Welcome to this daily nervous system practice designed to engage the rest and digest response so that you can respond to the ups and downs of everyday life with greater flexibility,
Ease and resilience.
Try it every day for seven or 21 days and notice the positive ripple that a more regulated nervous system has on your life and your resilience.
So in your own time closing down your eyes and allowing your awareness to land on your breath.
No need to change or alter your breath in any way.
Simply noticing with curiosity what it feels like to breathe in.
What it feels like to breathe out.
As you breathe in repeating silently in your mind I am breathing in.
As you breathe out repeating silently in your mind I am breathing out.
Perhaps you'll notice that through this simple act of awareness your breath intuitively shifts.
Feeling smoother,
Fuller,
Deeper.
Let's continue to explore our breath now by counting to four on the inhale and six on the exhale.
As you count with your breath remembering that this practice is slowing down your nervous system.
Breathing in for four and out for six for one more round of breath.
Great work.
As you sit here just being honest with yourself as you inquire how has my nervous system been feeling lately?
Revved up?
Buzzing?
Tired?
Wired?
Relaxed?
Balanced?
No right or wrong just being curious.
Learning how to engage the rest and digest response and to soothe our nervous system is both an act of rebellion and compassion in the busy productivity driven world we occupy.
Let's deepen this practice by scanning our bodies now.
Beginning with the area above your eyes.
The place we store so much mental busyness.
Our to-do lists and responsibilities.
The thoughts pulling us in all different directions.
Here in this moment really softening the space above your eyes.
Softening all the muscles in and around your eyes.
See if you can invite your eyeballs to shift to a more relaxed position behind your closed eyelids.
How about your eyelashes?
Can you allow them to feel soft and heavy too?
Softening the small muscles within your cheeks.
These muscles that contract and engage all day as you talk,
Express yourself,
Laugh and project a certain image out into the world.
Here in this moment it's safe to soften your cheeks and noticing how this naturally encourages a change within your jaw.
Imagining your entire jawbone softening.
Really allowing this sense of softening to spread throughout your entire mouth.
Trusting that through your awareness alone you can relax the inner landscape of your mouth,
Tongue,
Teeth soft,
Gums soft.
Entire face at ease.
No need to look a certain way to project an image.
Here it's safe to take off your mask and to rest your face.
Taking a long smooth inhale and a long smooth exhale.
Nervous system shifting into rest and digest mode.
Imagining now your brain relaxing.
Prefrontal cortex,
The amygdala,
Limbic system,
Midbrain,
Brainstem.
All softening through your gentle awareness.
Neural circuitry cooling down.
Feeling the electrical charge being reduced with every exhale.
Back of head,
The muscles and skin softening here too.
This sense of ease moving from the brainstem all the way down your spine.
Every vertebrae softening.
The vagus nerve,
All the circuitry and intelligence that extends from this superhighway.
Finding a new smoother rhythm.
The organs,
Muscles,
Ligaments,
Tissue,
Veins,
Cells and synapses that spread and connect from this vagus nerve.
All recalibrating.
Really sensing into your entire internal ecosystem.
Finding its natural balance.
From here,
Noticing how your shoulders can move down your back ever so slightly.
Letting go of the responsibilities and burdens of the last few days.
Letting go of the pressure to be perfect,
To be everything to everyone.
Deep breath in.
Long,
Smooth exhale.
Entire chest softening.
Heart naturally open.
Feeling a sense of compassion meet your heart like warm rays of sunshine.
This warmth arriving at your stomach.
Letting go of the worries of the last few days.
The feelings of not being enough.
Hips and pelvis heavy.
Feeling safe in the support of the earth below.
Legs heavy all the way to your feet and ten toes.
Arms relaxed all the way to your ten fingertips.
Becoming aware of your entire body now.
Bones,
Organs,
Ligaments,
Muscles,
Nerves,
Blood.
Every cell in your body receiving the gift of a nervous system reset.
And one final time,
Breathing in for the count of four and out for the count of six.
And noticing how you feel.
Opening your eyes when you're ready.
May you enjoy the benefits of a regulated nervous system today.
