Calm Anywhere, Anytime: Nervous System Rewire

Discover serenity on the go with "Calm Anywhere, Anytime: Nervous System Rewire." This meditation offers quick yet effective practices to soothe your nerves, anytime, anywhere. Rewire your nervous system for instant tranquility and experience a peaceful oasis wherever you are.

Transcript

Welcome to this somatic practice on rewiring your nervous system,

Finding safety within yourself.

In this modern day world we are so focused on getting so many things done and being constantly in that high level of energy,

Where cortisol and adrenaline are being constantly produced and where we feel overwhelmed,

Rushed,

Hurried.

This very much takes its toll on our bodies,

On our nervous systems.

And for many years we thought that stress was something in our minds only,

Or that worrying or anxiety only was affecting our minds,

But I think if you've experienced this,

We can all agree that it is very much in our bodies.

We can feel this,

Pressure in our chest,

A nod in our stomach,

Sweaty palms,

Hot flashes,

Tension headaches,

Just to name a few symptoms of anxiety or stress.

So knowing that it is stored in the body,

How do we proceed?

Start here.

This practice will give you hands on techniques you can do anywhere,

Anytime,

That will not only cultivate more calm and safety within yourself,

But that will also allow your nervous system to down regulate.

We want to come down into this state of safety,

Out of the high energetical state of stress and anxiety.

So let's begin.

Find yourself in the most comfortable position,

See if you can make any adjustments that would make you even more comfortable now.

Once you've settled in,

Allow your attention to drift towards the feeling of gravity gently pushing your body down into the surface below you.

Allow your body to surrender to the support and to gently relax and melt like snow on a sunny day.

Notice the backside of your body,

Your ankles,

The back of your legs,

Your whole back,

The back of your arms,

Your neck and your head.

Can you feel the space where your body touches the surface you are resting on,

The contact points,

Now floating your awareness towards the front of your body,

Your face,

Allowing your eyes to melt like ice cubes in warm water,

Allowing your throat,

Chest and shoulders to relax,

Your belly is soft and your breathing reaches all the way down into your belly.

You might even want to take longer,

Deeper breaths as your system starts to wind down,

Floating your awareness into both your arms and down into both your legs,

All the way up to your feet.

With your next inhale,

Imagine you are sending in air into your belly,

Inflating it like a balloon and as you exhale,

See if you can lengthen your exhale for as long as possible.

Really stretch out,

Beautiful,

Let's do that two more times.

Take a deep breath in,

Notice how your belly expands out,

This is a good and healthy breath.

As you breathe in,

Belly rises and as you breathe out,

Your belly falls and your belly turns back inside your body.

One last time,

Inhale,

Belly rises and exhale,

Belly falls.

This technique is called diaphragmic breathing,

Your diaphragm is located just below your rib cage.

As you take a deep breath in,

Your lungs push your diaphragm which pushes the organs in your belly which allows it to expand and as you exhale,

You release the air,

Release your organs and diaphragm and your belly goes back to normal.

You can do this anywhere,

Anytime to really center yourself.

Notice how just a few rounds of deep belly breathing have made an impact on you.

We will now do another discrete exercise,

You can do anywhere,

Anytime,

Also great for during a conversation.

Take both your hands and place them together,

Palms touching each other.

Cross your thumbs over each other,

It doesn't matter which thumb is over which thumb.

As you breathe in,

Change your thumbs,

Changing the thumb that is now on top.

Breathe in,

Change thumbs,

Breathe out,

Change thumbs,

Breathe in,

Change thumbs and breathe out,

Change thumbs.

Continue to practice breathing deeply and really slowly moving your thumbs,

Constantly changing the right thumb on top and then the left thumb on top.

This technique is called bilateral stimulation and it stimulates both left and right hemispheres of your brain.

You can do this very discreetly in your daily life,

Placing your hands on your palms and slowly breathing and switching your thumbs.

Continue to breathe in your own pace.

