Hand On Heart

Use this simple guided practice, Hand on Heart, anytime you need a quick boost of warmth & comfort. The more you practice this, the more your brain will associate your hand on your chest with deep self-soothing. Over time, this simple gesture can become your quickest, most direct route to feeling calmer.

Transcript

Welcome. I am so glad you're here. Today's practice is a really simple one. Hand on heart. But I have found the more that you do it, The more you practice it. The more the simple gesture of hand on heart will comfort you in moments of need. So when you're ready Find a position where you can be. As comfortable as possible. Even if you're not feeling very well right now. And if you're not, I am so sorry. I know how hard that is. So just allow yourself to settle into that position, That spot, Wherever you are. And close your eyes if you'd like. Or you can just rest your eyes if that feels better to you. Allow your body to settle in. To whatever you're sitting or lying or standing on. Just allow your body to settle. Know that you are being held up. By whatever it is, The chair, The floor, The couch, The bed. You are being held up by the earth. So allow your body to settle even more. Just let go even just a tiny bit. Of all that you've been trying to hold onto so tightly. And if it feels good, You can take a deep breath with me. If it doesn't. You can just wait, Do your breathing at your own pace, Your own rhythm. But if you'd like to. Go ahead and take in a nice deep inhale. All the way to the bottom of your lungs if you can. And let out a long and slow exhale. And we'll do one more. When you do your exhale, Just allow it to be longer and slower than your inhale. You can even do it through pursed lips if you'd like. Take in a nice deep breath again. As deep as feels comfortable to you, And then let out that long, Slow exhale. Allow your breathing to come to its own pace now. Whatever it wants to do is okay. Now I invite you to place a hand on your chest, Hand on heart. Some people like to put both hands on their chest. Do that if that feels good, Whatever feels good to you in this moment. So with your hand over your heart. Just press a little bit, Gentle pressure. Almost like you're saying to yourself, Hey, I'm here. I know this life is hard. I'm here. Can you feel me? I'm here. You're pressing just gently. But feeling that pressure as a comfort. Is warmth. And then just notice as your hand rises and falls, As you breathe in and out. Whatever your pace of breathing, It's just fine. And you can just notice as you breathe in, Your hand rises slightly. And falls as you breathe out. Rises and falls. Rises and falls. It's almost like you are here riding the waves of your own breath. You can see hand on heart as a way to get back in touch with yourself deeply. You can feel with your hands that you are breathing, That you are alive. And you can feel with your body. That gesture from your hand, And I'm here. No matter how hard things may be right now, I'm here. You're telling yourself, I am here for you. I am not going anywhere. No matter what. Allow the hand just to rise and fall. With your breathing. I'm here. I'm here. Like you're saying to yourself, Your inner self that may be feeling some distress or just is anxious or restless, Whatever the case may be. It's as if your deepest and wisest, Most nurturing self is saying, Hey, I see you. I know. And here. I hear you. I do. I know it's hard. As your hand rises and falls. Rises and falls. And then as you notice your hand rising and falling. Bring your attention to your thumb. Wiggle your thumb on your chest just a little bit. So you really bring your mind to your thumb, No matter what else is happening in your body, That's okay. Let's bring your mind to the ear wiggling sound. Now wiggle your forefinger on your chest just a little bit so you can feel that next. Just notice your forefinger there, Making contact with your own body. And now your middle finger. Just wiggle your middle finger a little bit. And feel it on your body, Feel its movement on your chest. And onto your ring finger, Same thing. Let's wiggle it a little bit and just feel that movement. Feel that change in pressure. That movement. And onto your pinky. Just feel your pinky wiggle a little bit against your chest. And now imagine with your mind's eye. That like a child doing an outline of their hand you are Drawing. The whole outline of your hand. Where it is placed on your chest. You're just going over each finger gently. You feel your whole hand even more as this comforting presence on your body. Your hand is on your heart. You can feel that gentle pressure. You can feel what we know as oxytocin. Just in this one gesture, You are giving yourself a dose of oxytocin, The love chemical, The love hormone. We can get this from getting a hug from a loved one, But this you can get to yourself. See if you can notice its warmth, That little just boost of some kind of feeling, This oxytocin. Warmth and connection. You are connecting back to yourself. And you are giving yourself warmth and comfort. And on heart.