Welcome to this SOS practice for when you're having a panic attack or high anxiety.
And just so you know,
I know from my own experience how uncomfortable this can be.
So know that you are not alone in this.
And with that let's dive right into a pleasant practice.
I will first quickly explain.
So what you're going to do is you're going to inhale fully,
Your lungs fully filled through your nose.
And then when you have completely inhaled,
You're still going to inhale one more extra small inhalation.
So it's inhale,
Inhale,
Inhale,
Inhale,
Inhale,
Completely full.
And then one more.
And you can even kind of lift up your shoulders when you do that last little inhalation to make sure you can kind of reach your maximum capacity.
When you've done that,
Then you exhale everything with a sigh and you can even make some sound.
So go ahead and do that right now.
I would suggest doing that three or four times.
This is kind of a shortcut to immediately start resetting your nervous system very quickly.
So I'll give you a few moments to round that up.
So you're doing three,
Four,
Five,
Maybe even of these.
And you'll probably notice already some relief with that.
Very good.
Then letting that go.
Now we're going to switch towards normal breathing and you're going to do something called orienting.
So with your eyes open,
You're going to look very,
Very slowly to the left with your entire head.
Really make it very slow,
Deliberately exaggeratedly slow.
And then very,
Very,
Very slowly go to the right.
Do it slower than you think you should.
And this also tells the nervous system that you're safe.
So if you're completing your left-right,
Then do one more time to the left.
Very,
Very,
Very slowly to the left.
Just allowing your head to completely make that turn to the left.
And then very,
Very,
Very,
Very slowly back to the right.
This is basically just some nervous system hijacking in a positive way.
You're basically telling the body that it's safe.
Now we're going to do the same thing with up and down.
So first look very slowly and completely up as far as you can go.
Very slowly and very completely.
Your chin is really pointing to the ceiling at the end.
And then very slowly,
Very slowly,
All the way down until your chin is resting on your chest.
And do that also two more times.
So very slowly up,
Eyes open,
Regulating the nervous system.
It may look funny,
But it really works.
And then when you're up,
Very slowly all the way down.
Very good.
And now we're going to let that go.
You're probably already feeling a bit calmer.
And now I'd like to invite you to put one hand on your chest and put one hand on your belly.
If it feels all right for you,
You can gently stroke yourself.
And this is another way to tell the body that it's safe.
And while you're doing that,
You can also feel your feet on the floor,
Feel your butt on whatever you're sitting on,
If you're sitting.
If you're standing,
Then feel your feet on the ground as well.
And really go into the sensation.
Just allow yourself to feel the touch.
And feel how grounding that is.
And allow your face to relax a bit more as your body relaxes.
Allow your shoulders to relax more down.
And remember that there's a whole planet beneath you,
Holding you and carrying you.
And feel that right now you are safe.
So that is the practice.
I hope and trust that you have found some more regulation,
Some more calmness.
I wish you a beautiful and restful rest of your day.
