Panic Attack SOS | Nervous System Reset | Seaside Walk

This is a somatic reset and narration to ease you into nervous system regulation. First we'll do some panic or anxiety first aid, grounding in the body and getting to a safe place. Then, we'll take a walk together on the seaside.

Most of this audio is just my voice, except for some light music and seaside sounds during our visualization.

Transcript

Hey,

Hi,

I'm here.

Whatever is happening in your body and mind right now,

I'm going to be here with it,

With you,

And we're going to calm your nervous system together.

Are you sitting or lying down?

Try doing that real quick.

Find a way to be in your body right now that doesn't require too much effort.

Change positions if you need to,

And then see if you can stay still for just a little while.

Deep breathe with me,

Okay?

Let's inhale.

And on the exhale,

Just hum like this.

Let's do one more,

Yeah?

What's going on with your hands?

Take a look at them if you can.

Open your palms up,

And then close them tight.

Tighter than that.

Yep,

Real tight.

Inhale,

And let's exhale,

Humming as we open our hands back up.

You want to try that again?

Close your fist tight,

And inhale.

Exhale humming and relax the hands.

That's great.

We are collaborating here,

And I'm not going to leave you alone.

You and I are sitting with you here.

Let's try that again,

But with our feet this time.

Even if you're wearing shoes,

See if you can spread the toes out and relax the feet from the inside.

And now,

Deep inhale as you tense up the feet and curl the toes.

Good.

Exhale humming and relax.

Awesome.

You're doing great.

This is going to help,

I promise.

Let's do the feet one more time.

Inhale,

Curl up the toes,

Tense the ankles,

Release humming.

Cool.

Let's try something else.

Let your hands open,

Palms up,

And then cross one wrist over the other,

Like you're putting on cologne or perfume.

Just slowly,

Gently rub your wrists together.

You can switch the wrists around,

Maybe rub on the forearms,

Breathing in.

And if you want to,

Humming as you exhale.

What's up with your shoulders right now?

I want you to feel like you're in a warm shower and the water is running over your head and shoulders.

Your shoulders are powerless under the steady flow of that warm water.

If you're like me,

Maybe you can turn up the temperature on that water and let it run hot,

Steaming over your shoulders and down your back.

Let go of your tough feelings,

Your nervousness,

Your stress,

Your anxiety.

It's like paint on your neck and shoulders.

Wet paint melting off with the water.

Sometimes I think of mine as mud and it's all running down the drain.

Hot water relaxing you and letting any and all tension rinse away.

Are you still breathing?

You're really good at this.

You know how to take care of yourself.

You sensed what was happening to your body and you found this meditation and you found me.

You're nailing it.

You've got this.

I want to take you on a little walk in our imagination.

My job will be to give you images and sensations that you can picture or imagine.

Your job is to do some deep breathing in and some slow breathing out.

Here are two suggestions for those relaxing exhales.

One is humming and the other is pursed lip breathing.

That means it looks like you're whistling,

Pushing the air out of your lungs.

Nice and slow.

Are you ready?

Okay,

Let's take a walk.

We're staying at a beach house.

From the kitchen,

There's a view of the sand dunes and a little set of stairs down to the seaside.

There are friends and family inside.

Familiar people.

Doing dishes.

Doing a puzzle.

Watching TV.

You and I are going for a walk.

It's bright and sunny,

But it's late fall,

So let's bring a sweater just in case.

I'm going to carry my shoes with me just in case I want to put them on later.

Let's go out the sliding doors off the dining room and take the stairs down.

The handrail is made of iron and the stairs are concrete.

The wind is whipping our hair.

It's warm and smells like salt.

Look,

Out at the blue,

Blue ocean,

You can see a tiny white sailboat on the horizon.

I wonder who's out there and where they're going today.

I can hear you breathing next to me,

Slow and deep.

The stairs disappear into the sand at the bottom and our feet sink in as we start to walk toward the shore.

It's a pretty empty beach today.

Just some kids playing in the sand and a few small groups of friends under umbrellas.

It's a little too cold to go in the water today,

So everyone's just enjoying the warm sand and sunshine.

