Hello and welcome to this practice meditation.
Finding a way to regulate and be with feelings of sadness.
Those feelings of sadness might be sadness by itself,
Might be sadness as well as loneliness or other feelings of despair and isolation.
Feelings of feeling low in some way and maybe feeling alone in a way that feels like it needs some care and nurturance.
And so we will slowly move through a practice based on a sensory motor psychotherapy acronym called PEACE that can help soothe and calm and activate the care and nurturance system within ourselves to tend to those parts that might feel sad or lonely.
And so to begin just wherever you are and however you are,
You might be sitting,
Lying or standing.
We start with the P which is to pause what you are doing to briefly identify any bodily signals of unrest or unease.
So there might be tension somewhere,
It also might be slouching in the upper torso,
Contracting of the shoulders and dropping of the gaze.
Just noticing bodily signals of this sense of sadness,
Dullness,
Loneliness.
How do you feel that in the body?
Just noticing.
It might be,
And it is normal if,
As you notice the bodily signals,
The feelings themselves amplify a little.
And so maybe just feeling the weight of your body as well and feeling how the earth has you.
Feeling the spine and feeling the soles of the feet on the earth or whatever is in contact with the earth.
Feeling its support as you come in contact with these bodily signals.
Just arriving in how it is now to feel this way.
Then we move towards the E of peace to embody a somatic resource that feels supportive in your body in this moment.
As you feel this.
So we'll start with giving yourself a big bear hug.
So wrapping your arms around your chest,
Just grabbing onto the opposite shoulder or upper arm.
Giving yourself a big squeeze and feel the warmth of your own support.
Just feeling what it's like to squeeze yourself a couple of times.
Maybe deepening the breath.
Maybe also let there be a little bit of sound on the exhale.
A bit of a sigh maybe or a hum.
Feeling yourself softening and settling in with care.
And if it feels okay,
And maybe just to try it on,
Trying to add a little hum.
Just to feel the vibration in your throat and your upper chest up against your arms and your bear hug.
Let it be a low pitch,
Just a very soft,
Almost only inward,
But just slightly audible to your own ear.
Just repeating a little hum for and to yourself as you squeeze.
As you do this also maybe move a little rhythmically.
So maybe rock and sway side to side softly as if you're cradling a baby.
Maybe bouncing slowly,
Bending the knees slightly.
Letting there be little cradling movements towards yourself as you hug yourself and maybe hum towards yourself too.
It's okay.
Learning to hold ourselves even in these hard,
Sticky times.
And then we move to the A,
Which is to acknowledge the positive effects of the resource.
So just paying attention to how you notice this practice affecting you.
And just lower heart rate,
Deeper breath,
Softer eyes,
Straighter spine,
Gaze up and out.
So you notice the resource touching down for you.
And the C is to concentrate your attention on these positive effects for a little bit of time to savor them.
Swim in them for a little bit.
Let them fortify in you.
So just savoring in them.
And then we move to E,
Which is to engage with your environment again.
Just hearing the sounds you can hear around you in your immediate environment.
Feeling kinesthetically any feelings and sensations you can feel.
The air on your skin,
The clothing on your skin.
Anything happened that helped you feel this sense of sadness and we took some time to care and nurture for yourself in this way.
As we slowly move our way back out into the world,
Having tended to yourself in this way,
Just take a moment to mark the difference in your state,
Noticing how the practice affected you and how you were beforehand and how you are now.
And then when you're ready,
Slowly opening your eyes and just noticing what pulls your attention first,
Orienting to the space around you,
Moving back into the world.
Just taking a couple of deep breaths.
And hope this has supported you in coming back to yourself in some way,
Finding resilience and agency.
And if you have any questions,
Please do reach out.
And I look forward to practicing again with you soon.
