Warm-Hearted Presence

Sinking into support helps us sink into presence. We gently bring care and attention to various places in the nervous system and body that help us grow our capacity to truly be right here and right now in a way that feels more spacious and at ease. We welcome every part - emotions, sensations, and thoughts as we increase nervous system regulation so that we can be more fully expressed and connected to our truest selves in this moment.

Transcript

Welcome.

I'm so happy to get to be here with y'all again today.

We are arriving and transitioning into this space and this moment together.

We can take some breaths as we allow our bodies,

Space,

And time to land here together.

Each inhale draws us more fully here into the present moment and each exhale we can soften and melt into support,

Feeling all of the places where our bodies rest onto the surfaces beneath us.

Wherever you are in the world,

However you are,

Whatever parts of you that are here in this moment,

Know that they are welcome and I am so grateful to get to be here with you.

As we move through this time we will bring in some regulation support and through a guided practice in a few moments.

As I was thinking about welcoming presence today,

It's different every day right?

However we meet the present moment,

Something new is here,

Something is always fresh.

Especially as we become more regulated and able to stay curious in a warm-hearted way,

Welcoming whatever arises.

Whatever's here,

Even if it's uncomfortable,

Even if we don't want it around,

Even if we think or wish things should be different or should feel different,

We're not here to fix it.

We're not here to figure it out.

When we welcome presence,

We welcome every part,

All of these experiences as fully as we can.

I know sometimes it can be quite difficult given our circumstances,

But we do our best knowing that whatever's here makes sense,

That it's here.

We can hold more than one part at a time.

Maybe there's a part here that we can welcome the experience of peace or ease,

Joy.

Maybe there's a part here that feels scared,

Scared to hope,

Scared to sit right down with whatever we are encountering today.

And so instead of needing to psychoanalyze it,

Make it wrong,

Try to fix it or do things differently.

We can open the door and say hello and we can do that together.

Let's take a few sighs,

Inviting our bodies here more fully into this space.

And if you feel comfortable and you're in a space to do so,

You can even make some sounds on those exhales.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Go at your own pace.

I'll do some sighs with you.

Just letting those exhales fall out.

And if it feels fun,

You can bring your shoulders to your ears on the next one and sigh out and drop them.

Just give your body a little wiggle.

We can be playful.

We don't have to be so serious here.

Allow as many sighs as feels supportive.

We are welcoming our bodies into this experience of presence.

And for many of us,

We have been apart from our bodies for some time.

As we become more regulated in our nervous systems,

We can feel more safe to allow the experience of our bodies.

Many of us have had to dissociate or check out or numb because it's been a lot to feel.

We survived in that way and that was important.

So as we welcome our bodies,

If we go slowly together so that our bodies can become refuges,

So they can be a home that feels welcoming.

So we will move into regulation work here in a moment.

And the intention is that this work fills the cracks in our foundation.

When we've been through significant,

Overwhelming,

Stressful events,

That foundation often gets cracked.

And so any nourishment and goodness that we experience in our lives just kind of sifts out like holes in a bucket.

The water just drains.

We can fill these cracks so that we can be full,

So that we can sustain goodness,

So that we can feel supported and have that grow over time so that our capacity can widen.

That's what this work does ultimately.

It gives us the capacity to welcome everything more fully,

Pleasant,

Unpleasant,

And neither.

We can sit with discomfort.

For some of us,

Discomfort comes with ease.

It's unfamiliar and peace and joy.

For others,

It comes with feeling the big feelings.

We get into these habitual,

Familiar patterns as we have learned to cope.

And we just know and trust that it makes sense that we learn to do it this way.

So as we sink into the regulation work today,

We can welcome every part,

Welcome any discomfort.

But if it becomes painful,

Which is rare,

If it becomes too much,

We back off.

We maybe stop the regulation work and take a moment and look around or place a hand on the heart or feel feet on the ground.

I'll leave that up to you.

How the work will look today is we will move through and support six different places in the body.

Maybe you've done this before.

Maybe it's new.

We'll bring a just playful,

Curious attitude to it.

