Learning To Be Still, Nervous System Regulation Meditation

This Meditation will guide those you find it challenging to be still, not be busy, and have a hard time quieting their mind. It begins with some educational content that is led into a guided meditation and somatic experiencing exercise. This meditation will be helpful for all bodies!

Please note: This track was recorded live and may contain background noises.

Transcript

I ask you to just take a moment and find where your feet are and just making contact with your mat,

Letting your heels or your feet make contact with your mat.

Just ground them in,

Root them into your mat,

And all you have to do is just,

I'm going to guide you and just listen.

We have spent years struggling.

Our nervous system can perceive ease and calmness as unsafe.

When we spend years rushing through life,

Our nervous system perceives slowing down as unsafe,

So we must keep going.

When we have spent years feeling stressed and anxious,

Our nervous system perceives calm and relaxed as unsafe.

When we spend years finding our worth through being overly responsible and productive,

Our nervous system will perceive rest as unsafe.

When we spend years chasing success,

Our nervous system will perceive contentment as unsafe.

If we spend years worrying about our future,

About what's next,

Our nervous system will perceive being fully present as unsafe.

Our bodies need to believe they are safe right now.

Our mind can tell us we are,

But the body does not believe it.

We need to reconnect the mind and the body.

People find that it's difficult to relax or they feel guilty.

Constant pressure to be productive and busy in every moment leads to stress,

But when we try to relax,

Guilt and restlessness will set in.

This guided meditation will help to change the perspective of needing to feel busy.

By choosing to be here right now,

You are doing a healthy,

Productive activity.

This type of self-care is essential and will allow you to be even more productive by reducing stress and becoming more efficient.

So take some time now to clear the thoughts of the thinking mind and feel into the feelings of the body.

You can close your eyes or if you like to keep them open,

You can fix them on a fixed gaze on a particular area in the room.

And we'll take a few moments just to breathe.

Breathing slowly and calmly,

Focusing on just the simple act of breathing.

Such a simple act,

But essential and the most effective strategy to regulate and get out of a dysregulated state.

Perhaps you're having thoughts right now about other things you think you should be doing.

Acknowledge these thoughts.

Consider what types of tasks,

Activities and demands are going through your mind right now.

Focus on and acknowledge the thoughts that come up over the next few moments.

So reflect upon any of these thoughts that are coming up.

Allow each thought to come and to pass without dwelling.

Let them come and go and just notice these thoughts as an observer.

Already so far in this meditation,

You've done productive thinking and you have been busy.

So now I'm going to challenge you to spend the next 30 seconds not being busy.

In a moment I will begin timing so you will have 30 seconds of silent reflection.

During the silence I want you to allow your thoughts to pass and relax.

Do nothing.

There is nothing you need to do or to think about.

Every time thoughts arise,

Just let the thoughts go.

Enjoying your mind being empty,

Emptying your mind completely.

So our 30 seconds of silent reflection will begin now.

What was it like to spend those 30 seconds not being busy?

Continue with your deep breaths and as you exhale,

You need to relax.

Muscles of your back to relax onto the mat.

From your neck to your upper back,

Letting those muscles soften and relax.

Down the middle of the back and to the lower back.

With each exhale,

These areas are softening and relaxing into the mat.

Noticing any areas of tension in your body.

Any areas of tension,

Take a deep breath in through that area of tension.

And as you exhale,

That area will start to relax.

Breathing slowly and naturally,

We raise our shoulders just a little bit to our ears.

Your shoulders relax,

Dropping them into a comfortable,

Loose position.

Feel yourself sinking into the surface you are on.

Allow your jaw to drop slightly,

Letting the muscles of your face and jaw become loose and relaxed.

Wiggle your toes once or twice and feel your feet and your legs relaxing as you do this.

Flex your toes on the left side,

Pointing them in to the ground or to the mat,

And then release.

Flex your toe on the left side and then release.

And then switching to your right foot,

Pointing the toes towards the ground.

Visualizing rooting your toes into the ground,

Through the floor,

All the way down to the earth's surface.

And then release.

Flex both toes,

Pointed towards the ground,

And relax.

