This is a guided meditation for coming home to you when the world or the mind or your body feel a little bit too noisy and you want to turn the volume down and come home.
Before we begin,
Find a position that feels supportive,
Sitting,
Lying down,
Leaning back,
Anything that lets your body feel held.
If it feels okay,
Let your eyes soften or close.
If closing your eyes doesn't feel right today,
Keep them open and let your gaze settle on one spot.
Take a moment to feel where your body meets whatever is holding you,
The chair,
Couch,
Bed or floor.
Notice what your feet are doing.
Even if your feet aren't on the ground,
Notice where your lower body is supported.
Now bring your attention to one place in your body that feels the easiest to notice right now.
Maybe your hands,
Your jaw,
Perhaps your chest or your belly.
No need to change it.
Just notice.
If your nervous system has been feeling too loud lately,
Fast thoughts,
Urgency,
Overwhelm,
Let's acknowledge and notice.
Let it be true.
Or perhaps your nervous system has been feeling too quiet,
Numb,
Foggy,
Distant.
Let that be true too.
And for many,
It could be the both and.
Both things can be true and we don't have to pick one.
In fact,
Many people move between both.
And noticing with gentle kindness where your system is right now,
Share with your system that there is a reason for this swing.
That your brain is constantly sorting for what matters,
What's urgent,
What needs attention.
And our dear friend Amy,
The amygdala,
Of course,
Plays a central role in this fast filtering process,
Especially when our body,
When our nervous system is under stress.
So if your body has been loud or quiet,
It makes sense.
Your nervous system is doing what nervous systems do.
Now if it feels supportive,
Bring a gentle,
Soothing touch to your body.
The mindful touch.
You might place a hand over your heart.
Gently rub your palms together.
Offer yourself a slow,
Moving hug.
Hands starting on the top of your shoulders and gently moving down to your elbows and repeating that motion.
Or perhaps a gentle movement across the top of your forehead,
Soothing your brows.
Choose what feels most natural.
And stay with that touch.
Or move between multiple touches.
Invite it to be a quiet message.
I'm here.
This kind of mindful,
Soothing touch downshifts the system.
It brings connection home within us.
Again,
That gentle,
Quiet message.
I'm here.
We're now going to pair that touch with a calming breathing pattern called a sigh breath.
A natural,
Soothing reset for our nervous systems.
I invite you now to gently inhale through your mouth or your nose,
Whatever feels most comfortable.
Welcoming in a soothing breath and breathing in.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And now pause.
One,
Two.
And a gentle top-off inhale.
And then a slow,
Easy exhale all the way out to completion.
Beautiful.
Let's do that again.
Breathing in again.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Pause.
Two.
Another gentle breath in.
And that long,
Slow exhale,
Softening the shoulders and clenching the jaw.
Letting the exhale carry the weight downward.
Continuing that mindful touch one more round.
Breathing in.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Pause.
Two.
Top-off a little bit more of a breath.
And that slow,
Easy release.
Permission to let go.
And if you'd like to do one or two more at your own pace,
Continue that soothing breathing pattern.
Whatever feels most comfortable for you.
This is a gentle welcoming home to your mind,
Your body,
Your nervous system.
A greeting to ourselves to say hi.
I'm here and thank you for the work that you do,
Mind,
Brain,
Body.
And take a moment now to check in and just notice if anything has shifted or changed.
Perhaps your thoughts feel like there's a little bit more space between them.
Maybe you feel a little more inside your body here and now.
Whatever is showing up,
We welcome it.
We invite the system to communicate freely and openly.
Foundationally,
This is a core of emotional regulation and coming home to self.
Now let's take a moment to reorient back into the moment here and now.
Continuing that mindful touch,
If it feels comfortable.
If your eyes are closed,
You can keep them closed.
If they're open,
Just invite your gaze to move slowly,
Gently around the room.
And name silently or out loud three things you can see.
Either in your mind's eye or here in this space.
And now two things you can feel physically.
Perhaps air on your skin.
The fabric of the clothing that you wear.
The weight of your body being held.
And even one thing that you can hear,
Even if it's subtle or gentle.
This is a loving way of teaching the brain that right now,
Right now we are here.
The present in this moment is all that there is as we connect to the self and the body.
Now I'd like to invite you into a closing invitation for support to continue to weave this gentle practice into the rest of your day or even week.
Placing a hand back where it feels most supportive,
Perhaps on your heart,
Your belly,
Or even holding your hands gently together.
And I invite you to offer yourself this quiet sentence.
I can come back to me.
And again,
Repeating.
I,
Self,
I can come back to me.
And holding your body,
Your heart,
Your belly,
Your gentle hands together one more time.
And again,
Slowly.
I can come back to me.
Our systems can be so taken with what is happening in the world around us.
And the gentle welcoming home of self is how we build presence and show our mind-body system that we are here together,
A whole.
Now I'll invite you to begin wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Welcoming another final breath in.
Letting your eyes gently open if they've been closed.
And just notice that you did something important here.
You took a moment for you because you matter.
