Good evening,
I'm Miriam Amavi and we're going to do a little somatic evening practice for the nervous system to discharge stress so we can fall asleep more easily.
Because it's often harder to fall asleep when we still have all that stress energy that accumulated within our body during the day and we want to somatically discharge it.
In order for our body to feel more calm because our body cannot feel calm if there is still so many stress hormones coursing through our veins and we can't calm down if we don't feel safe.
So we are going to show our body safety tonight so we can feel more at ease and fall asleep more easily.
You don't need anything for this practice but yourself and maybe a cushion to sit on or just a really relaxed position where you can just be for the next couple of minutes.
And if you do have a lot of stress and nervous energy in your body,
I recommend starting with like patting down your body.
You can even get up and shake your body and just pat down your body like this and just see if you can get the stress energy out and mobilize all this tension and just get it out by patting down your body,
By breathing,
By making sounds like that.
And you can do the standing,
Like I said,
You can jump,
You could shake,
You can bounce and just let it all out.
Just be a little bit silly,
You know,
Life is short.
Let's just be a little bit silly.
Let's just get it all out.
You can,
You know,
Do the same with your legs and just find a way to express your stress.
And if you like to sit,
You can also stay seated and just kind of shake a little bit with your arms.
And once you feel this sense of satisfaction,
You can slowly just Slow down the movement.
And come to this washing motion.
You can also feel into your body if there are any sighs that want to happen or any yawns and then you can just start to wash your body as if you're taking this really nice and warm evening shower.
You have some really nicely smelling soap.
And you're just washing your body with that soap and stay really,
Really attentive with these sensations.
And if you've done any of my videos or courses,
You know this little body washing already and there is a reason why.
I use it so much because it's just so grounding.
It brings us back into our body.
Back into the sense of homecoming,
From being out in the world,
Being in our heads a lot during the day.
And now we want to feel the boundaries of our bodies again,
Which we often forget when we're just in our heads and being productive and all that.
And you can even come to your armpit and just gently pat on your armpit,
Because that is gentle disruption of any holding patterns or stress patterns that we have,
Because it's new input for our brain,
Because we often don't really touch this area.
And our body goes,
Whoa,
What's happening here?
Let's be present with this.
And that helps us just come more into our bodies and you can also Gently stroke down the side of your body and do it on the other side as well.
And then you can also just gently rub your stomach like this and your upper body.
And just allow yourself to take the breaths that your body wants to take.
Just be intuitive with it.
Make noises if you like.
This is all about just being a human.
Expressing yourself like humans do because often during the day we're always trying to be zipped up and trying to be an adult.
And here we just really want to allow ourselves to let all of that go.
And then you can come to your right leg.
And just gently washing your legs with that really nice soap,
With that warm evening shower.
Kind of enjoy this moment of exploration,
Of feeling your body again,
Of coming home to your body.
And if you like,
You can also give your feet a little massage if your feet have been in shoes the whole day,
Maybe.
That doesn't feel good right now,
And that's okay.
You don't have to.
Then you can come to your other leg and once again just be really really present with the sensations you're generating here.
What does this feel like from within your leg?
How do your hands feel?
From within your body when you touch.
Your leg like this.
Maybe you'll find an area that would like a little massage,
Where it feels nicer to touch.
Just explore that and attune to your body and what it needs and this is a really really great way to show our body's safety when we attune to its needs when we cater to its needs.
And then you can come back to a comfortable seat.
Feel into your body how this feels now if you feel a little bit more at home,
A little bit more embodied.
I can still feel the tingling in my.
.
.
Hands in the palms of my hands.
I can also feel more awakeness in my body,
More presence.
Feeling more at home here.
And then you can bring your elbows out to the side and have your arms like little goal posts.
And then you can bring your shoulders together.
Lift your chest,
Lift your chin if you like.
And then close your elbows and round your back.
And maybe bring your chin towards your chest and then open up again and find your own expression like this.
This is a really great way to Stimulate the vagus nerve.
Give us this dose of safety,
Mobilize the dorsal vagal complex.
