Begin your practice by finding a comfortable seated position.
This session is best practice without headphones since you'll be massaging your ears.
You may wish to remove large earrings.
Throughout this practice,
You will stimulate areas associated with the vagus nerve.
Through breath work.
Acupressure and inviting the body into a deeper state of relaxation.
Close your eyes and simply notice your body.
And your natural breath.
If you're feeling anxious or fearful.
You might notice that your body feels tight or even boxed in.
For this practice,
We're going to create a sense of openness and spaciousness within the body.
We'll begin with the Ha breath using the exhalation to stimulate the vagus nerve and the throat.
Inhaling through your nose and on your exhale open your mouth with a long soft,
Elongated,
HA.
Good.
Inhaling through your nose.
And exhaling through your mouth with the HA sound.
So that doesn't sound like,
Ha,
It sounds like.
Ha.
You'll feel this gentle tone in the back of your throat.
Continue to breathe in this manner as you take one hand to your upper chest just below the base of the neck.
Begin to gently circle the hand around.
And move the hand downward toward the center of the chest.
Keep breathing but continue circling as you move down the torso down below the breast area.
Keep making those long,
Slow,
Ha sounds on the exhale.
Now lower down.
To the navel area and just circle all around the abdomen.
We're making space.
Now relax your hands and let go of this breath.
Take a moment,
Notice how your body feels,
How you might be more present to your body.
Next,
We'll focus on the ears using gentle massage and acupressure points to encourage that relaxation process.
Begin by bringing your thumb and your index finger to the outer edge of the ear,
Starting at the top.
Gently pinch and massage the outer edge of the ear,
Moving downward slowly toward the earlobe.
When you get to the earlobe,
Simply return to the top of the ear.
Just warming that whole area.
Stimulating moving downward.
Use enough pressure with this massage.
But keep it within the comfortable range.
Last time,
Start at the top and massage downward on the outer edge of the ear.
Now move your thumb and your index finger to the front of the ear,
Where the ear meets the face.
Find that small flap of tissue,
The tragus,
And gently massage it between your fingers.
Release and slowly open and close your jaw.
Notice if there's more space around your jaw,
Your face,
And your ears.
Now we'll gently tug the ears,
Taking your hands and start at the top of the ears again and tug upwards.
So squeeze the ear between the thumb and the index finger and tug up with a gentle pull and then pull off,
Releasing.
Move to the middle edge of the ear.
Tug backward three times and then pull the fingers off,
Releasing.
Coming down to the ear lobe,
Pulling downward.
Three times and then pull off.
We're doing that one more round.
Top of the ears,
Tugging three times.
And release.
Middle of the ears tug outward three times and release.
Earlobes,
Tug three times and release.
Now hold the sides of the ears and gently circle around.
Change that direction of circle.
You'll feel the whole ear moving here.
Allow the movement to be easy and soothing.
Now release your hands to your lap and just notice.
You may feel like yawning.
If you do,
Simply allow it.
Yawning is a beautiful sign that our body's beginning to soften and release tension.
We have two last movements.
We will stimulate the ear canal with our index fingers.
Before you begin,
Listen to the practice.
You'll gently place your index finger inside the opening to the ear canal and make a circular motion with your finger.
Then we'll press inward with the finger and then pull out.
You may even hear a pop when that happens.
Let's try it together.
Place your index finger inside your ear canals and just circle around.
Now press the index fingers inward and pull out.
Again.
Pressing inwards.
And popping out.
One last time,
Pressing inward and pulling out.
Rest your hands.
For our final practice,
We'll take the palms of the hands,
Placing them over the outer ears,
Pressing inward,
Creating a seal,
And pulling away.
Let's do it together.
Placing the palms of the hands over the ears,
Pushing inward and pulling away.
Again,
Pressing the palms of the hands inwards and pulling away.
One last time.
Press in with the palms and pull away.
Relax your hands.
That was beautiful.
I invite you to settle back into your chair or lie down if you prefer.
Close your eyes and simply enjoy what you've created.
Perhaps noticing more spaciousness within your being.
Continue to notice the changes in your body as we move through a body scan.
Invite your facial muscles to soften relaxing your forehead the small muscles around the eyes.
Allowing the jaw to open slightly.
Swallow gently,
Noticing the saliva within your mouth,
A wonderful sign of relaxation.
Let the shoulders drop and release.
Arms completely supported.
Hands open.
Feeling the palms of the hands.
Invite the torso to completely surrender into the support.
Softening your hips.
Bardix.
Legs and feet.
Noticing the soles of the feet.
Taking a deep,
Full breath here.
And resting your attention into your heart.
As if you were sitting back on the inside.
Sitting into a comfortable chair.
Invite your heart to open wide,
Like you would open your arms outward.
When you're about to hug someone you love.
Let this radiant heart space open and nourish your entire being.
Radiating out into your entire body.
Allow your heart space to surround you.
To comfort you.
And to hold you in peace.
Rest here with ease,
My friends.
