Containment Exercise: Working With Overwhelm

In this video, I will be demonstrating a simple & beneficial exercise that creates containment, regulation, and ease in the body, especially when we are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or stressed. I think you’re really going to find this helpful.This is a self-holding technique (that I learned from Peter Levine) that you can do anywhere & can help you to feel more contained, anchored in your body, and help to calm the nervous system. It’s a simple practice of crossing our arms and ankles in a particular way. This technique helps us feel, maybe for the first time in years, “contained.” It helps us become aware of our container. The body is the container of all of our sensations and all of our feelings; it’s all in the body.

Transcript

In this short video, I will be demonstrating a simple and beneficial practice to help create more containment. More regulation and ease in the body, Especially if you're experiencing anxiety, Overwhelm, Or stress. Okay, So I would like to teach you this wonderful self-holding practice that I learned from Peter Levine. It's a really helpful practice. You can do this practice anywhere. And it can really help you to feel more contained again. It can help you to feel more anchored in the body. And it can help to calm the nervous system, Which is so important. In reducing stress and overwhelm and such things. It is a simple practice of crossing the arms and the ankles in a particular way. So as you probably already experienced, It can be quite unsettling to be overwhelmed by sensations in the body and emotions in the body. And it can feel almost like they're out of control sometimes. And so containment, This ability to feel the body, To feel contained in the body, To feel the skin almost like where we end and begin, Can be really, Really helpful and can really helped to settle things down quite a bit. Okay, So let me show you this. Really simple and helpful exercise. First thing that. We want to do is find ourselves in a safe, And comfortable. Plays. A safe place, A comfortable position. Go ahead and do that. And then once you've done that, Go ahead and begin to orient to the environment which you're in. We do this pretty much on all of the videos and pretty much any time I do a kind of practice I like to begin by orienting. And what that simply means is just letting your eyes move around the room or the environment you're in. Kind of noticing how things look. Just letting your eyes naturally do that, Naturally move around. And then you can take also a few moments to check into the body and notice in kind of how you're grounded. So noticing your. . . Pelvis, Your sit bones, Noticing your legs and your feet on the ground. If you're leaning against something, You can notice your back and your spine. Okay, Good. So the first thing that you want to do is take your right hand and bring it underneath your left underarm coming across your heart. Then you want to take your left hand and put it on your right shoulder. Good. The next thing you want to do is crush your. . . Ankles. Real simple, Just crossing the ankles. So then coming up back up to the top of the body here, You want to begin to squeeze. Until it feels like the right amount of pressure. So for some of you, You'll barely be squeezing at all. For others, You might be squeezing quite a lot, Which will feel really comfortable. So just finding that kind of perfect place. We want to do this practice. Or you know at least two or three minutes, At least two or three minutes. You can do it longer for sure. And you want to begin to start noticing how things are changing in the body. Noticing sensations. Noticing how things are settling in certain ways. Maybe noticing more expansion, Noticing the breath. You might notice all kinds of different sensations. Tingling vibration. Also, You want to notice what it's like. To feel your body and your skin like this, To feel a container. Really checking that out. How do you experience yourself during this practice? How do you experience yourself? In the world and in this environment in which you're in? How do you experience your body? Yeah, So just kind of having that in the background. Exploring. Tracking. In a very kind of. . . Natural. Way. Not too, Too rigid or structured. Really enjoying this. This sense of being contained, Right? So I'm starting to notice. That my shoulders are softening a little bit. I'm noticing that my Breath is a little more open so I can breathe a little easier. My jaw. It's a little bit less tight. I'm just noticing these things. Needing to do anything with that, I'm just simply tracking and noticing what's happening in my body. My legs actually have. . . Gotten a little bit more settled as well. Just continuing to explore. And track. And be here in the moment, Noticing this body, This sense of being in a body, Contained. And continuing on. . . With this practice. For as long as you would like. Okay, So I hope that you found this exercise helpful and beneficial. I hope that you will utilize this practice in the future, Especially when you're feeling, You know, Overwhelmed, Anxious, Or It can be really helpful. So I hope that you will practice. I hope you'll do this. Also, It can be really helpful in just experiencing your body to be more embodied, You know, Really getting how you feel in this environment, Right? Your body in the environment. So I hope that you will utilize this wonderful tool. Again, I hope this was helpful and thank you for hanging out with me and I look forward to seeing you in the future. Be safe and well, And I'll look forward to seeing you.