Welcome to Nurse All Parts of Yourself,
A practice of radical being and befriending.
A few years ago I created the Nurse Resiliency Protocol to bring compassionate awareness and skillful attunement to challenging times and emotions.
I have been using it most days to help myself find deeper understanding of my nervous system responses,
To further my own self-compassion,
And to foster attuned nourishment for my body.
I share this applied meditation to all of you in hopes that it can give you and your nervous system some much-needed resourcing and regulation.
But more than simply sharing a tool,
I hope to share an invitation to begin a very intimate and personal journey between you and your body.
Begin by sitting quietly,
Comfortably.
Let your attention go inwards.
Close your eyes or lower your gaze.
Sit upright,
Attentive,
Yet relaxed and comfortable.
Allow yourself to fully settle into your seat.
Take two slow,
Deep breaths.
Feel this sense of already being held,
Being supported by the earth.
Now bring to mind a current situation where you feel stuck or challenged.
And what happens inside of you when you bring this situation to mind?
Notice yourself right now.
What is happening inside?
Do you feel curious,
Anxious,
Frustrated,
Angry?
What sensations,
Images,
Feelings,
Emotions do you feel that helps you recognize this?
How is your breath affected?
What is the overall felt sense of your inner experience?
You are developing a fine attunement to how things affect your nervous system and body,
And there's a lot of intelligence and brilliance with that.
Now welcome your thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations,
And understand this experience as a visitor from your nervous system,
An automatic response that,
Inherent in the design of being human,
Is not good or bad,
But a sign of your body readying itself to meet the demands of perceived or real threat.
With this in mind,
Can you begin to meet whatever is here with the spaciousness of compassionate understanding,
Even with a half smile and bow of reverence,
Creating a holding environment where all parts of you are welcome.
And we can bring in some somatic resourcing to our body.
I invite you to place a hand on your heart and belly,
Feel the support of the earth beneath your feet,
And take a few slow,
Deep breaths.
It's as if this resourcing is speaking the language of your body with a resonance that says,
You're okay,
I got you,
You're not alone.
And now invite somatic inquiry and attunement into your experience to get a bit more in touch with what you are experiencing,
With what wants to be known,
Felt,
And integrated now.
Really sense into the parts of you that are showing up in this challenging situation.
What feeling most wants to be known and felt?
As you get to know this part of you more deeply,
You can now ask this vulnerable part of you,
What do you need most?
How do you want me to be with you?
Maybe it's understanding that's needed,
Loving presence,
Forgiveness,
Or to simply be as you are.
Just ask and listen.
And if you haven't already,
Gently put your hand on your heart and communicate that you are here,
You are listening.
What does your true self want to say to this vulnerable one?
What does your true self want to offer to this part of you?
You may keep your hand on your heart or gently place it in your lap.
And if you wish,
Imagine a competent protector or mother earth to help hold you and this vulnerable part of you.
Now as we embody,
Empower,
And expand,
Let this feeling of being held and protected and attuned to fill your entire body and being.
Notice this feeling of being held and simply rest in this awareness.
Allow whatever arises in your body and mind to freely come and go.
And you can now just allow all of my instructions to drop away.
Think back into your seat,
This place of rest.
Allow everything to be exactly as it is.
And knowing that this natural awareness is more true than any story or emotion that moves through you,
That this is home.
As my somatic therapist once told me,
Your body is the temple for your soul.
And what helps all the parts that are inside and scared to feel safe is for them to feel that somebody is home and keeps coming home.
You may slowly begin to open your eyes.
Come back into the room.
To follow the nurse protocol to nurse all parts of yourself is an invitation into being and befriending.
It's being and befriending that are the two requirements to heal,
To awaken,
To transform,
To fully live this life and to remember your true nature.
For this world needs you.
You need you.
Your family's neighborhoods need you.
Thank you for bringing your heart,
Your vulnerability here with me today.
Make you smile as you learn.
May you have so much compassion for your humanness and your process.
Thank you.
Be well.
