Safety & Gratitude: Meditation For The Nervous System

When we are feeling overly anxious, or overly numb and without sensation, the nervous system could be signaling us for somatic and visual reminders. Reminders of what safety has felt like in our bodies before, or how it could feel for the first time. We begin with gratitude as we bridge mindfulness with somatic awareness.

Transcript

So today's meditation is on the topic of implicit memory and explicit memory and this concept around really cherishing the beautiful moments and storing them in the body and neurologically and rewiring the way that we think and the way that we feel.

And so I encourage you to close the eyes,

Find a space lying down or sitting.

And if you're looking at a screen,

You can bring the light down really low and even maybe bring the camera down so that you're not distracted,

Just coming into your own space.

The invitation here from the very beginning is to drop into your body.

Drop deeply into the bones,

Into the breath,

Hanging out in the exhalation so that we can allow our parasympathetic nervous system to kind of lull us into a little bit of a lullaby.

Waiting for that ocean-like sound as the breath moves in and out of the nostrils.

And letting go of anything that's happened prior to this moment,

Anything that will come after just being here in the space.

The most challenging aspect of meditation is generally just settling in and arriving.

A lot of times we arrive once the meditation is almost over.

So just taking our time here to really,

Really fully arrive in the space.

And consciously choosing,

Choosing to be here for this short amount of time with full presence.

Fully in your breath and fully in comfortable stillness.

So doing your best to not force the stillness,

But letting the spine be nice and long,

The body to be long if you're sitting up,

Bones stacked on top of each other.

Let the lips slightly part.

Imagine a hand just slightly touching the forehead with its palm.

A warm sensation moving into the forehead,

Allowing you to feel nurtured and held here.

Maybe the hand belongs to somebody that you love.

Maybe a grandmother's touch or grandfather,

Mother,

Father,

A figure that brings warm memories of safety to your body.

Letting the muscles in the face relax.

Relaxing the muscles in the neck,

The shoulders,

Across the chest.

And again,

In each moment choosing to be here.

The greatest gift that we can give to ourselves and others is presence.

So notice that there's a tendency to want to move or perfect.

And can you let the breath be the waving motion in the body?

Let everything else fall into stillness.

Letting the belly bulb out and fill with air,

Letting the hips be heavy.

And when I begin to count down from nine to one,

Let each exhalation on that countdown bring you deeper and deeper into your body,

Deeper and deeper into presence.

Nine,

Eight,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

And deeply in the body,

Descending into the skin and bones.

Begin to turn your internal attention towards the womb space,

Towards muladhara,

The root.

Maybe you sense a color red or a warmth.

Allow yourself to feel safe here.

What does it mean to feel safe in this area?

If it means placing a hand there,

You can.

If there's any numbness or dullness,

Maybe the warmth of the palm can bring an aliveness to the space right over the genitals.

And stay focused on the breath.

Make sure the mind doesn't begin to wander.

You can come back to that mantra,

Breathing in,

I'm aware that I am breathing in,

Breathing out,

I'm aware that I'm breathing out.

And as you sense and tune into this area in the body,

Like a movie screen in the mind,

Allow an image to come to mind the first time that you remember feeling safe.

The first time that you felt accepted or a part of tribe.

The first time you really felt safe in the world you trusted.

Maybe many moments flash across that screen,

But keep the focus on a moment that you felt safe,

That you trusted,

That you felt accepted,

Loved,

A part of.

And just sit in that memory.

And maybe it's a small memory,

Maybe it's a big memory,

It doesn't matter.

Just a memory as you tune into the root where you felt safe,

Cared for,

Seen,

Acknowledged.

Maybe it was by a teacher,

A parent,

An adult figure,

Maybe it was by a peer,

Maybe it was recent.

Maybe it was a long time ago,

There are no guidelines,

But just a moment.

And on that movie screen of the mind,

Maybe many moments begin to pass by.

And just allow yourself to feel and tune into how the body reacts,

How this place in the body reacts to these memories of safety,

Of inclusion,

Of tribe,

Of trust.

And maybe it's a moment with nature.

At some point allow the mental images to fade and imagine yourself sitting at the base of a giant tree with your back against the bark,

Your body weight on the ground,

Just feeling that connection being held by mother nature.

And tune in if you can feel restful here,

Allow yourself to just melt in to this space.

Maybe some of those memories flash by again of safety,

Of inclusion and trust.

And allow us to settle into a little bit of silence with that.

And if the mind begins to wander,

Bring it back,

Reveling in those small moments,

Those small triumphs,

Those victories of safety,

Of trust,

Of inclusion.

And that restful nature propped up against the tree held here in the forest.

And tune into what it feels like in the body to feel safe.

Notice if you feel a warmth in the chest,

A tingling in the fingers.

There is an inherent essence,

A flavor,

A quality of safety when we experience deep trust and inclusion in our bodies,

Such a sweet,

Sweet nectar.

So really embrace what that feels like for you.

And maybe it's subtle,

Maybe it's like a whisper.

