Hello and welcome to today's practice.
My name is Zhou Yu.
And we will be following through a series of actions.
To calm down our nervous system.
You can find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down.
A quiet space for the next couple of minutes.
And to allow yourself to just be away from your to do list.
To take a break from all the problems that are still needing to be solved.
Let's be here for a moment.
Gently acknowledge how you're feeling at this moment.
What are the thoughts that are crossing your mind?
What are the emotions that you are experiencing?
And without any judgment or criticism,
Without any pushing or resistance.
Simply notice.
And let's shift our attention to our breath.
As you breathe in and out.
See if you can intentionally bring the breath just a little bit deeper into your lungs.
Intentionally stretch your breath.
Just a little bit longer without forcing it too much.
And feel the air fill up.
Your chest.
Feel the rise and fall.
Of your body.
And see if you can invite your breath to be just a little bit deeper.
Perhaps into your belly.
You can also place a hand on your belly and another hand on your heart.
And as you continue to breathe.
Feel the rhythm of your heart.
Synchronizing with your breathing.
Perhaps tuning to how your heart rate changes slightly.
As you are breathing.
Is it becoming faster?
Or is it slowing down?
Now I invite you to take a deep inhale through your nose.
And as you breathe out,
Let out some sound.
Breathe in again.
And as you breathe out Feel the vibration of your sound traveling through your body.
Continue at your own pace.
And pay attention especially to your jaw.
And intentionally loosen it up a little bit.
As you're exhaling.
Notice if you are clenching.
And just gently bring some movement.
To your jaw.
Every single time you're letting out some sound as you're exhaling,
Notice the vibration traveling through different parts of your body.
Sending signals to your brain and your nervous system.
Come out of a stress state.
And settle a little deeper into resting.
Perhaps tune into how your body is adjusting with the vibration.
Maybe with each sigh.
Your shoulders are dropping a little lower.
Your legs are sinking a little deeper.
Maybe imagine all of the stress The ruminating thoughts,
The overwhelming emotions.
To travel with your exhale out of your body.
Now move your neck from side to side.
Explore some circles.
Explore some subtle movement.
And as you're moving your neck,
Breathe into the spaces that feel stiff.
Perhaps hold your chin closer to your chest.
And breathe into the back space of your neck.
You can also gently move your body if you're seated upright.
Your upper torso.
Or if you are laying down.
You can gently explore some tucking of your pelvis.
And breathe into these spaces as well.
Keep your movement slow.
Without forcing anything to happen.
We're simply exploring how it feels like to activate some sensory cues that brings our nervous system to the present moment.
Now I invite you to place your hands together.
And in whatever way your body allows.
Try to explore some pressure between your hands.
Maybe squeeze them together.
Maybe press them towards each other.
Gently become aware of how this feels.
Explore gentle touch.
Without putting too much meaning into anything.
You can also do this with clay.
With a squeeze ball,
Or even working with soil in your garden.
The sensory feedback from your hands from doing these activities also activate your prefrontal cortex and brings your brain out of the stress response centers.
They also work with different hemispheres in your brain.
So sometimes intentionally using your left hand to squeeze something can also increase your creativity and help you to make sense of things from a different angle.
Now gently let go of your hands You can let them rest on the side of your body.
On your lap.
Maybe gently give your lap a little squeeze as well.
Or you can return one hand to your heart.
And one hand on your belly.
Now take another deep breath in and as you exhale,
I invite you to check in again to see How are you feeling at this moment?
What are the thoughts that are going through your mind?
Have your feelings changed in any way?
Now without any judgment,
Without any fixed expectation,
Breathe in again.
And as you breathe out,
Let it go.
Thank you for joining me for today's practice.
I hope that this has brought you a little bit of calmness and stillness.
And I will see you next time.
