From Survival To Shining- A Nervous System Reset

A nervous system reset to bring you back to the presence of hope, levity and lightness.

It starts with a spoken section acknowledging all that has been hard in your past and honours the echoes of trauma that may still live within you. It then moves into guided meditation to calm your nervous system, to relax and receive the good, to find a sense of life supporting you.

It will leave you in touch with your inner strength, with self-respect for all that you have walked thorough and with a sense of dignity, peace and poise for you to move forwards with.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation on going from survival into shining,

On how we can switch our inner states.

It starts with a short talk exploring how we can get stuck in our old loops of things being hard of trauma patterns and how we can dare to dream again,

How we can find a way forward with ease and grace and goodness.

The final meditation section is a nervous system reset that will help you to settle,

To soothe and to see the good right here,

Right now.

So get comfortable and we will begin.

Sometimes we get stuck in a shut down state.

We get trapped in our trauma history.

It is hard to get out of old patterns.

And then sometimes the days come when we know it is right to dare and to dream again.

Sometimes we can sense that some sweetness might just be calling our name,

Like the window of possibility may have swung open a little and that we might just be able to crack it a little wider and let the beautiful breeze in.

Sometimes we can sense that the seasons are shifting,

The seasons inside us and the seasons outside us.

There are the times when we know it is our time to come out of the underworld journey and to find ourselves topside again here in the land of the living,

With the sun on our skin,

When it is time to set things in motion and dream and dare again.

And yet when those moments come,

Sometimes we can find that our old survival ways are still wired into us.

Sometimes we need to consciously put down our old survival strategies.

We can thank them that they have brought us so far.

They have held us through some hard things.

They have taken us through years when hypervigilance was all we had to guide us.

There were those times when survival was all we could do.

Sometimes when all we could do was recover at the end of a day,

Regulate as best we could and strategize how to get through it.

There were the days when we felt like we were crawling through capitalism,

Caught up in some catastrophe that we didn't much care for.

Sometimes we lost decades to causes that weren't really ours to do.

We got accused of crimes that we just didn't commit.

Perhaps by the ones nearest and dearest to us.

The pain of being punished for something that we never did can cut deep.

And sometimes we got lost in being carers that we didn't consent to being.

Maybe it was rightful to give up our lives to that,

Maybe it wasn't.

Often it felt like perhaps we didn't have a choice.

Likely we didn't.

And yet when change comes,

Can we let it be good?

I know that it feels good when we finally stop banging our head against a brick wall.

When we stop lifting up loads that aren't ours to carry.

Notice when something shifts,

That the world is changing.

Sometimes we can sense,

Ah,

I don't have to be living in that old reality anymore.

Then we can put down our defense mechanisms,

We can open up to new ways.

We put down our swords and feel the sun on our skin.

And yet strangely,

Sometimes it can take a little while for our nervous systems to catch up with the fact that we're finally safe.

That we're surrounded by a few people who can now see us.

Sometimes it can be challenging to see that it's getting good.

We can find ourselves wondering who we'll be without our old victim identity.

Starting over is a holy thing.

And sometimes it's a hard thing to do too.

It's not our fault that our bodies have trauma within them.

It is our responsibility to release that.

To lead ourselves back to the light.

And on the days when the good does come knocking at our door,

It would be wise of us to answer it,

To let the good in.

So today we're going to look at releasing those old repeating patterns.

At giving thanks for what is getting easier,

At opening to the flow.

We're going to open up to letting life lead us towards what is working well.

We're going to see if we can bear to be blessed.

We know we've been burdened and yet we are blessed too.

We have light shining down upon us.

There is a critical moment within our healing process when our task is no longer to sit with what is hard,

To see what was brutal and broken,

To get to grips with our grief.

But our task is to let life in,

To let it be good.

To let the story end differently.

To let happiness come home.

To let ourselves lead lives full of wonder.

It's almost like we've been addicted to the struggle.

Yet let that old identity shift.

Let the one who has had to work so hard for it all rest.

Let them sit.

Let the struggle drop away.

So now we're going to practice regulating our nervous system.

So we can let more good in.

So we can let more life in.

Straighten your spine.

Relax.

Not in a forced way.

Not in the way that you're having to pull yourself up.

But in owning a sense of your own dignity.

