If you're feeling wired,
Tired,
Or that weird combination of both,
And you're keen to support yourself to return to that sweet spot of regulation.
But today you just don't feel like closing your eyes,
Focusing on your breath and meditating,
Then this practice is for you.
There's no pressure to close your eyes.
There's no pressure to sit still.
There's no pressure to stop your thoughts.
Instead,
We're going to use a nervous system sequence.
To really help your body,
Mind and heart return to that sweet spot.
Where you feel able to think clearly,
Where your body feels more at ease,
Where you can cope with the joys and the challenges of everyday life.
So we begin really simply by having our feet on the floor.
So this is best.
This practice is best done seated.
I like to take my shoes off.
And we bring our awareness all the way down to our feet.
And we are noticing the points of contact.
Maybe it's feet in shoes.
In salt water.
Feet as they touch the carpet,
The floorboard.
Noticing the points of pressure and also the points of space.
Maybe the space within the arches of your feet,
The space between your toes.
And this is where you get to make this practice really your own.
So if you've been feeling a bit mobilized in fight or flight energy,
You might like to really feel down into your feet,
Sensing into your feet.
The possibility that you're supported and held by the Earth beneath you.
And if you've been feeling a little bit flat,
A little bit in the immobilized energy,
You might like to get a little bit more energy in your feet by moving your feet forwards and backwards along the floor.
So if this is you,
You might move your feet forwards and backwards three times each.
And if you feel drawn to dropping the energy,
Really feeling that support through stillness,
Then that's available to you too.
And now we're going to move our awareness up our legs.
And again,
If you've been feeling held in the fight or flight energy,
That mobilized energy,
You might like to squeeze your legs.
To really feel this sense of attention and awareness moving down.
And if you've been feeling a bit flat.
You might like to invite a little bit more energy in through rubbing,
Through flexing.
Again,
What we're doing is making this practice our own.
Awareness moving now to hips and pelvis,
These strong and sturdy bones.
Again,
Trusting yourself here.
Do you need a sense of waking up?
A little bit of movement within your hips and pelvis,
Or do you feel drawn to sinking a little deeper into the surface that supports you?
Awareness moving all the way up the spine now.
And are you drawn to creating a little more space between each vertebrae?
If you have a back to your chair,
Do you feel like pushing your spine gently into the surface behind you?
Do you feel like noticing the spaces?
The points of contact.
What's capturing your curiosity when you focus on your spine and your back?
And so what we've done with this nervous system practice is we've allowed you to be the expert.
You've checked in with your nervous system,
You've seen where you're at and you've offered yourself.
The right type of sensory information,
The right type of awareness that helps you return to your window of regulation.
And so sensing this more holistically as you feel into your body as a whole.
And you just notice if for the final few moments here,
You could sit a little taller.
Shoulders back,
Heart open,
A sense of aliveness in the body.
A sense of waking up.
Or you might like to really drop into this felt sense of support beneath you as a way of softening,
Of letting go.
And now scanning your body or just this present moment for any signs that you might have come back a little into your window of regulation.
So maybe there's a desire to take a stretch.
To yawn.
Maybe your breath feels naturally a little deeper.
Maybe it just feels good to have given yourself something it needs.
To have listened to your body,
Your nervous system.
And so from this place of greater regulation,
This is when we can then use affirmations or intentions or words.
To guide our nervous system.
And so what we've done is we've done bottom up.
Regulation and now we're going to do top down and top down as in from the mind to the body this works best if your nervous system is regulated and receptive it means we can actually digest we can absorb the words.
So just allowing a phrase,
An intention,
An affirmation,
Something that feels supportive for you to come to mind and heart.
Maybe it's something like,
It's okay to make mistakes.
It feels good to take care of myself.
I'm allowed to try new things.
Whatever it is,
Let it bubble up into your awareness.
And trusting this wisdom that has emerged.
Taking a deep breath into your heart or the centre of your chest and just allowing this intention to land.
And now let's rub our hands together.
And again,
This is an opportunity for you to be the expert,
For you to check in with yourself.
Does it feel good to do this really slowly?
To pay attention to the sound.
The feel of fingertips on palms of hands.
Or does it feel good to have a little bit more friction?
A little bit more energy building.
Trusting yourself here,
Getting playful and curious.
And placing one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly,
These two wisdom centers.
And just taking three breaths here.
These three simple breaths signaling to your nervous system that you are listening.
That there's a mutual relationship here between.
Body and mind.
Between heart and body,
Between mind and heart.
Hands returning to your lap if that feels okay for you.
And just noticing how you feel.
Do you feel different to when you first pressed play on this video?
Maybe something shifted.
Maybe there's a little bit of self-trust that's been cultivated,
That you have what it takes to check in with your nervous system.
And to decide actually what you need to return to regulation.
Thanks for sharing your practice with me.
I really enjoyed spending this time with you.
