Explore & Relieve Stress Holding Patterns In The Body

A practice to become aware of habitual stress and tension holding patterns in the body, which may have an emotional source, and encourage the body to slowly let them go. Can be used for immediate relief or long-term help to deal with headaches, backache, and other stress-based pain and tension. English female voice.

Transcript

Unlike most of the meditations that I teach this one is not going to begin with gently relaxing you.

It's going to begin with awareness before you can move into relaxation.

So often we're not aware that we have patterns of pain and stress that are called holding patterns in our body.

These are habitual ways that we feel pain and tension in the body.

And it's only by being aware that we can actually relax them specifically and break the pattern of stress and pain.

So begin where you are.

You don't have to lie down to do this you can just be sitting in your normal environment.

Just make sure that you're away from as many distractions as possible so you can have this time to focus on yourself and learn.

So wherever you are just start by finding a sense of heaviness or tightness in your body to begin with.

Where does it feel most heavy or tight?

Not that pleasant heaviness but we feel more relaxed.

But that tension heaviness,

Tightness.

When you've found that part of your body start to trace where it's linked with in other spaces in your body.

So for example I used to get tension headaches and what I found was I could feel the tension when I really paid really close attention to it.

The tension would start between my eyebrows and spread across the top of my eyebrows and then perhaps into the back of the head.

It would be feeling tight in my sinuses and eventually moving down to my jaw.

And all these parts were involved so just explore wherever it is that you feel tension like a cluster,

Like that,

A cluster.

Beginning at one part of the body and then moving around.

You don't need to maintain supreme focus on the most painful part just yet.

Just become aware of the pattern,

Of how it moves across your face,

How it involves your eyes or if it's in other parts of your body.

Again some people might feel tension in their shoulders particularly,

Noticing that it moves as a pattern,

As rigidity through the arms.

Maybe the hands being clenched,

The spine being rigid or like held almost rather than being loose.

So become aware of any patterns in the core of your body and again just start with the most tight and knotty part.

And then all the other parts that are involved,

The mechanisms of your tension holding pattern.

Perhaps there's a drawing in of certain parts of the body.

Like a defensive guard,

Making yourself smaller.

Really notice the qualities of this tension.

Perhaps it's like the muscles are contracting,

Ready to fight or perhaps run away.

Or perhaps it's a freezing pattern where you're kind of stuck between the two.

Muscles twitching,

Stay,

Go,

What to do.

Become aware of that whole pattern.

And as you trace the pattern,

Maybe note the three main parts where it is.

So it could be between the eyes,

Jaw,

Shoulders or whatever other three parts you have.

Aware of the linkages between them.

And most people it's quite subtle but don't notice that the eyes are very involved,

The muscles around the eyes are usually very involved.

And once you've become aware of that pattern,

Before we get to work on adjusting and relaxing,

You might like to ask one of the three core sources of pain and tension,

What's up?

What's the message?

I often found that when I asked the tension between my eyes,

What the problem was,

There would almost be like an internal sense of too much,

Too much.

Too much to do.

Too much to think about.

So this message may show up in words,

It may show up as a kind of belief,

Like it's too much for me,

Or I can't deal with all this.

Or it might just be a strange symbol that you've no idea what it means at all.

And that's okay.

With time you can become more and more aware of the source of tension,

And actually do things that might help you address it.

But for now,

However that message shows up,

Just thank your body for giving you the message.

Pain is not something that should be ignored,

Or popped away with pills.

It's a last resort.

The first resort should always be awareness,

Understanding,

And trying natural means to sort things out as much as we can.

So sometimes it's helpful to relax the pain and tension in reverse order,

Just in case your body really thinks there's something to be protective about.

Humans haven't involved all that much,

And some of our instincts are overprotective and primal.

But if we just relax those and say,

Oh it's fine,

You know,

The body doesn't like it,

Sometimes it helps to be eased into it.

So start gently with the part where the pattern is perhaps the easiest to break,

So whether it's a tension in your hands,

Like fists,

Or whether it's a clenching of your jaw,

Just tell that part of your body it's okay to let go.

No need to cling to this pattern.

Allow that part to just soften and relax.

Do it slowly,

Just uncurling the muscles,

Loosening,

Softening,

Coaxing the muscles to let go.