In knowing your story and all that you have walked through.

Sit here.

Spine straight.

Soften the area around your heart and open.

Rise up as you sit down.

Settle down.

And take some deepening breaths.

And see if there are one or two big muscles you might be able to relax.

Maybe it's the back of your shoulder blades.

Maybe it's the focus in your forehead.

Maybe it's the tension in your hands.

We don't have to relax everything perfectly.

We just soften some.

And as we enter into meditation,

Set the resolve or the intention that you are willing to let it be good.

To let yourself be held.

To let love come in close.

To let yourself shine.

Like you can only do when you feel safe,

When you feel seen.

Place one hand on your heart.

Honor yourself and all that you have walked through.

Honor your badassery.

Your bravery.

Your radical resilience.

Know how much you've got yourself.

How much you've walked through.

Get to grips with the good human that you are.

See yourself in the light of love.

Send an inner smile to yourself.

Some self-approval.

Some kindness.

Some wonder.

Wow!

What a human I had to be to walk through that.

I've done amazingly.

Cultivate self-kindness.

And as you hold that feeling state,

Continue to breathe slowly in and out.

In-breath.

Pause.

Out-breath.

Your breath like a metronome marker calling you to the preciousness of your own presence.

Notice that in this moment,

You're safe.

You're with yourself.

You've got yourself.

See if your nervous system might go down a few notches.

Like a long out-breath.

Like sinking into a hot bath.

Like letting the good in.

Notice what it feels like to give yourself nurturing attention.

Almost like you might be blessed by something greater than you.

Like delight might have a delivery for you today.

Like life might be longing to lift you up.

Like there might be balance to all that you have borne.

Like there might be a give-back of grace after all that was brawling.

Sink into the sweetness of sitting.

And sensing safety.

Notice the simple goodness in this moment.

Be with what is beautiful.

And notice that as our body slows some,

Our mind does too.

The worrying thoughts slow down.

And perhaps,

Just perhaps,

A sense of possibility might join us.

A sense that good might be coming for us.

That love might be waiting for us.

Orientate your mind towards what might go well.

What might just be magical.

Towards the sense that there's some intelligence in the universe and it is backing us up.

I invite you to take a vow to receive what is good.

Receiving can be complicated,

It can be confusing.

We can think of it as just another thing to do.

But really it's letting in the good that's here.

It's letting the breath pour into us,

Not sucking it in as an in-breath.

But oh,

Here is life force entering in and filling me up with good oxygen.

Here I can soften and let life in.

Here I can settle down some and let myself be blessed by my own breathing.

Here I can get to grips with what is good.

So for the last few minutes,

Call in good in your own words,

Whether out loud or in your mind.

Whisper a little intention.

Invoke,

Invite and incite some good in.

Like life could hear you,

Like life was backing you up,

Speak what you want into this space.

And as we finish up,

We give thanks.

We give thanks for the power of just a few minutes of presence.

We give thanks for all that we have walked through that has grown us.

We give thanks for the good that is still to come.

For the delight that is waiting for us.

See yourself with eyes of wonder.

Bow deeply to yourself for all that you have walked through and resolved to let life be lovely,

To relish and cherish it.

To open to things beyond your wildest dreams.

To keep softening your nervous system and letting life love you in ways you cannot yet imagine.

Bow to the mystery of it all,

To the things we can't see and can't know.

But give thanks for this moment,

For this day,

For this session,

For your own presence.

For being part of this life,

For the wild and intense and immense journey of it all.

Bow to yourself and all that you have been through and bow to all the good that is coming for you.

Know that sweetness sees you,

That grace has got you.

Know the good things are coming.

Open up,

Be ready to receive.

I send you so much delight for the rest of your day and thank you for practicing and being human and wholehearted.

May you be blessed.

May grace find you.

May goodness get delivered soon.

You got this.

Reviews

The perfect relaxing meditation for past trauma.

Thank you Tess for helping me open up in a way I have not before 💙🪷

Thank you for your words of truth. Thank you for what you do.

Helped calm me and find my inner peace during a very stressful time. Many thanks and warm wishes to you Tess.

Awesome meditation! Very empowering. Thank you 🙏💜

Feeling blessed and grateful as we approach winter. I feel it in the seasonal change and in myself. 🍂🌦️