Maybe it's a whisper in the ear from a loved one or from the birds,

From the trees,

From the wind.

Maybe it's a hand on your back or on your heart.

But tune in to that feeling,

Those moments in your life on this timeline where you have felt the most safe,

The most included,

The most loved.

Maybe you hear whispers in the wind,

As you sit at the base of this tree,

You are safe.

You are safe.

You are safe.

You are safe.

Notice if there's any desire to run away from that reflection,

If the mind begins to wander,

Bring it back.

This is how we restore nurturance in the mind and the body and build that connection to recreate our worlds.

This is important.

So let those moments fill you up,

Revel in them.

Smiles flash across the mind,

Hands being held,

Meals together,

Beautiful days in nature.

I am safe.

I am safe.

I am safe.

I am safe.

Very slowly letting the energy and the attention draw up to that second center along the spine,

Svaristhana,

Into the hips,

To that space just below the belly button,

The sea of emotions,

This watery place,

Beautiful color of orange permeating out from the body.

And keep that essence of safety,

That flavor of safety,

As we move into this center of self-expression,

Of creativity,

Of our unique expression of life,

Of that life force energy,

The sensuality,

The sexuality.

And again,

Maybe a hand wants to be placed there just to bring warmth into this space and attention if there's any numbness or dullness,

Deep breaths in and out of the nostrils,

Keeping the presence there.

And again,

Allow that movie screen to flash across the mind and scan back across the timeline and the timelines of all of your lives,

Of this life,

Into those first moments that you felt creative,

That the little you,

The little you saw the art in life,

Was in awe and wonder of color,

Of texture,

Of music,

Of smell.

And the moments,

The first moments when you were young or maybe it's more recent that you felt creative,

That you were creative.

Again,

Staying focused on these memories flashing across the screen of the mind wonders.

Come back to breathing in.

I am aware that I am breathing in,

Breathing out.

I'm aware that I'm breathing out.

And this is that moment of celebration.

Maybe many moments flash across the screen,

These moments of creativity and your creativity,

What you find creative in life.

Maybe it's a moment with a being,

With an animal,

With nature.

And tuning in also to the first moments,

Precious moments where you felt in your sensuality,

You began to understand what it meant to feel,

To sense.

Maybe your first moment dancing and feeling your body move in certain rhythms,

Your hips swing.

Maybe a slight smile spreads across the face as you remember those first moments to know how good it could feel to be in your human body.

Feeling safe,

Feeling included,

Feeling seen,

Feeling creative.

Maybe it's a subtle moment or maybe it's a big moment.

Just remembering a moment where you celebrated being in your particular body.

Maybe you were climbing a tree or crawling on the ground or playing in the mud or swimming in water for the first time.

But tune into what it felt like to feel the fluid nature of your body,

The way that it danced and moved or ran or played,

The way that it drew or sang or played a musical instrument.

And the mind with its imagination and fairy tales,

Maybe there was a friend,

An imaginary friend that visited you.

And tune into the sensations in your body when you truly felt safe to be yourself,

To express,

To be weird and strange and human.

As those visions come across this movie line in the mind,

Imagine yourself floating in a body of water.

Maybe you're already there or maybe you walk into it.

Maybe it's a river,

Maybe it's a lake,

Maybe it's the ocean.

But a body of water that you feel safe in.

Maybe it's shallow,

Maybe it's deep,

But imagine your body being supported by the buoyancy of this element of life force energy that just holds you.

The element that you were born into,

The element that makes up most of your body.

Allow yourself to simply be held and let the water be calm so that it holds you,

So that it soothes you.

Maybe your body even begins to micro sway,

You feel the swaying of the water.

And again,

Tune into the sensation of the wetness touching your skin.

What it feels like when we feel safe in water,

When we feel held.

Maybe you feel playful.

Maybe you feel sensual,

Maybe you feel calm.

Let the visions,

The memories still cross the mind as you lay here in this cool pool of water being held.

Very slowly,

Imagine a hand,

Slowly touching your hand in the water as it guides you back towards shore,

Pulling you or walking with you a hand that you trust.

Maybe it's attached to a face,

Maybe it's attached to nothing.

But very slowly assisting you back to earth,

Back to groundedness.

It helps you come back to shore where you can sit down in the sun.

Maybe you hear the waves lapping up across the shore.

But allow yourself to feel warmth as the sun beats down on your face,

On your body.

If you feel safe and comfortable in this space,

Maybe you lie there,

You sit there naked,

Stripped away of any clothes,

Any fears,

Just basking in the sun.

Allow yourself to feel safe in that space,

All alone here.

No one watching you,

Just with the water,

With the earth beneath you,

With the sun shining in your innocence,

In your body,

This beautiful vessel that you've come into life with.

Slowly let the energy and the mind come to focus on that space just above the navel and to Manipura,

The space of yellow,

Our inner sun,

Our drive,

Our power.

