Hello,
I'm Julie McCracken and it's my pleasure today to guide you through this deeply relaxing experience using self-havening to not only help you clear your stress,
But to help you step into your calm and really focus on what's important.
First,
A little snapshot of what havening is and how it can help you change the way you deal with your stress,
Especially if you usually deal with stress by ignoring how you feel and just pushing through.
Because pushing through may work for a while,
But staying in your sympathetic nervous system or your stressed state for excessively long periods can create some serious issues like exhausting your adrenals,
Difficulties with sleeping,
And problems with digestion,
Just to name a few.
This is where havening technique is exceptionally useful because it is essentially about creating a feeling of safety and a feeling of calm,
Letting you escape that nagging fear of being overwhelmed and truly begin to relax.
But what is havening technique and how do you use it?
Havening technique itself was developed by Dr Ron Rudin and it stems from the study of the effect of physical touch and its ability to encourage the brain to create delta waves,
Which are naturally created in your brain when you are in deep non-REM sleep.
Delta waves are important.
They help you to re-energize and restore,
And they also stimulate your brain to create what we call the happy chemicals.
Chemicals like serotonin and oxytocin,
Which actually lift your mood and literally change your brain chemistry.
The creation of delta waves also calms your fight-flight-freeze response,
Helping to shift you out of your sympathetic stress mode and into your parasympathetic rest,
Digest,
Relax mode.
Self-havening is easy and effective,
And you might like to do some with me now,
So you can experience it for yourself.
And as always,
It's important to remember that this is not a replacement for therapy.
Should you find you have any underlying traumatic issues,
Please always seek professional advice.
And please only listen at a time when you're comfortable and can easily relax.
To begin,
Let me guide you through two ways that you can use physical touch to begin to create delta waves in your brain.
Starting with your hands in praying hands position,
And gently rubbing the palms of your hands together up and down,
Fingertips to palms,
And back again,
Keeping going slowly and continuously,
Fingertips to palms,
Fingertips to palms.
Very good.
Another way is by giving yourself a hug,
Crossing your arms and putting your right hand on your left shoulder,
And your left hand on your right shoulder,
Then gently sliding your hands from your shoulders down to your elbows,
And just repeating this,
Shoulders to elbows,
Shoulders to elbows,
As you take a moment now to notice how you are feeling.
Whether you are feeling fearful or stressed or relaxed and calm,
Just notice how you are feeling so you can feel the changes as we haven now.
That's right,
And taking a nice slow breath in,
And out,
And as you continue gently rubbing your arms from shoulder to elbows,
Shoulder to elbows,
I would like to invite you to imagine that you are walking along a beautiful,
Peaceful beach.
You know,
That kind of beautiful beach with white sand and blue sea.
Just you,
Walking along the beach at sunset,
With the waves gently rolling in and rolling out.
That's right,
Keep havening,
And as you walk gently and slowly along the beach,
Begin counting each step as you go.
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
As the waves continue to gently roll up onto the beach,
Rolling in and out,
Keep havening,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Noticing the sun slowly sinking in the sky,
Putting a wonderful display of colours right across the sky.
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
As the sun gently sets,
Leaving a peaceful hue of deep,
Dark blue across the sky.
16,
17,
18,
19,
20,
And you can hear the waves lapping on the beach,
In and out.
21,
22,
23,
24,
25,
Coming across a comfortable spot to quietly sit and relax even further.
Quietly,
Gently breathing in and out,
With every breath,
Absorbing the fresh,
Clean ocean air.
Listening to the waves gently lapping on the beach,
In and out,
And watching as Mother Nature lays all that is,
Gently and calmly to rest,
Now,
And just breathe,
And relax,
And enjoy.
That's right,
And as you notice how you are feeling now,
Perhaps a little calmer,
A little gentler,
A little more relaxed,
You might choose to quietly continue havenning,
Listening to the music,
As you enjoy gently relaxing even deeper than that.
Or you may choose to gently open your eyes,
Feeling calm and focused,
And ready to enjoy your day.
Very good.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
