Coming Back Into Presence

In this guided meditation, I would like to guide you through a audio somatic meditation, to bring you back into an intimate awareness of our body and nervous system, and into a space of non-judgment and restoration.

Transcript

Hi everyone, This is Daphne. Today I will guide you through another somatic meditation. I will be doing this just in audio format so that you can play it at your own time and there isn't the disruption of the blue light in your eyes and you can close your eyes most of the time to listen and follow the guidance through this recording. So I would invite you to lay down on a comfortable spot so it can be on the floor if you have a yoga mat or if you have a soft carpet or you can lay down on your back and of course you can also do this seated but I will be guiding you for a start from the position of laying down. So take a moment to get ready, You can pause this recording and find your comfortable position and then replay this recording from here again and once you've settled I would like you to feel and sense into the weight of your body and notice again if there's anything that you are still holding on to. You're holding on to the weight, Any parts of the body or the tissues or the muscles that are not relaxed, Just check in and maybe you need to move a little bit, Shake it out, Rock it out, Stretch it out or you can even find some support through blankets, Bolsters or cushions. If you feel that laying down on your back is really uncomfortable for you, Try putting a bolster or a cushion underneath your knees and see if that helps. Again you can pause this recording to make these adjustments or if you feel that there is some tension in the shoulder or the neck then you can support yourself with a small pillow. I would really suggest that if you're laying down on your back to not have your pillow too high because that is going to push your head forward and create even more tension. It might be something that we're used to, You know like something that we tend to do when we are thinking a lot. We're very engrossed in the thought process of problem solving and achieving our goals and our tasks so we are really using the frontal lobes of the brain so we want to really push our head forward. That is a posturing that we do and when we come into relaxation we actually want the frontal lobes of the brain to relax and to relax into the brainstem. Also the midbrain to relax into the brainstem so it's better if your pillow is not too high, Just enough to allow you to feel that your neck has no tension and you can check by just turning your head side to side to notice if there's any tugging or pulling in the neck or shoulder area. Sometimes you might even feel some tension in the jaw or tension behind the eyes. So make any adjustments necessary to release or reduce this tugging or pulling resistance. Okay and then settle in again. So begin to allow the mind to release into the body. So the thinking mind, The frontal lobes to relax so you smoothen out your eyebrows, Make sure you're not frowning. Notice if you are holding anything in the jaw. Allow some space between the upper row of your teeth and the lower row of your teeth. So that you can sense into the space inside your mouth. Allow that space to release, Relax and let your tongue relax. When the tongue is relaxed it usually falls to the roof of the mouth and the tip of the tongue is resting on the back of your front teeth. Now it's the time for quietude. There's no need to anticipate what is next. It's really just coming back into presence, Into feeling, Into this moment that is unfolding. And allow your breath to slow down coming into its natural flow. So you're not breathing through your mouth. If you find it hard to slow down your breath or if you feel like you need to slow down your breath, If you find it hard to slow down your breath or if you still feel that there is some tension in the body area, Allow your exhale to be longer. A little longer than your inhale. Notice if you are able to let your awareness follow your breath. When you exhale, Let the breath empty. Allow the lungs to fully deflate. Relax into the next inhale. Do not chase the inhalation. And begin to just sense into how the breath also moves in the rest of the body. The breath in the chest area. So you can feel the rise and fall of your chest. The breath in the ribcage area. You can feel the ribcage expanding and contracting maybe into the sides of the ribcage. The ribcage is actually quite a massive structure in the body. It protects our lungs and our heart. The ribcage is connected to our spine. The ribcage also forms our shoulders and connects to our arms. So if your shoulders are relaxed, You can also feel the ribcage is able to be more fluid with the breath. Then maybe you can find the weight of your arms. The weight of your arms allow you to sense into how your hands are also connected to the shoulders. Notice if your hands are grasping