My name is Leila and I just want you to know that if you're feeling overwhelmed or anxious right now it is completely normal and it is your nervous system intelligently reacting to the world we live in.
It is an attempt of your nervous system to keep you safe.
It is an act of love from your nervous system to you even though it may not feel like it.
And we can together work on creating safety and grounding in your body so you don't have to feel this way anymore.
To begin,
Find a comfortable seat and just gently start to look around the space that you're in.
See if you can notice and name three colors.
See if you can notice and name three different textures.
Start to notice where the light is entering the room or the space that you're in.
And become aware of any shadows or patterns that the light might be creating.
Move your awareness towards the temperature of your skin and see which areas of your body might be feeling cold or hot or neutral.
Move your awareness towards your seat or any back support you might have.
Feeling the parts of your body that are supported by the earth or by the chair that is holding you.
And see if you can notice the support gently lifting up to hold you even more.
And with that lifting maybe you can relax a little deeper into the support.
Allowing yourself to be held here.
And gently bring one hand to the heart,
One hand to the belly if that feels right.
If there's anywhere else your hands want to go to,
Maybe you want to give yourself a hug.
Maybe you want to bring your hands on your shoulders,
Allow your hands to go there.
And wherever your hands are,
Allow them to create some gentle pressure onto your body.
Gentle but strong.
It's like you're letting yourself know that you're here holding yourself.
And one of the ways we can really bring our nervous system back to safety and back to a more regulated place is through humming.
So we'll practice three hums together today.
The first hum,
I invite you to send towards your pelvis and your belly.
The second one up into your heart.
And the third one to the top of your head.
Let's begin.
Deeply inhale through your nose.
And hum down into your pelvis and your belly.
Deep inhale through your nose.
Humming into your heart space.
Take a deep inhale.
And hum to the top of your head,
Feeling your brain vibrate.
Humming.
And after you've completed three hums,
Gently start to rock your shoulders from side to side.
Allowing your body to move left and right.
Keeping the pressure of your hands onto a part of your body that wants to be touched right now.
And keep this rocking going for as long as it feels good for you.
And with this rocking,
We'll practice some deep breaths.
Take a slow inhale through your nose.
Filling up the belly and the chest,
The sides and the back.
So allowing the breath to be three-dimensional here.
Inhale.
And open your mouth and allow the exhale to be double as long as the inhale.
Two more together,
Breathing in through your nose.
The front,
Back,
And sides of your body all at once.
Filling it up with air.
Inhale.
And open your mouth as you let something go.
Here,
Slowly exhale out all of your air.
Allow your exhale to be as slow as possible.
And blow out all of your air when you reach the bottom of that exhale.
So your body is completely empty of oxygen.
Inhale.
Really deep,
Three-dimensionally.
This time focusing on the air moving to the back of your body.
And open your mouth,
Relaxing your shoulders and your belly as you blow out all of your air.
And now we'll add sighs.
Some sound to the breath and breathe three more times.
Inhale through your nose all the way to the top of your head.
This time,
Make a sound as you let out your air.
Two more times,
Breathing in.
And making a sound as you let the air out,
Allowing the sound to come from your belly.
One more,
Breathing deep.
And open your mouth.
Make a sound as you exhale from the belly to the mouth.
And then gently come to a breath pattern that feels supportive for you.
Maybe starting to inhale and exhale out through your nose.
Here,
Take a moment to notice how all of these practices that we did together landed in your body today.
And maybe you feel just a little bit,
Just a tiny bit more regulated in your nervous system.
And if rocking from side to side has been feeling really helpful for you,
You can keep moving or find stillness.
Now,
I invite you to think about the last time you felt deeply safe.
Maybe there's a person,
There's a place,
There's a pet that makes you feel deeply safe.
I invite you to bring in your mind's eye that person,
Place,
Pet that is the source of your thought safety for you.
Imagining the source with as much detail as you can.
And as you keep your awareness here,
Notice the shift that's happening in your body.
And without labeling,
Labeling like I feel calmer,
I feel better,
Try to notice the somatic shift,
The shift in your bodily sensation.
Maybe the pressure in your chest starts to lift.
Maybe there's an openness in your heart,
A relaxation of your throat,
Or maybe it's something completely different.
Take a moment to notice that sensation.
And the source of safety you just brought in is your resource.
You can always call upon the source when your nervous system needs some grounding,
When your nervous system needs to feel safe and settled.
Thank you for trusting me today,
And I hope we will meet again.