You are now bringing back online the part in your brain that is linked to self-awareness,

Self-compassion,

Empathy that allows you to bounce back from stress or anxiety,

Cultivating resilience within.

So often when we are stressed or anxious,

We tend to dissociate,

We tend to numb,

Distract ourselves and doing these practices allow us to re-associate with ourselves,

With our feelings,

Sensations,

Our breath,

Our body.

You can release your hands and fingers now and we'll continue diving in deeper to cultivate re-association,

Re-getting to know ourselves,

Re-regulating,

Re-balancing.

So as you are sitting or laying down,

Take a moment to notice any sensations you are feeling in your body now.

You don't have to do a body scan,

Simply allow the loudest feeling to be heard,

Allow the loudest feeling to be held in the arms of your compassionate presence.

You can even repeat to your body or to this sensation,

I hear you,

I am with you,

I am here for you,

I am always here.

If this feels right,

Feel free to repeat these sentences or any that resonate with you and see if it feels ok to stay with a certain sensation in your body.

If it feels too painful or too overwhelming,

Allow your attention to drift towards a place that is more neutral or that even has a comfortable feeling.

For many people these are the palms of your hands or your feet and maybe you can and you want to bring one hand or both your hands to a certain place on your body.

Soothing touch can be incredibly healing for our nervous systems,

Whether it's self-touch,

Getting a massage or allowing somebody else to have consensual soothing touch with you.

In this moment you don't have to do anything,

Simply be,

Be with a sensation in your body.

This is the only way how your body can speak to you,

It's been trying to tell you so many things and we're gently establishing a deeper relationship here.

Beautiful.

Now again,

Notice how you feel.

We've practiced bilateral stimulation,

We've practiced several techniques today that you can do discreetly,

By yourself,

With somebody else or even in public that help you find a sense of safety within yourself.

So please remember,

When you are often stressed or anxious,

It's not about grabbing a glass of wine or putting on a movie that can be helpful.

But sometimes we actually need to go inward instead of escaping from it.

Gently turning towards the feeling and gently down-regulating our nervous system,

Allowing our body to be heard.

Bring your awareness back to those contact points where your body touches the surface below you.

Notice the backside of your body,

The whole back line,

From the top of your head to your toes.

Notice the rhythm of your breath and when you're ready gently peel open your eyelids and take in all the colors and textures of the room that you are in,

Allowing your eyes to get familiar with this space.

Take a deep breath in and release.

Take another deep breath in and release.

Thank you so much for practicing with me today.

I would love to hear how this went for you.

I wish you the most beautiful rest of your day or night and I'll see you soon.

Reviews

Very calming, thank you so much for your wonderful guided meditations. 🧡

This is lovely. The alternate thumbs bilateral stimulation is a new version of that to me and I love it! Thank you so much for this meditation 🙏

It was very helpful in letting me get away from my stressful thoughts.

Such an amazing meditation, thank you for helping me get in the present moment and feel so at ease and peaceful. Sending gratitude 💛

Thank you for the simple, effective techniques for creating calm ❤️

This was very helpful, and your voice is lovely and soothing too. Thank you so much 🩷🧡

That was amazing ! Much love and gratitude !❤️🙏🕊️

TY this was great, very calming voice with nice practice. I will follow for more. 🙏❤️

This was a beautiful and peaceful meditation that left me feeling balanced and hopeful.

Worked to calm my intense anxiety during a difficult time & I felt reassured & connected to myself again. Thank you. 💗

I find this meditation to be so grounding and it helps me get back in touch with what's happening in my body. Thank you so much for this one! ✨✨

What a beauitiful practice after a day at work. I‘m feeling calm and inspired. Thank you very much!

Just what I needed! I love this! Thank you so much!🙏🏻♥️

This practice is so beneficial. I can allow myself to feel my grief and gently look inside myself and send it love.

Would HIGHLY recommend this! So appreciative, thank you

Wonderfully relaxing and calming—I went from anxious to falling asleep peacefully. Thank you, Anaïs 🙏🏻💚