or holding on to any tension, Any thoughts, Or any emotions. Come back to the pulsing of your breath again. The inhale and the exhale. And the exhale. Notice this rhythmic flow, Perhaps now in the belly. Does your belly rise and fall with the breath too? We hold a lot of stress in our abdominal area. So as you sense into the pulsing of your breath in the belly area, Notice if there is any tightness or resistance. The abdominal area is also our digestive functions, Our ability to digest, Not just food, But the experiences in our life. You know, We talk about the gut feeling. There's actually a lot of sensory nerves in the gut area that connects back to the brain. So the gut feeling is not just a metaphor. So explore this area through your breath. The whole abdomen area also connects to the lower back. Here you can sense into the quality of your lower back, If your lower back is touching the surface that you're lying on. If there is a pulsing of breath in the lower back area on the two sides of your body. So you can feel into the right side of your lower back and the left side of your lower back. Feel how gravity is supporting the lower back. Then begin to find the back of your pelvis. So the two pelvic halves, The right hip and the left hip. Feel into the back of your hips first. And notice which part of the pelvis is touching the floor. Sometimes it's just the soft tissues, The muscles, Like the butt cheeks, Are touching the floor. Sometimes you can feel into where the two halves of the pelvis might meet in the center, Where you can feel the base of your spine and the tailbone. And notice if there might be a little bit of a bump in the middle of the pelvis. A sense of rhythm there through the breath. And bring your awareness to the front of the hips as well. Into the hip crease area, The groin area and feel how that connects to the thigh bones. And the hips are really where our legs begin. So see if you can find your right hip all the way down your right thigh, To your right knee, To your right calves, To your right foot. Feel into how the whole right leg is touching the ground, The weight of the right leg. The rotation of the right leg. Any sensation that might be coming through the right half of your lower body. How long does the right leg feel? How big does it feel through the mind's eye? And then let that go, Bring your awareness to the left hip, The left leg, Left thigh, Left knee, Left calf, Left ankle, Left foot. Very oftentimes, Our awareness is less on the non-dominant side of the body. And because most of us are right side dominant, The left side of the body tends to get a little bit fuzzier. So see if you can connect to the whole left leg. Again, Sensing into the weight of the left leg. How the left leg is touching the floor, Where it's touching, Where it isn't touching. Any sensations or feelings? Sometimes it's even temperature, Heat, Or coolness, Tingling. Feel the length of your left leg and the space that it occupies in your mind map. And then perhaps you like to compare. And then perhaps you like to compare. How does the left leg feel as compared to your right? Does one side feel longer than the other? Does one side rotate differently? Does one side feel heavier? Does one side feel more relaxed? So often we, Our attention is at what is right in front of us. Just right in front of our eyes that we lose touch with the body and with our grounding. Our feet, Our legs is essential to our sense of grounding. Our sense of stability, Our sense of safety. So feel how connected you are to the lower half of your body now, Which is often ignored in our daily life. And when you are attuned to that, Begin to connect to the upper half of the body again. Through your spine, Through the two sides of your back body, The lower back, The mid back, The upper back. Find your side body through the two sides of the rib cage, The two sides of your waistline. Find your arms again. Reconnect to the front body, Through the belly, Through the chest, Through the belly, The front of your sternum, The chest area, The collarbone, The shoulders, The front of the neck, The throat, The back of the neck. And then turn your head side to side again. Reconnect with the head area, The face. See if you can find the position of your ears. You know, Our inner ears help us to orientate so we have a sense of balance. Orientate so we have a sense of balance, Of knowing where we are. Okay, Bring your head back to the center. Notice where the tip of your nose is, Your lips, The corners of your mouth, Your cheeks, Your eyelids, Your forehead, The temples. Notice if there's still any tension or tightness that you're carrying in your face. And then sense into your scalp. Notice if there's any tension in your head. Feel into the back of your skull. Feel how it is touching the surface that you're lying on, That your head is resting upon. Maybe a pillow, Maybe a cushion. And then just explore the shape of your head by turning your head