And when you feel more lightness in that part of the body,

More relaxation,

You can move to the next part of the pattern,

Which may already have released somewhat,

Or it may not.

And again,

You can tell that part of the body in an internal message,

It's okay.

You can let go.

And you can notice any resistance to that.

It might help to just breathe a little more deeply,

If there's resistance.

Your body needs to know it's safe,

And by breathing deeply and reassuring yourself internally,

That part of the body gets the message to say it's okay,

You can let go.

Again,

Noticing the muscles,

Relaxing with their own accordion.

Then moving to the next part of the pattern.

So perhaps you've gone from your previously clenched hands,

To your torqued upper arms,

To your shoulders,

Or from your jaw,

To the sides of your face,

To your eyes.

Wherever the next part of the pattern is,

And you may notice that the sensation has changed somewhat,

Maybe a little less tight already.

And again,

Just thank that pattern for being there,

That torqued body part,

On guard.

Say thank you,

It's okay to let go.

You're safe,

You're okay.

And feeling the release of the muscles,

Big and small.

Again,

Noticing if there's resistance,

And accepting the resistance,

It's okay.

Be with the resistance.

Understand it,

Your body trying to protect you,

Your psyche trying to protect you.

And again breathe,

Deeply,

To reassure the body,

It is safe now,

You can let go now.

Cloaking the body into lightness.

And just taking your time to do the same,

With all the other parts of the holding pattern of tension.

Until you get to the core,

So gently reassuring,

It's okay.

Being with the resistance,

It's okay,

I hear you,

But we're safe.

Breathing deeply to reassure the body,

It can rest,

It can let go now,

Or whenever it's ready.

But it's safe now.

And feeling the whole body start to lighten as this pattern is becoming more relaxed.

Until we get to the core,

The core place where you feel that tension.

Perhaps it's already gone,

Perhaps there's a little bit more reassurance to do,

A little more listening.

What if there's nothing to do,

Just enjoy that relaxation,

That letting go.

Or if there's more,

Tell that body part,

I am listening,

I'm also here.

I have everything within my resources to protect me.

Whatever the problem is,

It'll be okay.

You're safe with me.

And again,

Breathing to reassure the body,

It's okay.

And if there is resistance,

You don't have to take away every ounce of tension.

If there's something unaddressed in your life,

It may need to be addressed before the pain will completely disappear.

But however much that core source of pain and tension allows itself to relax,

Be grateful for what it's done.

Thank you,

Body.

Thank you for your trust.

Thank you for having been there to protect me.

I'm grateful for your messages.

I have listened,

I will continue to listen,

And I'll do everything in my power to help.

You really are safe with me.

And then breathing,

And reassuring that part of the body,

It can let go.

You may find as you do this practice,

There's a sort of silence that you notice that you didn't have before.

A quietness of the body.

Perhaps there's still some noise,

But there's calmness,

More peace,

Feeling of more connection,

Quiet,

Special communication between you and your body.

And finally trace that old pattern,

The whole way up and down.

So whether it's from your hands to your arms to your shoulders and back again,

Whether it's from your eyebrows,

Sides of your head,

Jaw,

Neck and back again,

Just notice the dulling of pain,

The slowing of chatter,

The body finding a new peace,

A new way of healing.

And just feel gratitude for communicating with your body in this way.

And be fully aware in body and mind that you can return to this practice again.

You will return to this practice again,

Whenever your body needs it,

Whenever you need it,

Whenever you feel tension,

Stress and pain creeping up in your body and needs to be listened to and heard.

I'm going to end the instruction in a moment,

But you can be with your body as long as you want to,

Continuing to listen,

Reassure,

Soften,

Let go,

Or just being grateful for the messages,

Communication and now the quietness of the body.

You can continue with your day and return when you have more time.

Namaste.

Reviews

Incredible insight/body scan. One of the best guided meditations I've come across

Wow that's made a huge difference. When i moved again after finishing i couldn't believe the ease of it. Thank you. Been working on a lot with acupuncture and this really helped shift the learned pattern in the body

I loved this practice, thank you. So helpful for stress and tension held in my neck, face and jaw. I’ll definitely be returning to this one again and again.

A great practice, thank you Beth. Will certainly return to this 🙏

Thank you for this effective practice.