Welcome to this pendulation practice.
Pendulation is a skill that we can learn to gently move our awareness between sensations of activation.
And sensations of ease,
Comfort,
Or neutrality.
Rather than staying focused on what feels challenging.
We can learn to move back and forth.
Building our capacity to experience discomfort without becoming overwhelmed by it.
This practice helps the nervous system learn that we can move through intensity and return to a sense of safety,
Steadiness,
And choice.
So to get started.
Come to a comfortable position.
You can be seated or lying down,
Either is fine.
Just arriving in a comfortable position that you can sustain in your body for some time.
As you're getting settled,
Making any shifts that you need to support you.
And throughout this practice,
You do not have to be a statue.
You're welcome to move or change.
And shift in whatever way feels supportive.
When you're ready,
You can try out closing your eyes.
Allowing your gaze to soften.
Eyes become relaxed.
And if you try that out and for whatever reason it doesn't work for you today,
You're also welcome to keep your eyes open.
If you choose to keep your eyes open,
Just resting your gaze down on a spot on the floor.
Or if you're lying down,
Resting your gaze on a spot,
Maybe on the ceiling above you,
Wherever you're seated.
Wherever you're lying.
And then when you're ready,
Starting to notice your breath.
Noticing your natural inhales.
And your natural exhales.
Breathing in and allowing your body to breathe however it would like to breathe.
Breathing out,
Allowing your body to breathe.
During this practice,
If you notice thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations,
Sounds,
Or anything else distracting you,
Pulling you away from this practice,
You can just notice that that happened and then gently invite yourself back to your breath.
And so when you're ready.
We'll start.
To do a short little body scan starting with your feet.
Scanning your body all the way up.
To your head.
Taking your time with this.
As you work your way up from your feet to your head.
Just noticing any areas of the body that feel uncomfortable.
Maybe there's tension or pain.
Or subtle discomfort.
And when you've found an area of your body where you feel discomfort,
Tension or pain.
Invitation to lovingly,
Gently stay with that pain just for a few moments.
Noticing where in your body you feel this pain,
Discomfort,
Or tension.
And noticing how big it is or how much space it takes up in this part of your body.
Noticing the quality of sensations here.
If there's tightness or pinching,
Squeezing,
Sharp feeling,
Or maybe a dull feeling.
Just taking in the experience of this discomfort.
And seeing if you can bring a lot of curiosity to your experience.
Just noticing what this discomfort feels like without needing to analyze it or understand it or make a story about it.
Just watching this pain.
Happening in your body in this moment.
For just another moment or two.
And then when you're ready,
We're gonna let that go.
We're gonna go back to that body scan.
So starting with your feet.
And working your way up your body again.
But this time,
Invitation to find space,
An area of the body where it feels pleasant.
There's a nice sensation or if not a pleasant sensation.
Maybe just a neutral one.
An area of the body where it feels just fine.
It's totally fine.
So again,
Starting with your feet and slowly working your way up your body towards your head.
Noticing any part of the body where it feels pleasant or neutral.
And if you're having any trouble finding a pleasant or neutral sensation.
Invitation to check in with the very top of your head.
The tip of your nose.
The palms of your hands.
Or the soles of your feet.
Seeing if any of those places maybe feel neutral.
Or pleasant.
And then just like we did before.
Noticing the sensation in your body that feels pleasant or neutral.
Taking that in as much as you can.
Noticing where in your body it feels pleasant or neutral.
And also noticing how big it is or how much space this pleasant or neutral sensation takes up.
Noticing the quality of sensations in this pleasant or neutral place.
Maybe it feels calm,
Soothing,
Warm.
Maybe it feels easeful.
Light.
Or something else.
And as always bringing a lot of curiosity to your experience.
Allowing your experience to be what it is as you rest your awareness at this pleasant or neutral space.
For just a few more moments.
And then when you're ready,
We'll let that go.
And invitation this time to return back to.
The area of your body where there was discomfort,
Tension,
Or pain.
Again,
Taking that in.
Allowing yourself to be curious about this discomfort,
This tension,
This pain.
And seeing if you can just be with those uncomfortable sensations for a few moments.
When you're ready,
We'll let that go again.
Returning back to.
The area in your body where you felt pleasant or neutral sensations.
Taking in again.
The area of your body that feels pleasant or neutral and allowing it to be easeful.
Restful or soothing.
Taking in those sensations with curiosity.
Noticing what's here in this pleasant or neutral space.
When you're ready,
We'll let that go again.
And coming back to the area of your body where you feel discomfort,
Tension,
Or pain.
Noticing again what that discomfort feels like.
Taking it in with curiosity.
Noticing how this discomfort,
Pain,
And tension feels in your body in this moment.
And then when you're ready,
We'll let that go.
And one more time returning to that neutral or pleasant place in your body.
Again,
Bringing curiosity to this experience wherever you feel neutral or pleasant sensations.
Noticing what it feels like to be with these neutral and pleasant sensations in this moment.
And when you're ready,
You can let that go one more time.
This time I've got new instructions here.
Invitation now to make a choice.
About where you would like to place your attention for these last few moments of this practice.
You can place your attention at that.
Neutral or pleasant sensation in your body.
Or you can choose to place the attention.
At the pain,
Discomfort,
Or tension in your body.
The choice is completely yours.
There is no right or wrong choice.
Just giving yourself a moment of empowerment to choose where you would like to place your attention.
For these last few moments of this practice.
And I will hold the silence while you bring curiosity to your experience,
Just noticing the sensations wherever you choose to place your attention.
And then when you're ready,
You can let that go.
And invite yourself back to your breath.
Just noticing your inhales.
And noticing your exhales.
Feel free to stay with your breath as long as you like.
If you're ready to transition.
You can gently blink open your eyes,
Allowing a little light to come in,
Really taking your time here.
There's no rush to change your end or shift to the next thing.
Taking a look around your room.
Wherever you're seated or lying.
Turning your head to the right,
Noticing what's there in the right side of your space.
And turning your head to the left,
Noticing what's in that side of your space.
Maybe even looking behind you.
When you're ready,
Coming back to neutral.
I hope you found this practice helpful today.
