So I'm going to guide you on a stress release meditation now to help us get out of the fight flight system and into the rest and digest system.
Coming into whatever posture,
Whatever situation is suitable for you in this moment,
Maybe the eyes can close or maybe you just lower your gaze.
Just allow yourself to take three deep exhales out of the mouth,
Inhaling through the nose,
Deep exhales out of the mouth,
Just releasing all that tension you've been carrying chronically activated.
As you've stepped into this moment and decided,
And the last bout of chronic stress,
Even just for these moments,
Let your exhales release whatever toxicity build up,
Whatever tension,
Just let it go.
Once you've done your three breaths,
Allowing yourself to notice your natural breathing.
And if you have been stressed,
Your natural breath still might be a little fast,
Or maybe your heartbeat is still a little fast.
That's OK.
We're here.
We're allowing it to soften.
We're not making it,
But just hold space to be with the natural rhythm of your breath and let it just find its rhythm in this moment as you've come out of doing,
Out of thinking,
And into a place that is safe.
The thinking mind will want to pull you out and say,
No,
We don't have time for this break.
We have to do this.
What about this?
What if this?
Every time the thinking mind pulls you out,
Just gently turn away,
Come back to the breath,
Soften into the experience of your body being breathed.
As you soften into this breath,
Landing in it,
Now get some perspective.
When we're stressed,
Our focus is narrowed.
We can't see anything,
Including ourselves or our own status,
Our own situation.
So as you're coming into the breath and opening perspective,
I just want you to notice how your body feels,
Noticing how it's come out of the stress without judgment but with compassion if the body is a little tired or tense,
Painful,
Holding in a compassionate lens and seeing and feeling how your body is right now.
We're not fixing.
We're just noticing if the heart has been beating fast or the body has been braced in a fight or hiding.
Allow your body,
Allow the shoulders to release backwards as the chest rises.
This is a posture of safety when you allow your heart to be open,
The shoulders to be relaxed.
Breathe into that heart space.
Let the shoulders relax back.
Come back into your heart.
If there's any pains or emotions that came with the stressors you experienced,
Just allow those emotions to be felt.
Again,
Not to be fixed but just to have some room.
Out of the doing,
Into the being,
Now we get to feel.
What is it that needs to be felt for you?
Fencing into the arms,
Noticing if they're still tense or active from pushing something away or gripping onto something for dear life.
Just allow the arms to relax and be breathed.
You come into this moment of rest and release.
All the way,
The backs of the hands,
The fingers,
Releasing any fists,
And the hands open to receive the calm of this moment.
Sink into the belly where we feel the fight flight response tense up,
Lose our appetite.
We lose anything but survival of our organs.
Allow yourself just to sense into the belly as it's breathed and hold space for the softening,
Allowing the digestion of your life,
The processing of what's occurred.
Again,
Not fixing or analyzing but just moving through,
Integrating.
From here,
Maybe we remember our hunger for life,
Our creativity,
Other things that happen in our belly besides fear,
Survival.
Allow yourself to sense into your legs,
The hips,
The upper legs,
Where they still tense from either running towards,
Freezing,
Or bracing against to let all the muscles of the upper legs relax,
Down to the lower legs.
The feet,
Letting the feet take a break from the path of threat,
Survival.
Let the toes uncurl.
Let the tired,
Weary feet relax,
Feeling the breath and the blood go all the way to the toes,
Replenishing weary feet.
And saying into the top of the head now,
Allowing release like a wave,
Just washing from the top of the head down the sides of the face,
All the way down the sides of the body to the earth,
Washing away the threat.
And sink into the forehead,
Noticing if it's still holding the patterns that come with doing,
Tension of the forehead.
Let that go.
The tension in the eyes and the muscles around the eyes as you've narrowed your focus and remain vigilant on one thing,
Allow the muscles of the eyes to relax,
The eyebrows to spread away from each other,
And the eyes to turn inward,
Allowing the jaw to unclench,
Tongue to soften.
Feel the whole face come out of its mask,
The ears softening from their vigilance.
And sink into the throat,
Letting that not relax,
Opening for laughter or singing,
Finding your voice again after challenge.
Allow yourself to sense from the top of the head to the toes and the fingers and the belly and the back,
Just the belly being breathed.
Whole body now just in the flow of the breath,
Free from whatever happened before or will happen later right now.
You are safe.
There is no threat that needs to be addressed right now.
So let the body rest,
Feel your energy shift and change,
Feel the body heal and restore as you've allowed yourself to take a break and just breathe.