Imagine letting the feet soften as they relax,

As if they were melting into soft clay,

Like melted butter into the mat,

Spreading out through the floor in front of you.

Completely connected to the floor as they melted and spread through the floor in front of you.

Gently open and close your hands,

And then relax your hands.

And then I'll just invite you to rub your two hands together like you are warming them up from a cold day.

Feel the friction.

Take those hands and place them on both sides of your cheeks.

Embrace this nurturing self-touch.

Good.

Now take another deep breath in,

You can let your hands go off to their sides.

Notice how you're feeling any tension in your chest or stomach.

And as you breathe in and out,

Allowing your chest and stomach to relax as each breath exhales out slowly.

I'm going to take a moment to guide you in an exercise that will help regulate your nervous system when you're triggered.

Tunnel vision,

When you can't get out of a thought or you're overthinking,

You're ruminating.

What you're going to do is take your thumbs and place them under your eyebrow.

And your index finger lies on top of the eyebrow.

And pinch and pull and hold.

You'll notice almost right away you feel kind of a shift and then release.

So you're pulling,

Pinching until you kind of feel a shift occur and then you release.

And you go across the whole eyebrow till you get to your temples.

And the pinch is kind of hard.

Kind of pressing really hard on that pinch and that pull and then release.

That's what we call an oculocardial reflex.

And it will help calm your nervous system,

Regulate you to green,

Help you get out of tunnel vision.

And that's in your workbook.

Now I'm going to ask you to take your left arm and wrap it under your right rib.

Left arm under your right rib.

And your left hand over your right shoulder.

So a nice self hug.

And I want you to hold and to squeeze.

Bracing the self hug.

And you can kind of firmly squeeze and then release.

Firmly squeeze and then release.

And this is also a resource for you to help calm and regulate the nervous system.

You're giving yourself gratitude for making the time and space to be here today.

Giving your mind a break and giving your body some needed attention.

You can squeeze and release up and down your arms.

On the left,

Just squeeze and release up and down the arms.

Good.

All the way down to the hands and then back up.

Notice what that feels like.

What your hands feel like against your skin.

Is it soft?

Is it warm?

What's the temperature of your skin?

How does it feel?

You can place them down at your sides.

And we're going to just end with a little devotional.

I can be still.

I am still being still is productive for me.

I can do nothing as most times this is the healthier way.

Finding our truth.

We must each discover our own truth.

It does not help us if those we love find their truth.

They cannot give it to us.

It does not help.

If someone we know,

We love,

Knows a particular truth in our life,

We must discover it for ourselves.

We must each discover and stand in our own light.

That's how we learn what is true and what is right for ourselves.

We can share information with others.

Others can tell us predictively what's happened for them.

But it will not mean anything until we integrate this message into ourself.

And it becomes our truth,

Our discovery,

Our knowledge.

There is no easy way to break through and find our truth.

But we can and will if we want to.

We may want to make it easier.

We may nervously run to friends or family asking us to give us advice,

Their truth,

To make ours easier.

They cannot light this path for us.

The light will be shown to you on its own time.

Each of us has our own share of the light waiting for us to stand in it,

To claim it as ours.

Each person has a truth available,

Appropriate to each situation.

Each experience,

Each frustration,

Each situation has its own truth waiting to be revealed.

Don't give up until you find it for yourself.

We shall be guided into truth.

If we are seeking it,

We are not alone today.

I will search for my own truth,

And I will allow others to do the same for themselves.

I will place value on my vision and the vision of others.

We are each on a journey making our own discoveries,

The ones that are right for us today.

So when you're ready,

I will just ask you to start,

Maybe shifting your body a little bit,

Rocking it a little,

Wiggling your toes,

And wiggling your fingers,

Gently starting to open your eyes,

And coming back into the present space together,

Slowly and at your own pace.

Take your time.

And then now we'll just take a break.

So if you guys need to stretch,

Go to the bathroom,

Get some lunch,

Alex brought some sandwiches.

She also snuck in and brought some salads.

She didn't have to do that.

I was so excited about that.

Yeah.

Even if you wanted to go out and get some fresh air,

It will probably take like 20 minutes or so.

So whatever you guys need to do,

I'm here.

I'm here.

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