Welcome to your nervous system regulation practice.
Perhaps you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed by something that's happened in your day,
Or you're just needing a little bit of a reset to feel a bit more grounded,
Calmer,
More present.
This is the perfect practice for you.
In this practice,
We'll be using sensory stimulus as well as visual reset tools and the breath to bring about that state of nervous system regulation.
Our body has this innate ability to regulate the nervous system,
And all you need is yourself in this practice.
So when you're ready,
Find a comfortable seat.
You can be standing,
You can be seated.
Just allow the body to be comfortable wherever you are.
And then go ahead and take that moment to check in.
You can turn the head side to side to notice the range of motion that you have in the neck.
Or take a few breaths and just allow yourself to sense where those breaths land in the body.
This is just to allow ourself to have that baseline of where we are now.
So we can begin to understand and read the signals from our nervous system to see where we are at the end of this practice.
And now begin to gently close down the eyes or just have a soft gaze down,
Whatever feels best for you.
And bringing the hands together in front of the body,
Begin to rub the hands together and allow this to be gentle and soft.
And so often when we rub the hands together,
We do so in this quick fashion.
But what would it feel like to slow this down?
How gentle can you be while still feeling the sensation of the hands against each other?
Rubbing in between the fingers,
The backside of the hands.
And if you notice the mind wandering,
You're distracted in any way.
See if you can allow yourself to be really intentional and present with the sensations and the touch of the hands.
It's okay for the mind to wander,
That's often what it does.
But instead of this just being a passive process,
Instead of this just being a passive process,
Something that you're doing,
Allow yourself to really be present with what the hands feel.
And as you continue to rub the hands together in the slow way,
Maybe even start to say to yourself,
These are my hands.
This is the palm of my hand,
The back of my hand.
Creating that clear map for the brain of where the hands are in space.
And now begin to rub the hands together a little bit faster now.
This is where you'll start to build that bit of heat.
Rubbing the hands together,
Feeling that heat building.
And now allow the palms of the hands to land over the eyes.
Almost as if you're cupping the eyes.
Just allow the hands to land there.
Not too much pressure into the face.
And see if you can allow all the light to be blocked out.
So if you were to gently blink open the eyes with the hands,
The palms over the eyes,
You wouldn't be able to see any light at all.
And here,
Can you allow the eyes to soften?
The muscles to release,
The eyes to relax.
And here,
Can you allow the eyes to soften?
And here,
Can you allow the eyes to relax?
Maybe even blinking the eyes open and seeing that darkness.
Nothing to take in,
Nothing to see.
Allowing yourself to breathe.
And then closing down the eyes once more,
Let the hands fall into the lap.
And now we'll end this practice with a straw breath breathing.
The straw breathing practice emphasizes the exhale.
And when you exhale,
You'll purse the lips together as if you're breathing out of a straw.
So when you're ready,
A soft,
Gentle inhale through the nose and a long,
Slow exhale through the mouth,
Through those pursed lips.
And a soft,
Gentle inhale for a count of two or three.
And a long,
Slow exhale,
For a count of six,
Seven,
Or eight.
And do a couple more in your own time,
Finding that pace that feels supportive for you while you lengthen out the exhale.
It's a soft,
Gentle inhale and a long,
Slow exhale.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through those pursed lips through the mouth.
One more breath like that.
And then allow a gentle inhale through the nose and just a regular exhale through your open mouth.
Allow the breath to settle into a natural rhythm and take this moment to check in.
To turn the head side to side,
Notice if there's an increased range of motion.
Just notice how you're feeling and being proud of yourself for allowing this pause to re-regulate,
To tap into the wisdom and intellect of the body.
And to know that you can reemerge into your day with that sense of presence,
Calm,
Grounded energy.
Thanks for joining.
