Hey there,
Darling,
This is Faith Hunter,
And welcome to this somatic practice to assist you in lowering your cortisol.
Decreasing stress.
And finding a place of ease.
Go on and make your way into a comfortable seated position.
And while you do that,
I want you to begin to.
.
.
Notice your breath.
Allow your inhales and exhales to flow slowly in and out of your nose.
Feel a softness.
Move across your shoulders.
And allow your hips to ground into the earth.
Now I'm going to encourage you to close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you.
And as you do,
I'm going to read something from one of my books.
I am reading from the journal,
Which is called The Return to You.
This is actually week 30 of.
.
.
The journal.
Embracing mindful living.
Let's dedicate this week.
To the active practice of Mindful Living.
It's about fully experiencing.
Each moment.
And finding clarity and peace.
In our daily lives.
By embracing the present with awareness.
We open ourselves to a deeper understanding of our surroundings.
Inner selves.
Let's cherish each moment.
Understanding that mindfulness enriches our lives.
In profound ways.
Take about three more breaths here,
Just in stillness,
And observe and notice.
Inhale and exhale as it flows.
From the base of your spine.
Drifts its way all the way up towards the crown of your head.
And as you exhale,
You feel a softness and ease,
A grounding.
Not only in your body but also in your mind.
One more breath together.
You Now begin to open your eyes.
And just so you know,
We will use a few props.
I'm sitting on a meditation pillow right now.
I'm going to move that out of the way.
But definitely towards the end of our practice.
I have my bolster here.
So if you want to grab a pillow really quick.
Go on and do that.
Still in a comfortable cross-leg position or whatever seated position feels right for you.
We're just going to do some simple shoulder rolls,
Right?
Just breathing in,
Lift the shoulders up.
And soften them down.
One more breathes shoulders up and soften them.
Now,
As you take these next few shoulder rolls,
I want you to notice where there may be a little tension or stress in your body.
So we'll do a few more together,
Right?
Breathing in,
Shoulders up.
Exhale.
And as we take these movements,
No,
You have the option to keep your eyes opened or closed.
And find that slow,
Gentle rhythm that's going to work for you.
And two more together,
Breathing in.
Exhale.
Breathing in lift up and exhale.
Now keeping your palms facing down on your legs.
You're pausing for a moment.
Simply observe and notice.
Be fully,
Completely aware of all the sensations in your body without judgment.
We're just feeling.
And we're going to continue these types of pauses.
And observations throughout our practice.
So give yourself a few more seconds to just.
.
.
And be present.
Now if your eyes are closed,
Go on and open them.
We're going to do some gentle head shifts.
We're going to do some rolls and then we're going to send the head from right to left.
Drop the chin down towards your chest.
And bring it back to center.
Drop your chin down towards your chest.
And bring it back to center.
Two more like that.
Chin down towards your chest.
And back to center.
And one more,
Chin down towards your chest.
And back to center.
Now we're going to go from right to left.
Chin to your right.
And then head to your left.
Turn your head to your right,
Nice and slow.
And to your left.
Take in a few more of these on your own.
And in the process.
Make sure your spine remains straight.
Shoulders are relaxed.
And of course,
You are breathing deeply in and out of your nose.
And two more times on each side.
Come back to center now remember that chin drop that we did we're going to do that again but this time you're going to drop your chin down towards your chest and then you're going to gently lift your chin all the way up so the head drops back So here we go.
A few times like this.
Chin to your chest.
And lift it up,
Head back.
Soften the chin to your chest.
Again,
We're doing this really slowly.
And lift up.
And two more rounds.
Chin to your chest.
And you know Stretching out.
And bring your chin back to center,
Parallel to the earth.
And you're going to take your hands,
Just kind of draw the skin down right around your clavicle.
So you can gently draw the skin down.
And slowly begin to lift the chin up.
We're gonna hold here.
For fun.
4.
To and one.
Come back to neutral.
Release your hands from your chest.
Give yourself a moment to pause,
Feel,
And experience.
And now we're going to take that gentle neck roll,
Right?
Just rolling your head around and back.
The first chin to your chest.
Ear over to your right shoulder.
Drop your head back.
Left shoulder.
And circle down.
So moving the head to the right first.
Nice and slow if you hear any cracks you feel any cracks that's okay Try your best to keep the shoulders relaxed and the spine long.