We'll start by bringing a warm presence or intention to our heart center.

I'm going to tell you about it and then we'll do it.

We'll support from the top of the right shoulder to the outside of the left hip,

And then the top of the left shoulder to the outside of the right hip.

It's just a diagonal of support.

I'll guide you through.

Then we'll support each adrenal in the lower to mid back.

We don't even need to get the location perfectly.

We'll support your brainstem and then your ankles.

If you're thinking,

Hmm,

This is interesting.

Why?

These are the places in our nervous systems connected to the parts of us that go into fight,

Flight,

Freeze,

Collapse,

Fawn,

All sorts of responses to stress or threat or perceived threat.

For many of us,

They've been working overtime or stuck on on for a long time.

As we bring some connection,

Support,

And safety to these places,

We can allow them to rest.

With that,

They can respond instead of react.

They can do their jobs when they're supposed to.

They can learn that they can be quiet most of the time when we don't need those parts.

So let's experiment with this.

Let's see what happens.

Find a posture that feels supported for these next 20 minutes.

You can also shift as needed.

You don't need to be perfectly still.

You don't need to have your eyes closed.

You don't need to breathe in any particular way.

You get to be you.

So let's follow the next few breaths in and out,

Not needing to breathe in any particular way.

You might create a healing intention.

Intention goes a long way with this work.

Is there something you'd love to have happen in this time today?

What might having that give you?

We can open to all of the possibilities that come along with healing.

Let's bring our intention from the top of your right shoulder to the outside of your left hip,

As though there's a ribbon softly draped across the front of your body there.

Left shoulder and right hip.

We'll bring our gentle,

Warm presence here for a couple of minutes,

Welcoming your whole chest area and everything that comes along with it.

Right shoulder and left hip.

And if the mind is wandering around and thinking and trying to make sense,

Figuring out,

You're human.

That's normal.

We're just here at the same time supporting your whole chest area.

And then we can bring our intention across to the top of your left shoulder and the outside of your right hip,

Following that ribbon,

River pathway across the front of your body,

Welcoming your whole heart,

Lungs,

Ribcage,

And chest.

Left shoulder and right hip.

Whatever comes up,

Comes up.

It's all welcome.

And then we can bring our intention to your right adrenal,

Located just beneath that bottom rib in the right lower back,

Resting on top of your kidney.

This right adrenal shaped like a pyramid.

And as we rest our intention here,

We still welcome every part.

Right adrenal resting into support.

Just here supporting with awareness and care.

Right adrenal.

And then we can make our way over now to your left adrenal.

Left adrenal shaped like a half moon,

Resting on top of your kidney.

And there's plenty of space here for us to welcome all that arises in this present moment together.

Allowing,

Allowing,

Allowing.

Resting our intention with your left adrenal.

Just allowing it to rest into support.

Left adrenal.

And now we can bring our intention to your brainstem,

Taking the elevator all the way up to the top of your spinal cord,

Just as it comes up through the hole in the base of your skull at the juncture there.

Welcoming your brainstem and everything that comes along with it.

Inviting softness and ease,

Comfort and flow.

Resting our intention at your brainstem.

And now we can find our way to your ankles,

Bringing our intention here and supporting your ankles to be open so that any unhealed energy,

Anything that's not serving you today can flow down and out of your body,

Past your ankles,

Through the soles of your feet and back to the earth.

Supporting your ankles.

Just allowing that energy to gently drain out anything that's not serving today,

Back to the earth as we support your ankles.

And then we can rest in a healing silence for a couple of minutes together,

Giving the body plenty of space to integrate this work.

And as you feel ready,

You can shift and take your time,

Carrying anything with you that feels more soothing or supported out into your day or evening.

I also like to take a moment before we end to offer up any goodness from our practice,

From this work today,

Out into the world,

Out into all beings.

So let's take a few breaths.

May this goodness that we've gathered go out and multiply infinitely and touch the lives of all beings.

And so that all beings may be more at ease,

More safe,

More supported,

And more free.

Thank you all so much for your presence here today,

For your practice.

Rest well,

Drink water,

And we will see you soon.