Welcome to today's meditation and today we're going to be introducing you to one of the most important things that you can do to optimize your health and bring your body into equilibrium.
The following meditation will help you to lower stress,
Reduce inflammation,
Regulate heart rate and blood pressure,
Support digestion and release tension in your body.
It's also going to cultivate feelings of calm,
Safety,
Connection and a relaxed focus.
I'll begin today by explaining a little bit about the vagus nerve and the nervous system and we'll then engage the relaxation response with a gentle breathing exercise and we'll then move into a progressive relaxation exercise.
So we'll be starting at the feet and gradually working our way to the top of the head so that eventually the whole body will be relaxed.
And we can begin by finding a comfortable position and if possible we can have our back supported.
Most people feel more relaxed by closing the eyes but feel free to open the eyes if that feels more relaxing to you.
For some of us,
Particularly those who have been,
Who have had difficulty in our lives,
Then the nervous system can often get triggered when we close our eyes so feel free to crack open the eyes slightly to let some light in if thoughts or emotions become too uncomfortable.
If we are keeping the eyes open,
Just making sure that we have a soft gaze,
A soft focus in front of us on the floor.
We're also welcome to lie down if we're feeling alert.
If we're feeling sleepy or tired,
This won't turn into a nap but if it does turn into a nap that's okay.
Let's not give ourselves a hard time today.
Sometimes the body needs a rest and sleep is often just as good as meditation.
Now during this meditation we're going to be exploring the parasympathetic wing of our nervous system,
Otherwise known as the rest and digest nervous system.
And the part of the parasympathetic nervous system that's responsible for making us feel relaxed and at ease is the vagus nerve.
Now the vagus nerve begins at the brain stem and it wanders its way to the throat which helps our voice,
Our speech and our communication.
It then wanders its way to the windpipe and down into the lungs where it helps us regulate our breathing and then to the heart where it regulates the heart rate and then it connects to the spleen,
The liver,
Kidney,
Stomach,
Pancreas and our digestive system.
The vagus nerve is also the main nerve that helps the body relax.
When we relax the body we often find that the mind relaxes very soon afterwards.
So to stimulate the vagus nerve and to relax the body here's a simple practice that we can do.
I invite you now to bring awareness to the breath,
Noticing your inhale and noticing your exhale.
Now without trying to change anything about the breath we're simply noticing how the body is naturally breathing.
We might find that there's an urge to direct the breath,
To control the breath in some way so without trying to change anything how is the body breathing right now?
Is it a slow breath or is it a rapid breath?
Is it a deep breath or is it a shallow breath?
Maybe we're breathing into the chest or perhaps into the stomach.
Is the inhale longer than the exhale or is the exhale longer than the inhale?
We're just noticing.
And we're not so much watching the breath,
We're experiencing the breath,
We're feeling the breath.
So what does it feel like to breathe?
Perhaps we can feel the cool air coming in through the nostrils as we breathe in,
As the lungs and the chest and the stomach expand.
And then we might notice a short pause as the breath changes direction,
As the body softens and relaxes,
The warm air leaves the nostrils and the body sinks deeper into the chair or into the bed.
We breathe in and the body expands and we breathe out and the body softens and relaxes and sinks deeper.
Now a common tendency for many of us is for the inhalation to be longer than the exhalation.
So noticing if that's the case with our breathing right now,
We're just noticing.
And now for the next minute or so,
I invite you to lengthen your exhalation and making sure that our exhalation is longer than our inhalation.
Increasing the length of the exhale stimulates our vagus nerve and this triggers the relaxation response.
Now a good way of doing this is to do a little count and making sure that our exhale is twice as long as our inhale.
So for instance,
If I was to do it,
I would be breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Breathing out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Breathing out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Now it's up to you what you count to.
You can breathe in for two and breathe out for four for instance and no need to be precise.
We're just making sure that the out-breath is about twice as long as the in-breath.
So let me be quiet for a few moments so we can do this by ourselves.
Making sure that we're keeping the body relaxed as we breathe.
