G'day and welcome to today's meditation,
Quieting the noise,
A nervous system reset.
My name is Dylan and I'll be guiding you through the next 15 minutes of our guided meditation.
If you've found your way to this meditation,
There's a good chance your nervous system has been working overtime today,
Or maybe for longer than just today.
And I want to start by saying something that might actually be useful to hear.
The noise you feel inside,
The restlessness,
The low hum of tension that doesn't quite switch off,
That's not a flaw within you,
That's your nervous system doing exactly what it's designed to do.
It's been scanning,
Checking,
Keeping you one step ahead of the next demand,
And it's been doing that because,
In some way,
It's learned it had to.
This practice isn't about forcing that stop,
It's about giving your nervous system the signal it's actually been waiting for,
The signal that says you can stand down now,
The day can take care of itself for a while,
And you are allowed to rest.
So in your own way,
And in your own time,
I invite you to find a comfortable seated position,
Or maybe even lying down,
However or wherever you are right now is fine.
And when you are ready,
You may wish to close down the eyes,
Or simply soften your gaze.
As you take a giant,
Deep breath in through the nose,
And expansive exhale out through the mouth,
I'd like to begin this practice by giving you something to hold onto.
Your nervous system has two main modes,
One is activation,
Where your body is preparing to deal with a certain threat,
Perhaps heart rate increases,
Muscle tightens,
Attention narrows.
It's a brilliant system,
And it has kept humans alive for a very long time.
The other is rest and restore,
Sometimes called the parasympathetic state,
Where your body does its healing,
Digestion,
Repair,
Where your thinking becomes clearer,
Your emotions more settled,
And your sleep deeper.
Something that most people don't realize,
Is that the nervous system cannot tell the difference between a physical threat and a thought.
Perhaps the email you're replying to in your head right now,
Your body is treating it the same way it would the threat of a lion,
Which means the noise,
The tension,
The restlessness,
Isn't you being weak or anxious,
It's your body doing its job,
Based on the information you feed it all day.
The good news is,
We get to choose the information we get to feed it.
So you can,
Right now,
Send your nervous system a different signal,
A signal it understands at a physical level,
Not through thinking,
Not through willpower,
But through your body,
Through your breath,
And that's what we're going to do now.
I invite you to bring your attention to your breath,
And for now,
Just noticing it as it is,
No changes needed,
Just observing.
Observe the natural rhythm of it,
The rise of the inhale,
The release of the exhale.
When you're ready,
I'd like to guide you through a simple pattern that directly activates your body's rest and restore system.
The principles are straightforward,
A longer exhale than inhale slows your heart rate and signals the safety to your nervous system.
It's one of the fastest ways to shift your body's state.
We're going to inhale for a count of four,
And exhale slowly for a count of six.
Let's begin.
Taking in a glorious inhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And an exhale out for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Inhaling in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And slowly out for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Good,
Once more,
In for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And ginormous exhale for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Now let's let that pattern go and let your breath return to its own natural rhythm.
I wonder if you can notice something.
Notice whether the quality of your breath has shifted,
Even slightly.
Perhaps there is more ease in it,
Maybe even a little more space.
That's your nervous system beginning to receive the message.
Let's go a little deeper.
I invite you to bring your awareness to the physical sensations in your body.
Not thoughts about your body,
But actual sensations.
Temperature,
Pressure,
Maybe tension.
Perhaps starting with your hands,
Whether they are resting right now.
Notice the weight of them,
The temperature of the surface they may be resting on.
Maybe you can feel a gentle pulse or warmth from the palms.
Simply noticing without needing to change anything.
I invite you to bring your attention to your feet,
Wherever they are.
Feeling the contact they are making with the surface that they are resting on.
Just for a moment,
I invite you to feel both your hands and feet at the same time.
These four points of contact with the physical world.
Let them anchor you here,
In this body,
In this moment.
I invite you to now scan slowly through your body for anywhere that may be holding tension.
Maybe your jaw,
Often the first place stress settles.
See if you can let it loosen,
Just even a fraction.
Perhaps your shoulders,
Maybe they are carrying the weight of a hundred things that haven't even happened yet.
Let them drop,
Even just a little.
Your belly,
Often held tight when the nervous system is activated.
See if you can invite a sense of softening,
Even just on the exhale.
And your chest,
Let it open,
Let the breath move through it more freely.
You may notice,
As your attention moves through your body,
That some places release quite easily.
And others may feel more stubborn.
And that's completely fine,
There's no target here,
No result you need to achieve.
This is simply the practice of noticing and allowing you to be as you are.
There is a concept in psychology sometimes called the window of tolerance.
Think of this as the zone where you feel present and grounded.
Not too activated,
Not too shut down.
Simply a space where you can think clearly,
Respond rather than react.
And feel genuinely more like yourself.
Sometimes,
When life is demanding,
When the noise builds,
It's easy to drift outside that window.
And your whole experience of the day shifts.
What you're doing right now,
This practice,
Is a way of returning.
And here's what's worth knowing.
The more you practice returning,
The easier it becomes.
Not because your life may get quieter,
But because your nervous system gets more flexible.
More skilled at moving back into that window,
Even when things are hard.
Over time,
You may begin to recognize that you are not at the mercy of what happens around you.
You have more influence over your own internal state.
More than you may have been taught to believe.
And right now,
You are providing that to yourself.
Take a moment now,
And imagine carrying this quality of presence.
This slightly quieter,
Slightly more settled version of yourself.
Into the next part of your day.
It may not be perfectly calm.
Sometimes life isn't like that.
But perhaps we can aim for a little more grounded.
A little more spacious inside.
Perhaps there's a conversation coming that you've been bracing for.
Imagine approaching it from this place.
A little more ease in your body.
A little less noise in your head.
Perhaps you're about to rest,
Or sleep.
And you can let this state of quietness simply deepen from here.
Whatever is next for you,
You get to bring this version of yourself to it.
The version that remembers.
It can choose to reset.
If you are preparing for sleep,
I invite you to simply let the sound of my voice wander off into that deepness.
If you need to continue on for the rest of your day,
I invite you to begin to bring your awareness back into the room around you now.
Noticing any sounds in the environment.
The temperature of the air.
The surface beneath you.
I invite you to take a deep breath in through the nose.
And an expansive exhale out through the mouth.
Gently beginning to move your fingers and toes.
Maybe rolling your shoulders.
Letting your body know that you're coming back.
And when you're ready,
At your own pace.
I invite you to begin to open your eyes.
Take a moment before you move.
Simply notice how you feel.
This is what's possible,
Whenever you need it.