If you need to bring a hand there,

You can,

But just imagine the heat that radiates from your core when you feel safe to express who you are,

To feel your emotions,

To be in your creativity or sensuality included as part of the tribe,

Sit in confidence here at the edge of the water,

Tall in the spine,

Relaxing the body,

Feeling that heat permeating from the core and let it radiate out from you,

Touching everything around you,

Warming everything near the sand,

The ocean,

The river,

The lake,

Wherever you sit,

As you sit in your confidence and your love of yourself,

Let that heat reach out like rays of sun from your core.

Seeing visions and memories come across the mind of one of the first moments that you felt powerful,

That you felt confident,

That you did something you were really proud of,

A moment you really trusted,

Your actions and your creations.

Allow the shoulders to relax back with a proud chest,

Tall spine.

Notice what it feels like in your body to feel powerful,

To be confident,

To use your creativity and your sense of safety in the world,

To radiate out authenticity.

Notice any sensations in the body.

Again,

Bring up those memories.

And if there aren't many memories,

Just one,

Whether it's small or big,

One moment where you felt important,

You felt powerful,

You were proud of something that you did,

Even if no one else was,

You were proud of yourself.

And just settle into that space,

Sitting there on the shore,

Heat radiating down from the sun.

And if a moment in life doesn't come to mind here,

Let it be this moment as you sit there in your bare skin beneath the sun,

Trusting that you are supported by life,

To be the unique expression that you are,

That what you have to offer is important.

Let warmth radiate from you and come to you.

Let your breath nourish you on each inhalation as you feel that heat moving through the body.

You are safe.

You are uniquely creative.

You are powerful.

You are important.

Let your mind begin to say what it needs to hear.

I am safe.

I am uniquely creative,

Expressive,

Sensual,

Sexual.

Maybe you repeat these words in your mind.

I am safe.

I am uniquely creative.

I am sensual.

I am sexual.

I am a felt being.

I am powerful.

I am important.

I am proud of myself.

I am proud of myself.

I am proud of myself.

I am.

So let the visions,

Let the lake,

Let the tree,

Let the water fade away.

Very slowly just arriving back into your body in the present moment,

But let it move very slowly.

But keep that energy,

The sensation,

The feeling of the safety,

The expression,

The power in the body,

In the posture.

Just focusing on the breath as you inhale,

As you exhale.

And provoke those feelings within the body of safety,

Of creativity,

Of confidence.

In any moments that you forget,

If you feel unsafe,

If someone does something or you see something,

Or life does not provide you of an expectation,

Come back here to the body.

Go through these visuals in the mind of the moments,

The small victories.

Those small victories are the whispers that create wildfire.

So look back to those moments that you felt safe,

That you felt trust,

That you felt your sensuality,

Your confidence,

Your power.

And if it wasn't with another human,

Remember Mother Nature,

Remember the times that you swam or that you climbed trees or that you walked in forest or climbed mountains or walked along a street alone.

Search through your felt experience,

Through your memory for the moments that have taught you what it means to feel fully seen,

To feel confident,

To feel included,

To feel safe in your expression.

Take a deep breath in,

Deep sigh out.

And as I count down from nine to one,

Each number,

Each inhalation,

Revitalizing you,

Bringing you back into the present moment a little bit more,

But take your time,

Move slowly.

Nine,

Eight,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Big inhale.

Hold at the top of the inhale,

Hold it in.

Inhales at the base,

The perineum.

Exhale let go.

Hands to heart center,

Bowing head to heart.

And the moments when we forget who we truly are,

What we're made of,

Of the beautiful memories that make up our existence,

That give us a trust in life,

That give us grace to feel,

To feel our fluid nature,

To feel our power.

May we find them again and again.

May each day we begin again,

Storing those little triumphs,

Those celebrations so that we can remember fully who we are.

Namaste.

Reviews

Best meditation I have ever done. Thank you so much

Excellent thank you! Just what I needed during a flashback!!

I truly loved this meditation. I felt held . Thank you and I will come back to remind myself of my little victories .
Wonderful. 🙏

That was beautiful, thank you. What I needed to anchor into safety 🙏

This encouraged to bring up positive memories from early life, which was challenging for me when I tried last. Good grounding and closing.

Wow! Wildly grateful for this meditation 🌼😍I want to give it ten stars 🌟 Thank you so much! I have a feeling this meditation will become a good friend. So much gratitude 🙏

So beautiful! I had forgotten how strong, how creative, how joyful I felt as a child in ballet class. I loved it! So happy to have recovered that magical power. Thank you! 🙏

Thank you for pulling out what safety really meant for me.

Couldn’t remember what it was like to feel safe but I got there. Thank you.

This Offering is good! I found myself being captivated by your voice after an exceptionally demanding Day. Thank you. I will return to this again, I am sure. 🙏🏽

I found myself getting concerned if I could remember some positive experiences; fortunately I could, so I'll look forward to repeating this from a place of relaxation which I'm sure will be more beneficial. Thank you 🙏❤️🤗

Such a powerful meditation & a reminder of all that we are ❤️‍🩹 thanks Echo 🙏🏻 🙌