Hello and welcome to Joanna for Tatto Therapy,
Regulating the Nervous System.
Many of us find ourselves triggered at times into anxious,
Panicky,
Or what we call hyper-aroused states where the nervous system is clearly activated and we may feel really out of sorts,
Really unable to come back to a state of physiological balance and regulation.
If you're finding yourself in a place like that today,
This recording is for you.
I'll invite you to find a seated position that is comfortable.
In this session,
I'm going to walk you through a technique that I call body sweeping,
Where we use our hands to sweep along the skin of our body in order to invite the nervous system to reregulate into what we call parasympathetic states.
The skin as an organ is very much connected to the nervous system and there is a lot of evidence that shows that movement of the skin,
Which often people experience in say a massage,
Is very effective at bringing people back into states of emotional or physiological calm.
So,
I'd like to have you begin in that seated position with your feet planted on the ground.
We're going to start by taking the hands to the top of the head and allowing the hands to be very heavy as they slowly begin to slide down the side of the head,
Over the throat,
Along the chest and torso,
And then down the thighs to the knees.
Just let yourself feel those weighted hands moving slowly in a downward motion and then bringing them back up to the top of the head and slowly moving them along the body,
Over the torso and down both thighs towards the knees.
Even though the hands don't go all the way down the leg,
I like to envision that they do.
Simply imagining that can be just as effective as doing it.
Let's play around with where our hands are pulling.
Perhaps you'd like to take your hands along the back of your head this time or the front of your face.
Nice and slow,
Pulling along the body towards the knees.
And just let yourself take a few breaths at the end and just notice that you're feeling calmer.
I'd like to invite you to take the right hand to the left shoulder now and very slowly pulling along that shoulder all the way down along the forearm to the tips of the fingers.
We're going to do that on the same side three times.
So the right hand starts at the left shoulder and we slowly with a weighted hand allow it to fall over the arm.
See if you can attune and orient to the slowness of that movement.
See if you can become the inside of the arm that is receiving the sweep and notice how it calms your heart rate and how it really eases tension in the body.
We can now take the left hand to the right shoulder and slowly moving that hand down nice and slow.
I'm about halfway down.
Whenever I'm going down I always like to slow things more than I think.
And then taking the hand back to the shoulder.
I can feel my breath really slowing down with this and just allowing that hand to slide all the way down and really stretching it out along the fingertips.
And last time left hand to the right shoulder as we very slowly sweep and allow ourselves to feel comforted.
Allowing that tension to just ease out of our bodies.
Now I'd like you to come back to having the hands at the top of your head.
If you went over the back of your head,
This time go over your face.
And I'll just encourage you that about halfway down the chest,
See if you can head towards the back of your body and go down and maybe out along the hips and along the outside edges of the legs.
And we'll do that a few more times.
Starting at the top and allowing yourself to really enjoy that slow sweeping touch that wraps around towards the back of the body and brushes down along the hips and the outside of the legs.
And then coming back again.
Perhaps this time you would like to go down and along the front or the back.
Perhaps you'd like to go along the inside of the hip of the legs.
Let yourself sit for a moment and just notice how your body feels.
You might feel a little tingling in your feet which is the awakening of the lower chakras.
Which is great because when we're stressed we tend to pull our energy upward.
So I'm really feeling my feet so grounded on the earth now.
And my breath and my heart rate are really slow.
I'm aware of a feeling of deep inner peace in my heart.
And I just want to allow myself to linger there and really take in some nice rejuvenating breaths into my whole body.
Perhaps there's a color that I would like to breathe in.
And on the exhale I envision that that color just sinks into my body,
Into my spirit,
Into my being.
Feeling a loving healing light that goes to where it needs to in the amount that's needed for my greatest good and your greatest good.
Thank you for doing this practice with me today.
I hope it was a benefit for you.
This has been a recording by Joanna for Tato Therapy.
Regulating the nervous system.
Go well knowing your inner wisdom.
