So good morning and thank you.
Thank you for listening.
So this is a short practice for people who like me like many of the people I work with.
Often wake up with the nervous system already on.
Not relaxed,
Not neutral and not ready to greet the day.
Already a little tight in the jaw.
Already a little high in the shoulders.
The mind already running through what is coming.
What was left unfinished yesterday and what might go wrong today.
If that is roughly where you are this morning.
I want to say two things at the start.
First,
You are not failing your mornings.
The nervous system that wakes up already activated is not malfunctioning.
It is in most cases.
Doing what it has learned to do over a long time.
Many of us have nervous systems that came online at 4 in the morning while we were still asleep.
Scanning from what might be coming.
And by the time the alarm went off.
The system had already been working for hours.
It is not your fault.
It is frankly kind of impressive.
What your body has been doing without your permission.
Second,
The single most useful place to do nervous system work is before the day actually starts.
So a few minutes here.
While the system is still settling.
Is worth hours of trying to regulate after a meltdown later.
We are setting the conditions,
Not changing the symptoms.
If you are still in bed,
Stay there.
If you are sitting up,
Get comfortable.
There is nothing to do well.
And there is no posture to hold.
Your only job is to be here.
Now just take a slow breath in.
And then a slightly longer breath out.
And we'll just do this for a few seconds.
Take a slow breath in.
And a slightly longer breath out.
Notice the weight of your body wherever it is.
Notice the temperature of the air.
The light if your eyes are open.
And the texture of whatever your skin is touching.
Notice that you are here.
That you have somehow arrived at this morning.
Whatever yesterday was.
The body brought you through it.
Now gently take inventory.
Where in the body has the activations set up shop this morning?
And don't try to find it everywhere.
Just notice one or two places where the body has already begun to brace.
Often it is the jaw.
The shoulders.
The belly.
Maybe the space between the eyebrows.
And the hands sometimes finding themselves clenched without permission.
So just notice.
Don't try to release.
Don't try to fix.
Just notice that the body has already been doing some work this morning,
Before you even asked it to.
And then,
Internally,
In whatever way feels natural.
Say to whichever part is most braced.
I see you.
I know you have been working.
You don't have to stop yet.
I just want you to know I see you.
I see you.
I know you have been working.
You don't have to stop yet.
I just want you to know I see you.
Now bring one hand to your chest.
Over your heart.
The weight of the hand.
The warmth between the palm and the chest.
This single small contact tells the nervous system.
In a language older than words.
That someone is here.
Just stay here for a few breaths.
Put the hand on the chest.
And maybe a slightly longer exhale now,
If your body allows.
Now for the next few breaths.
Just let each exhale be slightly longer than the inhale.
Whatever your body is allowing.
Not dramatically,
Just a beat or two longer.
Exhale slightly longer if you can.
This small move tells the brainstem.
That the conditions are safe.
The longer exhale is one of the most direct signals to the vagus nerve we have available.
It's just a small invitation.
A slightly longer exhale if you can.
Now,
As you're doing this,
Just receive my words.
Most of us spend our days trying to regulate after we have already crashed.
What we are doing right now,
Before the day has really begun,
Is something different.
We are not regulating from a crash.
We are setting conditions in which the day can unfold from a more regulated baseline.
The system given a few minutes of attention in the morning.
Often holds the day more steadily than it would have otherwise.
Now we'll do one more small thing.
If something would help your day to know internally.
You can offer it now.
Not a list of goals.
Not a to-do list.
Just one small intention.
In whatever language feels natural for you.
Something like.
.
.
I will go gently today.
I will let myself be tired when I am tired.
I will not abandon myself today even if the day is difficult.
Whatever the intention is,
Let it land.
As a quiet companion you are bringing with you in the day.
Now just begin to widen your attention.
Notice the room.
The sounds and the light.
Wiggle your fingers and your toes.
If it helps the body wake up gently.
And let your hand stay on the chest for another few breaths or for as long as you need to.
The nervous system has just had a few minutes of being attended to before the day.
The day will still ask things of you.
But you are entering it with a slightly different bassline.
And over weeks and months of doing this,
This slowly changes the texture of how your days unfold.
You can use this practice as a daily morning anchor or whenever you think you need to spend a few minutes with your body.
The body responds to consistency and repetition.
So take gentle care of yourself today.
Thank you for joining me.
Namaste
