Trauma-Sensitive Somatic Meditation

A lot of times when people are taught the experience of meditation,

It's often taught through the lens of having to close the eyes or relaxing the eyes and staring straight in front of you.

And while this can be helpful,

There are certain individuals that have trauma where the closing of the eyes can actually be triggering.

So the purpose of this meditation is to explore a meditative state while having the eyes open.

So take a moment and find a position that is supportive for you.

And once you've done that,

Allow your eyes to simply go free,

Exploring,

Like a child,

The space around you.

This might mean that you turn your head or shift your posture and see if you can really pay attention to the environment that you are currently in.

Not simply glazing over that experience,

But taking a moment to let the eyes digest the environment.

And as this happens,

See if there is a certain place that the eyes might like to land.

You might have to explore with placing the eyes in one particular position or on one particular place,

And then just seeing if that is really where the eyes want to rest.

And when you find that space that the eyes feel drawn to,

That they want to rest on,

Just allow them to remain there.

And as they remain there,

Just digesting that space,

See if that can also become an invitation to notice how the body is in this moment.

You might notice if there's any muscles that are particularly tight or how the breathing is.

And this doesn't have to be something that you are to change,

But just see what happens as your eyes continue to remain on that one particular spot.

You might have also discovered at this time that that was not the spot that the eyes wanted to be at.

And so just,

If that is the case,

Inviting the eyes to go free again,

Seeing if they can really find the spot that they desire to rest on.

And as your eyes continue to remain on that spot,

See if you can now notice if there is any settling in the body.

There might be other emotions or other feelings or other thoughts,

But just see if you can pay attention to,

For a moment,

If there's any settling in the body.

And if there is,

Seeing if there's anything that the body would like that would allow it to settle even more.

Maybe that's adjusting your position,

Maybe that's allowing your breath to change in a certain way,

But just taking a moment.

And now that you've done that,

Beginning to explore if the eyes have any sort of desire to close.

You might find that at one moment that they do,

And then as soon as the eyes are closed that that experience doesn't feel right,

And that's totally okay.

If that does happen to you,

Allowing yourself to open the eyes again,

And just exploring the environment again,

Seeing if there's any place that the eyes might like to land.

And if your invitation to inviting the eyes to remain closed is something that feels supportive for you,

Taking a moment to just notice that.

And regardless of which path you've taken,

Whether it's leaving the eyes open or inviting them to close,

Now just giving yourself some space to thank yourself for showing up in this way,

For allowing yourself to explore without an agenda,

And just seeing where things land.

And after you've taken that time,

Allowing this meditation to come to a close.

Thank you so much for practicing with me today.

Have a wonderful day.