Allowing, Letting Be & Releasing

Through learning to allow our full spectrum of human experience, we gain peace. Through fully allowing our feelings to simply "be", a natural letting go can occur. This practice offers support for the nervous system to regulate as the body easefully releases all that's not serving it today - emotions, sensations and thoughts. When we bring compassion, understanding and gentle-ness to ourselves in each moment, we build trust, strength and empowerment amidst all experiences we meet.

Transcript

Here we are,

Showing up together here today.

Great to be here with you and have some intentional time together to welcome presence,

To sink into this present moment and meet whatever's here.

My name is Shelby and I'm in Bend,

Oregon,

And really looking forward to spending this time with you today.

As we get settled in,

See if you can put distractions aside,

Maybe get a cozy spot,

Maybe a warm beverage or cool,

Depending on where you are in the world and what the temperature is like today.

So today what we'll do is I'll just talk a little bit as we orient to the practice and the nervous system regulation work and then we'll move into that.

We'll spend the majority of the time bringing in some support for the nervous system so that we have even more space inside ourselves for meeting whatever's here,

Pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Neither.

The more we can allow our bodies and our nervous systems to rest into support,

The more they begin functioning as they are supposed to.

Our immune function comes online,

Our nervous system is operating in a way where it's responding to events appropriately instead of responding to things as maybe a stress or a threat or a perceived threat and responding appropriately in the space of threat.

So the more regulated we are,

We are responding appropriately to the situation and many of us have been knocked off balance for years or maybe decades depending on what we've been through in our lives and our bodies tend to still be responding to those past events even though in this present moment hopefully we're more safe or at ease and if in this moment something is feeling particularly stressful or challenging we can learn to respond appropriately to that too.

So we've got space for it all here together today.

Just want to remind us all that every part of you is welcome.

I went through a really emotional time in this last month and I discovered something pretty profound for myself.

You may have already discovered this for yourself.

Being more regulated I was actually able to allow the emotions to wash through me,

To meet each one,

Each piece of grief or fear or anger or disappointment with absolute care.

When the grief came I would sit bring a hand to my heart and say of course I feel this way.

A compassionate phrase.

As the anger arose and my face would get hot and red another part would come in and say it's okay to feel this,

It's safe to feel this,

It makes sense that you're feeling this.

With so much permission to feel what we're feeling instead of judge it,

Try to fix it,

Try to make it different,

Cling for pleasure,

Push away pain or discomfort.

Instead creating a space where it's all welcome is freedom.

For me when I was truly able to let each of those emotions just kind of move through or rip through I was really surprised to find there was genuine compassion on the other side of it and so much more clarity for what was going on with myself or what was going on outside of myself and I was able to respond appropriately instead of react quickly.

And so I wish that for all of us,

Every single one of us could always use more space to be able to genuinely welcome what's here even if we don't like it.

A phrase that I often use with myself and those that I work with is can I just let this be here right now or can it be okay that this is here right now.

Whatever it is can we just let it be here for three breaths or three minutes or three days.

The more we get regulation,

The more mindful we become,

The easier it is to allow these things to be here and that's freedom.

So many of us think freedom means being high vibe all the time as my head is shaking.

Well it's not always easy,

It becomes easier over time.

So I want to bring in a regulation practice today that allows us to let whatever's here wash through.

Let it touch us,

We could be with it,

But we can also have space so that it can move.

We don't have to clamp down around it,

We don't have to try to make it be different.

We can allow ourselves to open even wider as we rest it to support so that anything that's not serving us can just drain out and back to the earth.

I'll guide us through the whole process and the first thing we will do is support our adrenals and kidneys.

That's because for most of us our adrenals and kidneys have been working pretty hard trying to manage stress or manage threat over time.

So we could bring in some mindful support,

A warm gentle presence.

I'm just telling you about it now and then we'll do it.

And after we support your right kidney adrenal and then your left,

We'll bring our intention all the way to your ankles.

Supporting your ankles to be open so the energy could flow through and back to the earth out the heels of your feet.

If this is a new type of nervous system regulation work for you or new meditative practice,

Make it your own.

Know that you cannot do this perfectly or imperfectly.

Play with it,

Love it,

Hate it,

Anywhere in between.

Let's just see how it goes.

At any point if anything feels uncomfortable or painful,

Back off.

Allow your eyes to maybe move around the space that you're in or maybe bring a hand to the heart.

In this work we never push past discomfort.

We can always back off and bring a little more ease.

So my hope is that this feels healing,

Intentional,

And supportive.

As we orient towards the practice,

Let's take a few breaths and you could set your own healing intention today.

Maybe place a hand on your heart or your belly and allow an intention to come to you.

What would you love to have happen?

Then we'll follow a few natural breaths,

Feeling how your body is breathing today,

Not needing it to be any particular way.

As we move through this work,

You could have your eyes open or closed.

You can move your body.

You could be still.

I'm really honoring your experience of what feels most supportive.

Then we can bring our intention to your right adrenal,

Which is in your mid to lower back,

Just beneath that bottom rib,

Resting on top of your kidney.

We can bring a warm,

Gentle presence here.

I'm just saying hello to this right adrenal.

As it rests in to support.

It's similar to mindfulness in that we're choosing an object of our presence and our awareness.

When our minds wander,

It's not a problem.

We return again and again as we hang out here together with your right adrenal.

Whatever comes up,

Comes up.

It's all welcome.

Right adrenal,

Open to all the possibilities of healing.

Right adrenal resting in to support.

Then we can gently make our way over to your left adrenal now.

Your left adrenal resting on top of your kidney here,

In your mid to lower back,

Just beneath that bottom rib.

Welcoming your left adrenal and everything that comes along with it.

I'm just here supporting with gentleness and care.

As we're here together,

Resting our intention with your left adrenal.

Welcoming everything.

Allow,

Allow,

Allow.

There's space for it all.

Left adrenal resting in to support.

Now we can make our way to your ankles.

If you like,

You can stretch your legs out long,

Resting your heels on the ground if they're not there already,

As we bring our intention to your ankles.

We're supporting your ankles to be open.

They're like hinges on a door.

When they can be open,

The energy that's not needed,

Any unhealed energy in our body,

Anything not serving us,

Can flow down and out past our ankles,

Out the soles of our feet,

And back to the earth.

We can sweep down from the top of our head.

Just ever so gently,

Encouraging anything here that's not serving us to move down and drain out through the bottoms of the feet.

We could sweep down past the face and jaw,

Neck and shoulders,

Down the arms and hands,

Front and back of the torso.

Sweeping down through the pelvic bowl and sacrum,

Down both legs,

Past the ankles,

Draining out through the soles of your feet and back to the earth.

As we're here,

Supporting your ankles.

Then we can rest in a healing silence for a couple of minutes here,

Allowing the body to integrate this work.

As you feel ready,

You can shift and take your time,

Maybe aware of anything in your body,

Heart,

Mind,

That feels more settled or supported.

Anything that feels a little different or better,

And take that with you into your day or evening.

So any change is important change.

And so even if there's just 1% of something that feels a little bit different,

Just see if you can let it be different today.

Allow yourself to rest,

Drink water.

This work is quite deep,

Even though it's simple and short at times.

Give yourself space to just be as much as you can.

Let's dedicate this practice,

Gathering any goodness that we've cultivated here together,

And sending it out.

May it touch the lives of those near and far,

Our families and communities and beyond.

May all beings be happy.

May they be healthy and strong.

May they be safe and free from harm.

May all beings be at ease.

And that includes us.