Welcome and thank you for joining this trauma-informed practice for vagus nerve stimulation.
This will support your nervous system and help you feel calm and relaxed.
Only recommended prop for today is a bolster,
But you would do just fine with either a pillow or no bolster altogether.
If you're ready to begin,
I invite you to find a comfortable seat.
And just a friendly reminder that everything in this class is optional.
You can skip,
Adapt,
Or end at any time to make this the most comforting practice for you.
Once you're in a comfortable seat,
We'll begin our practice today with some diaphragmatic breathing.
If you're ready to begin.
Invite you to place one or both hands on your belly to bring awareness to this area.
On your next inhale,
Breathing into your hands,
Into your belly.
Maybe expanding all four corners of your belly.
And on your out breath,
Exhaling through your nose or mouth.
Option two,
Draw your navel to your spine to let all the air come out.
And continuing this breath for a few more moments.
Finding a good stopping point when you're ready.
And moving into some gentle downward strokes of our neck with our hands.
If you're not comfortable touching your neck,
You can go on to your chest.
We'll be heading there soon.
Slowly guiding our hands down toward our heart center.
If you notice you naturally start to sway your body like I'm doing,
That's totally fine.
And moving into a gentle ear massage,
Maybe massaging just behind your earlobe.
Or your actual ears.
Taking a moment and just seeing what would feel nice for you here.
Option to stay here as long as you like or maybe you release and bring your hands behind your head.
Broad elbows.
And I welcome you to lean to the right.
As much as you like and bring your gaze to your left elbow,
Seeing if you can keep your face forward.
If this stretch isn't working for you,
No worries.
We have lots of other great poses to simulate your vagus nerve.
Gently coming back to center and repeating that on the other side.
Maybe taking a break,
Shaking your head out.
This time leaning to the left,
Gazing to the right.
We'll gently come back to center and release.
Moving into a quick stretch,
Bringing our left hand down,
Right arm up overhead.
And switching sides.
Arms reach back to center,
And this time a twist.
Left hand to right knee,
Right hand out behind.
Soften back to center,
Maybe arms reach up.
And exhale,
Switching to the left.
Right hand to left knee.
And back to center.
Arms reach up if you like.
I welcome you to join me as we come forward into a tabletop shape,
Maybe having your wrists under your shoulders.
And knees under your hip point.
Moving into a few rounds of cat-cows,
So when you're ready,
Broadening in your chest.
And on the exhale,
Rounding through,
Pressing into the mat,
Engaging in between your knees.
You can also do this scene in.
I invite you to take your time as you find a flow that works for you.
If you like,
You might use these last few moments of our cat-cow to find any intuitive movements that would feel nice for your body today.
And when you're ready,
I welcome you to join me in the child's pose as we bring our knees as wide as feels comfortable.
Sending our scent toward our heels.
Arms stretch forward.
If you're using the bolster,
This is a great opportunity to place it under your chest like I'm doing.
Or even between your feet and seat.
Finding softness here.
You might explore sending your breath to any areas of tension.
And if you had one cheek on your bolster,
You might choose to switch sides.
I welcome you to stay here as long as you like.
Or to come out of this pose if you're using a bolster.
I welcome you to turn it to its sign.
So it's parallel against the short edge of your mat as we gently come forward into sphinx pose.
Bringing our elbows under our shoulders and palms flat to the mat.
If you're not using a bolster,
No worry.
If you are,
This just allows you to use a little bit less effort in your muscles to prep yourself up.
If you have any low back discomfort in this pose,
I invite you to press your hip points more into the mat.
This can be supportive.
Or you can bring your elbows further toward the top edge of your mat,
Coming into crocodile pose.
To ease out of this,
I welcome you to press your hands underneath your shoulders.
If you're using a bolster,
We can just set it aside.
We'll be using it here and again in a second.
In a quick counter stretch,
I welcome you to find a cat pose.
Maybe rounding in your spine,
Finding any other movements that feel nice.
And then maybe you join me as we cross at our ankles coming to a scene.
Sending our legs out long so we can slowly lower down.
Onto our back.
Bring soles of our feet flat to the mat.
If you're using a bolster,
Gently propping yourself up and resting back down.
Your hands can rest anywhere you like.
I welcome you to settle into this supported bridge pose,
Knowing you can come out or fidget as much as you need.
I welcome you to stay in this pose as long as you like.
We might join me as we find legs up the wall pose.
You might choose to press the bolster away from your body.
This will just allow you to hold your legs up with a little bit less muscular effort.
Option to also do this up against a wall or hold behind your legs or do anything to make this a more comforting,
Relaxing pose for you.
To come out of this shape,
I invite you to slowly lower your feet back down.
Option here to notice the sensations as you slowly do this.
Setting your side or bolster for now so we can draw our knees into our chest.
Maybe rocking side to side.
And for these next several moments,
I invite you to find any movements that would feel nice for you.
Or maybe you're just following along with me.
But I find this is always a great time to tune into your body.
See what you're craving or maybe just finding a pose that would bring you more softness and relaxation.
Wherever you are,
I invite you to come back to center so that we can set ourselves up for Shavasana.
This is a restful pose.
And rest is deeply personal to each person,
So I invite you to find a shade that brings you the most softness here.
For me,
I like to bring the bolster under my knees.
This could be different for you.
And just taking time to find what feels comfortable.
Your hands can rest anywhere you like.
Your eyes can be open or closed.
You can fidget as much as you need.
You like you might choose to take one cleansing breath as we inhale through our nose.
And exhale or sigh,
Outer nose or mouth.
And allowing these next few minutes just to settle into our practice,
Maybe notice any shifts from when we started and how we feel now.
And I'll be here to guide you out.
Whenever you're ready.
I welcome you to begin waking up your body by wiggling your fingers and toes.
Followed by your wrists and ankles.
You might choose to stretch your arms overhead for a big body stretch.
If you had a bolster or any other props I welcome you to set them to the side.
And maybe taking any stretches that feel nice before rolling to any side you choose.
Maybe using your arm as a pillow or an actual pillow.
And taking these few moments of softness.
To acknowledge that you made it to your mat today,
And that's always the hardest part.
As you're ready,
I welcome you to come to a gentle state of your choosing.
To arrive.
Placing your hands anywhere you like.
If you'd like to join me,
Maybe taking one more deep breath into our belly.
Exhale,
Smiling out our mouth.
If your eyes are closed,
I welcome you to slowly bat them open.
If they are open,
Just coming back to the room and space around you.
I thank you for doing this class with me today to stimulate your vagus nerve.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
And from my vulnerable heart to yours,
Take care.