We're taking about five on each side,
So we have about two more.
Nice and slow you And then after your fifth one,
Going to reverse.
Just shift over to the left.
Chin up.
Then we're out.
You and i think we have one more i was really feeling this so i think i lost count it's all good Alright,
Come on back to center.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Let out a big sigh,
And one more like that.
Deep breath in through your nose.
Big sigh.
Alright,
You're going to take those legs,
Unravel them.
Gonna give them a little shake right so you can windshield wiper your feet and kind of Drop those legs on the mat,
Whatever feels good.
Rotate your ankles.
I'm kind of leaning back.
Like,
Hey,
Just lean back.
Do whatever feels good in this moment.
Okay.
And then bring the soles of your feet together.
Now,
If this is uncomfortable,
You can extend the legs out in front of you.
You can cross the legs,
Whatever works best.
But I just want you to bring the soles of the feet together.
Place your hands right around your shins and your ankles.
You're going to pause first.
We're going to take three breaths in through the nose and you're going to exhale out of the nose.
But when you breathe in through the nose,
You're going to inhale for about four counts.
And as you exhale through the nose,
Try your best to elongate and extend the breath.
Six to eight counts all right so just holding here sitting up tall breathing in 4.
Now exhale slowly.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Inhale.
Exhale.
I'm gonna do one more,
Breathing in.
Exhale.
Now we're going to pause.
And I want you to observe the difference between when you first started those breaths.
And now.
We only took three.
This time around we're going to do five.
And notice the difference Feel your nervous system starting to calm down.
Feel a sense of ease starting to wash off.
All right,
Let's begin.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Breathe in.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
One more round.
Breathe in.
Exhale.
You Now allow your breath to simply flow naturally in and out of your nose.
If this is uncomfortable,
Right,
You can adjust your legs.
So make your way into a cross-legged position if that feels best or stay exactly where you are.
And just be a witness.
Notice and observe.
Slow,
Easy breaths in and out of your nose.
You alright begin to gently draw your legs together And bring the knees in towards your chest.
Just kind of give them a nice little hug.
And as you do,
I want you to just gently rock a little bit from right to left.
If bringing your knees in towards your chest feels uncomfortable,
I want you to keep the legs straight.
I want you to wrap your arms.
Around your body.
In any way that feels natural.
The key here is to give yourself a loving hug,
With some gentle rocks.
This is a sweet reminder that you are safe in your body.
This is reminding your nervous system that it is okay.
To let down the guard.
This is a beautiful reminder to your heart.
That you are loved.
Into little rocks.
Shifting from right to left and just giving yourself a nice squeeze.
We're going to do this for about 30 more seconds.
It's a long,
Deep breath in and out of your nose.
It may even feel nice to say to yourself,
I am safe.
I am secure.
I am worthy.
I am safe.
I am secure.
I am worthy.
Bring your body back to center.
Breathe in.
Exhale a big sigh.
And slowly begin to release.
And we're going to immediately come onto our backs.
And just relax.
That's all you have to do.
You have your bolster or your pillow right here and you can simply just throw those legs over your bolster or your pillow.
Just allow yourself to release.
Not my little short legs,
So I kind of dangle.
That's okay.
It actually feels kind of nice hanging.
Just pause here the palms can face up but you can also place your hands on your belly or on your womb.
You can even place one hand over your heart and one hand.
Right around the belly.
So just go wherever it feels best for you.
Just allow the breath to flow naturally in and out of your nose.
No extra effort or doing.
Just allowing yourself to be.
Again,
This practice today from the breath,
From the gentle movement.
Are all designed to lower your cortisol to support you in regulating your nervous system.
And aid you in experiencing a sense of calm and ease.
You Know that you can remain here for as long as you desire.
But if you're ready to move,
Start to move your fingers or toes.
Slowly draw those knees in.
Maybe even massage your legs with your hands.
Massage,
Feet.
Give yourself a little stretch.
Mmm.
And then gently roll over to your left side.
Take your time.
Begin to.
Lift your body up.
Come back into that cross-legged position.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Exhale out of your mouth.
Nice big sigh.
Place your left hand over the center of your chest,
The right palm on top of that.
And thank yourself for being present.
For showing up,
Breathing and slowing down.
Stay soft.
Stay grounded.
And always stay.
Spiritually Fly.