Bringing us to the sense of at homeness,
At presence.
And if there is any intuitive movements that want to arise from here.
You can always do that little stretches.
You know,
There is so much stagnation that can happen during the day when We sit on our desks.
For so long.
When we think so long or we're just out and about and busy.
And so we just want to see if there is anything that our body wants to express here.
And we want to continue with this gentle legs nerve stimulation by sitting up straight and then lowering your right ear voluntarily to your right shoulder.
If you like,
For some feedback,
You can also bring your right hand on top of your left hand.
Your face is facing forwards and then you can bring your eyes into the upper left corner.
And see if there are any releases like sighing or yawning.
Taking a spontaneous deep breath.
That arises automatically.
We don't need to make anything happen here.
We just want to observe.
We just want to be present with our sensations.
This posture,
It's called the Half Salamander,
Is a really great way to Stimulate the vagus nerve which helps us come back into rest and digest.
If you feel dizzy or anything like that you can always come back and back to the center.
And we're also supporting blood flow in our cranial nerves.
Then you can bring your head back to the center.
Take a little breather.
Then lowering your left ear.
To your left shoulder.
Bring in your left hand to the top of your head if you like.
And bringing your eyes into the upper right corner.
And bringing blood flow to these cranial nerves in the base of your neck.
Helps.
The vagus nerve to send its messages more clearly,
Bring up more safety messages to the brain and from the brain to the body.
I'm noticing this spontaneous yawn and these spontaneous deeper breaths and these are just signs that the nervous system is shifting gears.
Towards rest and digest,
Which is a state that we need if we want to fall asleep,
Feel safe enough to fall asleep.
Then you can bring your head back to the center.
Take a little second to feel.
And then I invite you to gently Come into these havening motions,
Just gently rub up and down your arms.
With opposite hands.
I feel like you can also just gently rock from side to side,
Giving your nervous system the sense of rhythm,
Which is.
.
.
Really,
Really regulating.
Because it's predictable and our nervous system loves predictability.
And it's also really soothing.
You're giving.
Your systems.
Signal of being held.
It's safe enough to let go,
Letting your guard down.
That you're holding yourself,
Supporting yourself,
Giving yourself what you need.
If you like,
You can Stay with this motion.
If your body craves more stillness,
You can bring your right hand underneath your left shoulder and your left hand on top of your right shoulder.
Just hold yourself like this in this containment hug.
If you'd like,
You can close your eyes.
That doesn't feel safe,
You can just lower your gaze.
Take a moment to gently reflect on your day.
What moved you today.
What beauty did you encounter today?
Even if it's really small.
Almost unnoticeable,
But what if you do notice it?
Which feelings were most present today?
There is no need to analyze or change anything.
Just noticing is enough.
Maybe take a moment to Acknowledge yourself.
For what you felt today.
For what you carried.
For what you managed.
Perhaps there was.
Even something that you did.
Even though you were afraid.
Perhaps you tried something new.
Or responded to yourself and your body.
With a little more kindness than before.
What if you allowed this possibility that Today.
What you did.
It's in there.
Nothing else needs to be solved right now.
And if there is a part of you or the sense of urgency or sense that you should have done more today.
Just simply acknowledge that part of you.
You could gently say to it I know you're trying to protect me and often these feelings only need a little bit more recognition.
Because when we pressure ourselves or tell ourselves we haven't done enough.
The body can interpret this as a signal of danger.
And the nervous system stays activated.
So tonight.
We want to let the body know.
For now,
It's okay to rest.
And feel like you can take a deep breath.
Enjoying this little cocoon you've made for yourself here.
And let it all go.
And you can always come back to this if you need a little bit of soothing and a little bit of sorting.
In the evening so you can fall asleep a little more easily.
And if you want to deepen your somatic practice and support your nervous system even more,
I invite you to check out my courses here on Inside Timer and follow me for more somatic practices just like this.
And you can come back to this practice every evening to kind of deepen these effects and discharge some of that stress.
I'm Miriam Amavi and see you next time.
Bye bye.
