Gentle And Grounding Somatic Practice

In this practice, we use somatic tools such as self-massage, body brushing, and self-holding to ground the body, soothe the mind, and soften the heart. This practice can be used as a moment to pause and tune into your inner world, to connect to how you feel in this moment, or it can be used as a resource to self-soothe during moments of difficulty, discomfort, or emotional turbulence such as anxiety or sadness. Please note that this practice is for support and does not replace professional care.

Transcript

Hey friends, Today we're going to practice together a really slow, Gentle, Grounding somatic practice. So this is for those days where maybe you feel a little bit frazzled, A little overwhelmed, A little anxious and ungrounded. This is a practice that's just going to help us to slowly come back to landing here where we are while still holding space for maybe all the different mix of thoughts and emotions and physical sensations that you might be noticing or experiencing right now. So you can start any which way, You know, If you want to lie down or if you want to sit up, It's up to you. And we're just going to begin by kind of taking our gaze around the room. So as you settle into your seat, You might just look around the physical space that you're in, Noticing the walls, The ceiling, Perhaps you're outside, Noticing the floor or the ground that you're sitting on. Perhaps you can notice. Doors or windows. Other small details, What is in this space with you. Are there any plants? Maybe there's pictures on the wall. Are there other people around? Are there soft surfaces? Are there hard surfaces? Not really needing to do anything about what you're noticing, But just orienting yourself to where you are in this physical space. And at any point, You can always just take a scan, Broadening your view to notice again where you are, If you lose track of it at any point. And then from there, If you like, You can rest your hands on your belly or on your belly and your chest. We're just gonna start to turn that gaze, Turn that awareness inwards to notice the breath. And so as you breathe here, Perhaps you're able to sense where in your body you're breathing. Where can you notice the breath? Is it in the tip of the nostrils? Is it somewhere across the throat, In the chest, The lungs? Maybe you can feel your breath down in your belly. And then you might notice other qualities to the breath, The texture of the breath. The rhythm, The pace. Maybe even the temperature of air as you breathe it in and out. Without necessarily needing to change the breath entirely. You could see here, If it's possible, Just to soften the edges of your breathing. Maybe ever so slightly slowing down the breath. You might imagine the breath like a gentle hush. Or a warm breeze passing through a summer night. Taking the breath a little bit lower into the belly and just. . . Ever so slightly softening the edges of the breath. We'll take just one more like this together. Inhale. Exhale. Nice. From here, I'm going to take one hand and just start to sweep down the length of your arm. This could be quite a slow movement. It could also make it a little bit faster. We're just brushing down the length of the inner arm and the outer arm. All the way from your shoulder to your fingertips. It could be a really soft brush. You know, Like your petting a beloved animal. Or it could be like a very firm press and sweep. You know, Like you're brushing something off of your arm. Sort of experiment here with the pace, The rhythm, And the pressure. The invitation is just to really see if you can notice and feel. The physical sense of touch. How does it feel to both give and receive this physical touch right now? You might stay with this brushing motion. Or if you like, You could take it into a little squeeze and a press. Squeezing around. The edges of the arm, Kind of like you're mapping. The container of your arm. Gentle squeeze and press. A firm hug, Maybe all the way up into the fingertips here. You could do this a few times. Maybe you stay with the squeezing, With the pressing, Or you could go back to the brushing or kind of alternate. Between the two. Nice, And then release that hand and just let it rest in your lap and just for a moment notice the different sensations side to side. Maybe there's a residual warmth or tingling or just a gentle, Subtle awareness through that arm that you've been brushing and pressing. We're going to shift the awareness up and over to the other arm. So go ahead and start sweeping down. Inside and outside length of this arm. And same thing here, You could vary the pressure and the pace. But however it is that you're adding in this movement, The invitation is to really stay with the physical sensation. The texture of maybe your clothing or your skin. Against your palm that gives the touch. And then the sensation of your arm that's receiving this touch. Nothing more, Nothing less, Just this. Maybe coming back to the breath for a second. Inviting in slow breaths alongside this movement. If you like, Go into the squeezing and the gentle press. Firm hug. Again, It can be as firm or as gentle as you like. It can be really slow or you could move quite quickly down the length of your arm. If you notice thoughts arising here, Know that it's totally normal. It's what the brain is really good at, Thinking, Processing, Planning. They're totally welcome. If it feels like you get a little too carried away, You lose track of where you are, Then know that you can always come back to your breath and ground in that. You can always come back to the physical sensation of touch that you're experiencing right now. Letting your mind rest in the body. And then release your hands again. And once more, Just noticing this open field of awareness to sense what is here. Take a full breath in. And out. All right, We have one more now and we're gonna take a brushing sweeping motion across the head. So it's almost like you're washing water over your body. We're taking the hands and we're sweeping them up the cheeks, The bridge of the nose, Through the center of the eyebrows and then brush your palms all the way over the head, The side of the head, Down the neck and into the shoulders. And we just take this sweeping motion. A few times here. And if it feels supportive, You can close your eyes or let the eyelids kind of half close down with a bit of heaviness. Again, It can be firm, It can be gentle, It can be very slow, It can be moving quickly. It's your choice here. I could stay with this sweep of your head. If you want, You could take the sweep all the way down so that you're brushing the sides of the body, Down the torso. And then a little brush at the legs, If that feels okay, A little press of the legs down. Brushing the face. Head, Neck, Down through the side waist. A little press at the legs, Feeling that your body is grounded here. You're really in charge of how this practice. Lands in your body. So that means that you can vary it. If the pressing doesn't work for you, Then skip it out. If the brushing your torso doesn't feel grounding, Then skip it out and come back just to the head. You can even just come back to the arms if you prefer. Just do one or two more here. If you're curious you might try a different rhythm or pressure with the palms. And then release. And then the last little piece that we might add in here is some self-holding. So if you're feeling a lot of sensation, A lot of tension in your chest, You might bring one palm onto your heart and then the other hand could wrap around the ribs, Like you're giving yourself a gentle hug. Maybe there's a little lean. Side to side or. Back and forth. Like you're giving yourself a gentle hug. You could stay there or if you want you can take the palms, One palm to the forehead and one hand behind the back of your skull. Especially if your brain is feeling really busy right now as if you could hold the container of your thinking. Letting the head just rest in the holding of the hands. Take one more breath, Where you are. And breath out. Thank you so much for joining this practice today. I hope that it brings you a little bit more ease, A little bit more steadiness that you can perhaps carry with you for the rest of the day and beyond. Take care and I'll see you next time.