Welcome to this nervous system regulation meditation.
This exercise is for people who find themselves slightly activated,
Maybe up to a 6 on the scale of activation of fight or flight.
If you're above a 6,
I would recommend to first do a bit of movement to attune to what your body wants.
Once you feel a bit more regulated,
Come back and do this exercise to be more present in this moment and to calm down further.
It's really important to know where on the scale of the nervous system we sit.
This changes often,
So we could either be in shutdown,
Which is our most extreme state of our nervous system.
In this place we'll find ourselves shut down,
Quite hopeless,
Helpless,
Apathetic,
Not really connected to the present moment.
So in that state,
This exercise won't really support you because you want to bring in a little bit of activation,
Which you can do by really taking in your surrounding,
Colours,
Smells,
All those things to come more present and do a bit of faster breathing.
And then you could also find yourself in a state where you're frozen.
You have both activation and shutdown going on at the same time.
For people in that state,
This exercise may support you,
But I'd also recommend to do some of what I just said with really becoming present,
Really tuning in to where you are on that scale.
Are you now more shutdown?
Are you now more activated?
And when both are present,
See what supports you most,
Try out different techniques.
And then you might find yourself slightly activated,
Which is what this meditation,
This exercise is for.
To show your body you are safe in this moment,
There's no need to mobilize,
There's no need to fight or to run away from the threat.
There is no threat right now.
And this breathing and sounding exercise is really powerful to bring you back to the present moment,
To your body,
And to a sense of calm and peace.
Where you can then be in a state of regulation,
Also called a ventral vagal state.
So I'd like to invite you to join me for a powerful breathing exercise.
So let us breathe together.
Breathing in for the count of four,
Holding our breath for the count of seven,
And breathing out through the mouth for the count of eight.
When you're breathing out,
Imagine like you're blowing out a candle.
So breathing in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Holding your breath,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
And breathing out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
So let's keep doing this for a couple of minutes.
Eventually you will get a sense of how long the in-breath is,
How long the holding is,
And how long the out-breath is.
But do count along in your head.
So breathing in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Holding your breath,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
And breathing out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
So now let's do an exercise where we use our vocal cords to stimulate the vagus nerve,
Which is responsible for regulating the fight or flight reaction.
And with the vibration that we create,
We can stimulate it and show it that right now is safe.
This is a very ancient practice,
Very effective practice,
Called the bumblebee meditation.
What we do is we breathe in,
And as we breathe out,
We sound humming,
A buzzing sound.
The lower you can go,
The more stimulating it's going to be for your vagus nerve,
Which means the more calming,
The more calm you will feel.
So breathing in,
Take a deep breath through your nose,
And breathing out,
Hummmmm.
And sound the hum,
The buzz,
As long as you can without it being strenuous for you.
Hummmmm.
So let's do this ten times.
And now feel into your body,
How are you feeling?
How activated or how calm are you?
Let's do five more of those,
But put your left hand on your heart and your right hand on your stomach,
On your belly.
Hummmmm.
And tune in again,
How are you feeling in your body?
What do you need right now?
Do you need a few deeper breaths?
Do you need to stretch?
Do you need to yawn?
See if you can attend to yourself,
Giving yourself what you need with self-care and self-love.
Come back to this meditation,
This exercise,
As often as you need.
Often it can be really helpful to do this a couple of times during your day,
So that you can show your body that you're safe.
Instead of telling it I'm safe,
You can really start to show your body,
Viscerally,
That you're safe.
Have a beautiful day or night.
Much love.