Let's walk to the right,

Away from the house and toward the sun.

It's mid-afternoon now,

Not too hot.

I hear someone's music in the distance.

Listen to those seagulls.

I think maybe seagulls and the seaside sound exactly the same anywhere on Earth,

Don't you?

We push our feet into the sand,

Walking toward the water to where the sand is packed and easier to walk on.

It's cool here,

And there are a few shells here and there,

But otherwise it's smooth.

Let's walk here.

As we're walking together,

The sun bounces off the water and into our eyes.

I'm glad we brought sunglasses,

And you've got your hat.

It's the kind of day,

Somewhere in the middle of a long weekend,

When I've forgotten everything about work.

Do I even have a job?

Oh,

Look at this.

A little kid is coming toward us with a wagon,

And in the wagon is,

Oh look,

She's beautiful,

It's a golden retriever.

And oh wow,

She's got two puppies with her.

Can we touch?

Oh wow,

They're so cute.

Their fur is so soft,

And the mama dog is so sweet,

Sniffing our fingers.

Can I pick up a puppy?

Here you take one too.

Oh,

It's so tiny and sweet.

I love puppy breath.

Hello baby dog,

I love you.

I want to take one home.

These puppies already have people waiting for them once they're ready to leave mama dog.

This one is chewing on my hand with those sharp little puppy teeth.

I boop it on the nose,

And it licks my finger.

Let's put them back with mama dog,

Shall we?

Thank you for sharing your dogs with us.

I hope you have a lovely afternoon.

We watch them as they continue on the beach away from us.

How lucky was that?

Up ahead the water at the shore is met by a little stream that's coming down from the hills above.

The freshwater eddies in the sea,

And the sand is worn away where it's cut through.

It's created a small creek,

Like a tiny river.

Do you want to cross it and keep going?

Or should we go back to the house?

I think it might be time to start getting dinner ready.

Hang on,

I want to watch the water here for a little while.

Up in the forest where it's coming from,

It's dark and looks cool.

The water is cold here.

Dip your toe in.

I wonder if it's coming from a stream or a spring.

Everything flows down to the ocean eventually,

Doesn't it?

I think that's lovely.

All of the rivers and streams and little creeks like this one,

All moving together toward the big ocean.

This whole planet is covered with water,

Always moving,

Searching for home.

We know where home is,

Aren't we lucky?

Let's turn back here and head home.

The sun is at our backs now,

Warming and steady.

It's the perfect combination of wind and sun.

I could stay out here another week.

Oh,

Why not a month?

Right?

Let's always come back here,

Can't we?

It doesn't take us long to get back to the house,

Because now we're feeling a little hungry.

Are these our steps back up?

Yeah,

These are the ones.

I'll follow you.

Go ahead.

Before we head back to the sliding doors halfway up the steps,

Let's turn around and look at the sea.

I'm searching for the sailboat we saw earlier.

Can you find it?

Oh,

You're right,

There it is.

It's anchored out in the calm sea.

I bet they're going to get dinner ready too.

I follow you back into the house,

Which is warm and bright and smells like dinner cooking.

Thanks for going on a walk with me.

You can find me right here anytime you need me.

I'll be waiting.

Reviews

TY

I needed this. Thank you.

This was so calming and an absolute delight. I especially loved the unexpected visitors you crossed paths with on the beach! (I won't say who those visitors were, as to not spoil the surprise for anyone who hasn't listened yet!)

I'll certainly be revisiting this meditation many times again. Thank you!

Great calming process and great visualization. Thank you for this, so helpful!🙏🏻

Very soothing- especially the beginning. 🙏many thanks!

Thank you so much for this walk!! I soothed my heart and relaxed my body! Your voice is so sweet. I felt like being carried by myself with livening kindness and self acceptance.
🙏❤️🌹🙏

Thank you for this lovely walk, so beautiful and peaceful ❣️

Very helpful in times of high anxiety and slight depression

Perfect talk down with lots of engaging strategies to help with distraction. Thank you, it's really helped me calm my panic attack tonight.