side to side one more time. And if you like to allow movement of your head, Maybe you can tip your right ear to your right shoulder and turn your face towards the right. Roll back, Tip your left ear to your left shoulder and turn your face towards the left. And feel into how different parts of your head is touching the floor and connect this movement with how your neck is moving, How the back of your shoulders are moving. Allow any intuitive movement to come through now. Maybe you want to move your shoulders a little. Maybe you want to allow your body to rock or roll a little. Enjoy anything that is coming up for you, Any intuitive movement that is allowing you to interact with the surface that you're lying upon. So you're starting to create sensory feedback that is not just about your head, Sensory feedback that is not about what is right or wrong or good or bad, But just something that you feel like doing, That is pleasurable and exploratory. Become curious of these movements and the information that is coming through, The sensations that are moving through. And then slowly allow yourself to come back into stillness. Reconnect with your breath. Feel how your breath is touching your skin from the inside, Meeting your skin so that the body moves and rise and falls in the belly and the chest. And the ribcage. And bring your hand, Any hand, It can be your right hand or your left hand, To your chest area, The center of your heart, The center of your sternum. And contact skin to skin. So the skin on your hand is touching the skin on your chest. And notice how this meeting of skin feels. What kind of information does it offer to your nervous system? Maybe you can feel the breath more intently. Maybe you can sense into the beating of your heart. And then begin to just move your skin around this area. Just allow this as if you are exploring the skin in the chest area. Maybe you will move to your collarbone or your shoulders or the head of your arm bone. And maybe the body will move a little bit as you are tracing the skin or just moving the skin gently across the two sides of your body. And just follow your intuition. Feel what comes next for you. Maybe the hand wants to move to another part of the body or down the arm. Maybe it wants to stay still to connect the melding of skin with skin. The skin is our first defensive armor, But it is also porous. It receives information, But it can also serve as a protective layer. Sense into these qualities of the skin. And if you like to maybe switch hands and explore with the other hand. Notice how might it be different. Maybe it's a different touch. Maybe there's new information coming through. And then move your hand up towards the front of your neck to the throat area. Trace your jawline, The contours of your face, Of your cheekbones. The brow bones, The forehead, The ridge of your nose, The shape of your lips. And so rather than just a mirror that we often look into to look at how our face might be, Use your sense of touch to feel into your face. How does your face feel, The shape of your features? You know, There are so many sensory neurons. There is also a very interesting cranial nerve called the vagus nerve. Cranial nerve called the vagus nerve that's innervated in the face and also in the gut. And it allows us to go into this parasympathetic state of rest and relaxation and digestion. Allows the heart rate to slow down and a sense of peace and ease. Then rest your hand back onto your chest. Take the other hand onto the forehead. Connect your head to your heart. Feel into the rhythm of your natural breath. Let the belly soften even more. Allow your weight to yield into gravity, The whole planet supporting you. And then release your hands by the sides of your body. Begin to move your toes. Begin to move your toes. Let your toes connect to your feet. Feet to your legs again, All the way up towards the hips. Move your fingers, Connect from fingertips to the hands. Hands to the arms and all the way to the shoulders. All the way back into the heart space. Take your time to bend your knees and roll to the side. You can use the bottom arm as a pillow to support your head. And the top arm on the floor to support yourself so you don't fall forward or back. And then use your hands and the weight of your body to slowly bring yourself back up into sitting. And once you're back up in the vertical position, Take one hand again to your chest, One hand to your belly. Slowly connect with yourself for a few more breath cycles before you move back into the outside world. And then slowly bow your head, Let your chin drop towards your heart. Head to heart, And then bow a little bit more, Fold into your gut. And then curl yourself back up towards the sky. Allow the light to come through behind your eyelids, Bring awareness to that. And take your time to slowly open your eyes. Thank you so much for joining me, I hope you have enjoyed this meditation. See you again next time. Namaste.