Sometimes when we take deep breaths,
We can cause tension and stress in the body,
Especially when we're breathing in.
We can't be stressed and relaxed at the same time.
So if we find tension in the body on the in-breath,
Then perhaps not breathing so deeply,
Maybe pulling back the breath by 10 or 20%.
Keeping the body relaxed as we breathe,
Checking maybe to see if the forehead is relaxed,
The jaw,
The neck and the shoulders,
Are they relaxed?
Is the stomach relaxed?
And already we might be beginning to notice changes as we engage the vagus nerve through this relaxing practice of lengthening the out-breath.
As we stimulate the vagus nerve,
This nerve that begins at the brain stem and travels all the way down the spine,
Maybe we can feel warmth running up and down the spine or tingles or vibrations.
If we notice the mind is elsewhere,
Perhaps we're thinking about the past or thinking about the future,
Worrying,
Planning,
Fixing,
Going over to-do lists.
If we find ourselves distracted,
That's perfectly normal.
It's what the mind is designed to do.
It's designed to look into the past and think about everything that's gone wrong in our lives and then project into the future and fix and plan and control in the effort to never have those problems happen again,
Which of course isn't possible,
But that's the job we've given our brain to do,
So it's perfectly normal.
But as soon as we realize that we're caught up in thought,
Caught up in distraction,
Without giving ourselves a hard time,
Without beating ourselves up,
We gently and we patiently and kindly bring our awareness back,
Bring our awareness back to the breath,
Bring our awareness back to the body.
Then we simply pick up where we left off.
If we like,
We can continue to do our long exhalations or we can allow our breathing to return to its natural rhythm.
It's our choice.
Meanwhile we'll now shift to a second way of relaxing,
Which is progressive relaxation of parts of our body.
I invite you now to follow my instructions.
Let's begin by relaxing the left foot and remembering my instructions are a gentle guide and if your intuition leads you somewhere else,
Then feel absolutely free to change my words or even ignore them completely.
So you might change my instructions to something like locator space in our left foot or let go in the left foot or left foot letting go,
Whatever works best for you.
And relaxing the right foot,
Relaxing the left lower leg,
Relaxing the right lower leg,
Relaxing the left knee,
Relaxing the right knee,
Relaxing the left knee,
Relaxing the right knee,
Relaxing the right upper leg.
And perhaps we might be noticing nice feelings of warmth or tingles or pulses moving into the area that we're relaxing.
Relaxing the left upper leg,
Relaxing the left hip,
Relaxing the right hip.
And we're keeping the breathing relaxed as we go through this relaxation exercise,
Keeping the breath soft,
Relaxing the lower back,
Relaxing the middle of the back.
Relaxing the upper back,
The shoulder blades.
Relaxing the entire back.
Perhaps we're noticing feelings of relaxation spreading through the body,
Maybe feelings of warmth or vibrations or tingles.
Moving our awareness now to the front of the body,
To the stomach and relaxing the stomach.
If there's any tension or tightness in the stomach,
Seeing if we can release some of that tension as we breathe out,
As we exhale.
Relaxing the stomach.
Relaxing the chest,
Rib cage,
Maybe even relaxing all the organs inside the chest,
Relaxing the heart,
Releasing any tension or tightness in the chest.
Relaxing the left shoulder.
Relaxing the right shoulder.
Relaxing the left arm,
The upper arm,
The elbow,
The forearm.
Relaxing the right arm.
Relaxing the left hand.
Relaxing the right hand.
Relaxing the breath relaxed as we move through the body.
Relaxing the neck and the throat.
Relaxing the back of the head.
Relaxing the face,
The jaw,
The lips,
The cheeks,
The eyes,
The temples,
The forehead.
Almost as if we can feel the face from the inside out.
Relaxing the top of the head.
And now I invite you to expand your awareness to include the whole body from the top of the head to the tips of the fingers and the tips of the toes,
Noticing all those feelings of relaxation that have spread across the body,
The tingles,
The warmth,
The pulses,
The vibrations.
