel any sensations in your eyes or the muscles behind your eyes?

And then roll your awareness down through your cheeks to your chin.

At any point if you're distracted in thought,

That's fine.

Just notice that you're distracted.

See if you can let it go and then gently bring your awareness back to feelings and sensations within your body.

Can you feel your face as a whole?

Relaxing the muscles as you do that,

Really letting your whole face be soft and relaxed.

Sometimes it's helpful to squeeze muscles and then release them to help you to connect to that part.

So if you want to try that now,

Really squeeze your whole face together.

Your lips,

Your nose,

Your eyes,

Your cheeks.

Really squeeze it all together for five or so seconds and then let it go.

Let it relax and notice what you feel.

Now take your awareness through to the back of your head and feel any sensations or feelings there.

Then bring your awareness down to the back of your neck and through your neck to the front of your neck,

Allowing it all to relax.

If you feel yourself trying too hard,

Remember to have compassion for yourself.

Just let go of the struggle.

Come back to the breath and back into what you're feeling in the body.

From the neck,

Take your awareness down into the shoulders,

Deep into the shoulders,

Into the muscles and the joints and the bones and really feel them relax as you do that.

If you notice any tension in your shoulders,

Just soften around it and let it relax.

To help you connect to your shoulders,

You can lift them up,

Right up to your ears.

Squeeze as hard as you can and then drop them back down,

Really relaxed and notice what you feel.

From the left shoulder,

Take your awareness slowly down through your left arm,

Feeling through the inside of your arm or maybe the temperature of the air against your skin.

Working all the way down your arm until you reach your hand and then the tips of your fingers.

Remember to relax and whatever you feel,

Just let it be as it is.

Take your awareness back up to your right shoulder and in the same way work your way down the right arm,

Feeling sensations on the outside of the arm but also really feeling deep into the inside of the arm.

Moving slowly down through the arm,

To your hand and to the tips of your fingers.

Now from the shoulders again,

Move your awareness down through the back of your body.

Feel your shoulder blades relax down.

Moving down the length of your spine,

Feeling into your back muscles and your lower back,

Your pelvis and your sacrum,

The feeling of your bottom against the ground,

Allowing all the muscles and joints and ligaments to relax as you do that.

And from the shoulder again,

Take your awareness slowly down through the front of your body.

Sensation and feelings in your chest and your lungs and your diaphragm.

Down through your stomach and your navel,

All the way down to the root of your body,

Really letting your whole torso relax down into that ground supporting you.

If you're distracted at any point,

Don't worry,

Just bring your awareness gently back to your breath and then back into the body,

Feeling your body relax and melt down into the ground again.

And put your awareness now into your left leg and let your awareness work slowly down through your leg,

From your bottom into your quads and hamstrings and your knee,

Your shins and calves,

Your feet,

Right down to the tips of your toes.

And if you need to connect to a part of your leg,

Again you can squeeze your muscle and then as you let go,

Let it relax.

Notice any sensations and feelings within it.

And move your awareness gently to your right leg and work your way down through the bottom and your quads,

Your knee,

Down to your calves and your ankle.

Down to your foot,

All the way down to the tips of your toes.

Whatever you feel,

Just let it be as it is and relax.

Now we're going to take your awareness up through the body again,

Into the body as a whole and we're going to bring the awareness up through the body,

Kind of like a sponge,

Slowly soaking in water.

See if you can become aware of your feet in both legs and slowly work your way up through your legs to your bottom and see if you can have a sensation of your legs as a whole,

Holding you down nicely into the ground and supporting your whole body.

Bring your awareness up into the trunk of your body,

Becoming aware of any sensations and feelings within your trunk,

Relaxing as you do that.

If you notice yourself trying too hard,

Just gently come back to the breath and back to the feelings and sensations within the body and if it helps,

You can take some of that awareness down to the ground of your being and allow yourself to settle into that ground.

Allow your awareness to expand now to the rest of your body,

Out to your arms,

Up to your neck,

Right up to the crown of your head and then as you relax,

See if you can open to sensation and feeling within your whole body.

Whatever you feel,

Give it space and allow it to be just as it is.

If you feel any pain in your body,

Try not to push it away.

Hold it with a sense of compassion,

Soften around it and notice if you can let it relax.

Come back to the breath,

Back into feelings and sensations within the body as a whole,

Relaxing deeply into the ground.

So I'll give you a bit of space now to really relax into it and get a sense of what you feel.

Quiet,

Open,

Spacious awareness of your body as a whole.

You might notice that when your mind drifts off in thought,

There will also be a sort of holding or contraction within the body.

If you notice this,

As you gently bring the awareness back to the breath,

Feel those parts holding or contracted soften and melt back down into the ground.

As we finish off,

I'd like to remind you that truly getting in touch with your body can sometimes take a little time.

Everyone is different.

If you keep practicing,

You will gradually notice that you can feel more parts of your body from the inside out until you can fully rest in the whole body awareness,

Almost like you can feel every atom of your body.

Remember to go at your own pace.

Feel compassion for yourself.

Enjoy it and trust the process.

Hopefully this body sweep gave you a nice deep feel into your body and you could feel the holding or contraction in your body.

As we begin to let go of this contraction and open up into a more spacious sense of awareness,

You will begin to become aware of your vibrant inner vitality,

The connection to your subtle body or energy body.

This meditation is from my course,

Return to Joy,

Healing from Trauma,

Where I take you through the steps that I found were very beneficial and rewarding in my own journey of healing.

So please feel free to take a look.

The courses are a great space for you to take the journey step by step and reflect back at me so that I can deeply support you and go with you on the journey.

Thank you.