The more we become,
The more we can feel this alive body,
There's lots going on inside the body.
So many of us are so often in our heads,
We just don't notice what this body feels like.
As we rest,
Letting go,
Allowing our body to find its equilibrium.
While remaining alert,
Awake,
Present,
As our body and our mind become increasingly relaxed and peaceful.
Having this experience of relaxation and letting it sink in.
And keeping our awareness in the body,
In the sensations of relaxation,
I invite you to expand your awareness once again to include the sensations of breathing.
The breath is a sensation just like body sensations.
So we're simply noticing how the body is naturally breathing.
So without trying to change anything,
Without trying to direct the breath in any way,
Noticing how the body is breathing as the breath slowed,
Is the breath more relaxed.
And once again as a reminder,
We're not so much watching the breath,
But we're experiencing the breath,
We're feeling what it's like to breathe.
So perhaps we can feel the cool air coming in through the nostrils as we breathe in,
As the lungs and the chest and the stomach expand.
And then we might notice the warmer air leaving the nostrils as the body softens and relaxes and sinks deeper.
We breathe in and the body expands.
And we breathe out and the body softens and relaxes and sinks deeper into the chair or into the bed.
Noticing the body becoming increasingly peaceful and tranquil,
The breath slowing down,
Maybe the heart slowing down as well.
And as this practice comes to an end,
Knowing that you can come back here again,
This place of relaxation,
Noticing what the body feels like and noticing what the mind feels like and hopefully the mind and the body are feeling a little bit more relaxed.
And even if we're not feeling more relaxed,
It could be one of those really difficult days and we might notice that we have even more thoughts in the mind or even more tension in the body,
But that's okay too.
By bringing awareness to how we're feeling,
We can take some extra care of ourselves.
So if we are feeling a little stressed or sad or overwhelmed,
Then if possible,
Take it easy today,
Do something relaxing,
Leave the hard work until tomorrow.
Perhaps before we end this meditation,
We can all reflect on this poem.
And if you are having a difficult day,
This poem is especially for you.
It's called The Mountain by Laura Ding Edwards.
If the mountain seems too big today,
Then climb a hill instead.
If the morning brings you sadness,
It's okay to stay in bed.
If the day ahead weighs heavy and your plans feel like a curse,
There's no shame in rearranging.
Don't make yourself feel worse.
If a shower stings like needles and a bath feels like you'll drown.
If you haven't washed your hair for days,
Don't throw away your crown.
A day is not a lifetime.
A rest is not defeat.
Don't think of it as failure,
Just a quiet,
Kind retreat.
It's okay to take a moment from an anxious,
Fractured mind.
The world will not stop turning while you get realigned.
The mountain will still be there when you want to try again.
You climb it in your own time.
Just love yourself till then.
In keeping our eyes closed,
I invite you to notice what feels different in the body and the mind.
Perhaps we're feeling more relaxed.
Perhaps we can feel an opening or lightness in the chest,
Maybe more spaciousness in the mind and perhaps a feeling of safety in the body.
Noticing as well if we feel more energized from this practice or whether we're feeling more relaxed.
Some of us will find that this practice energizes us and for those people,
It might be good to do it in the morning to start our day off with more energy.
But if we find it more relaxing,
It might help us sleep at night so we can try this practice at bedtime.
I invite you now to bring awareness to sounds,
Sounds inside the room,
Sounds outside the room.
We can gently wiggle our fingers and toes.
And shortly the bell will ring.
The music will stop and the meditation will come to an end.
But you're welcome to rest in silence for as long as you like.
And whenever you're ready,
You can gently crack open the eyes and come back to the room.
And remember,
We can always come back to this place of rest and relaxation.
The breath is always there for us.
Whenever we notice tension arising,
We can take a few moments to slow down that exhale to stimulate our vagus nerve.
Congratulate yourself on taking some time out to look after your body,
To look after your nervous system.
Have a wonderful day or if you're listening to this before bed,
Sweet dreams.
