08:08

Tuning Into What Feels Okay

by Lara Birk

Rated
4.8
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
60

A brief practice tuning into parts of your body that feel neutral or even pleasant. Whenever we have sensations that we deem negative or unpleasant (especially things like persistent pain or other chronic symptoms), our brain tends to focus on only that and activate fear and the fight or flight system. Focusing on what actually feels okay in our bodies, we can tune in to what feels okay, more deeply, in ourselves. Whatever else is going on internally or externally, we can practice tuning into our deepest, most loving self for solace. (8 minutes)

Body ScanNeutral SensationPleasant SensationFear ManagementSelf SoothingAnchoringBreathingSelf AcceptanceSensory FocusFear Brain AwarenessDeep Breathing

Transcript

Allow yourself to get as comfortable as you can be right now.

Whether that's seated or lying down,

Whatever it is,

It doesn't matter.

Just make yourself as comfortable as you can be.

If you'd like,

You can close your eyes and take a nice deep breath in,

And with a long,

Slow exhale,

And then just coming into your own interior space,

Being with whatever is here right now in your body or your mind,

Your heart,

Whatever awareness you have of what's going on outside.

You're just being with it right now.

It's as if you're just sitting next to it.

Whatever is happening inside you,

Whatever is calling your attention,

You're just kind of sitting with it.

You might even imagine it's like a child or something where you're on a little swing set,

And they're sort of swinging next to you,

And you're on the swing next to them,

Just kind of keeping them company.

You're just allowing them to be whatever feelings or sensations,

Thoughts,

Whatever your interior experience.

You're just sitting with it,

And you might even notice now just calling your attention to some place in your body that feels neutral or even pleasant.

Something that feels neutral or pleasant,

Just kind of taking a moment to do an internal scan and finding a spot in your body that it feels okay.

Allowing your mind,

Your attention to fully land there and get curious about what that feels like,

Even if it's a place you don't normally pay any attention to,

Especially if it is just noticing what it feels like.

And maybe if it even feels more than neutral,

Maybe it even feels somewhat pleasant.

Just kind of leaning into that and feeling what that feels like.

Noticing that our attention is often not on these places in our body that feel neutral or positive,

And everything is shifting all the time.

So these places might shift around too,

And that's okay.

But we often don't pay a lot of attention to these other places inside us.

Our fear brain wants us to focus on what feels like a threat.

The sensations or feelings,

Thoughts that are calling our attention most of the time,

They can be loud.

And it's like setting them aside,

Like being with them,

But allowing them to sit just a little to the side while you explore this other place inside you that feels feels okay.

And maybe you can even imagine that there's this place inside of you that feels okay,

More in this sort of meadow way,

That there's some place inside you,

Even with everything else going on internally,

Externally,

There's still this place deep inside you that really is there letting you know you're okay.

Soothing you and being this all loving,

All accepting,

Nurturing presence.

Somewhere deep inside you there's this place.

And just seeing if there's a way to allow that to be just as it is.

To know that whatever else is going on,

There's always going to be these places inside you that feel okay and remind you,

I'm here,

I'm alive,

I'm okay.

And then coming back to that physical place in your body that feels neutral or positive,

Pleasant.

Or some other place in your body that you notice now also feels neutral or pleasant.

And reminding yourself those places are there.

They're always there.

Even when everything else feels so activated and loud and all of those things,

These other places inside us do exist.

And sometimes it's helpful even for people to find a place on their physical body that is often pretty neutral.

And it may be hard to find that,

So that's okay.

But if if there is something like that,

You can even use it as a little bit of an anchor during your day-to-day life.

Where if you're feeling activated,

You're feeling that fear brain kicking in,

You're feeling that fight-or-flight,

Really tuning into that neutral place in your body.

Or even a positive or pleasant sensation in your body.

Just tuning into that and reminding yourself that's here too.

That's still here,

Even with all this other stuff.

And using it as an anchor just to remind yourself,

You know,

That basic kind of,

Hey I'm here.

There are other things that I can tune into if I need to.

Other parts of myself that can just accept me just as I am,

Whatever I'm feeling.

And remind me that I'm okay.

So as we come back to close this meditation,

If you'd like,

If it feels good,

You can take another nice deep breath in.

And on the exhale,

Really allow it to be long and slow.

And then coming back in your own time.

As you're ready,

Kind of reorient to the space where you are.

And open your eyes if they've been closed.

Thank you for practicing with me today.

Meet your Teacher

Lara BirkBoston, MA, USA

4.8 (13)

Recent Reviews

Megan

February 5, 2026

So lovely to see you here Lara! And thanks so much for this very helpful practice. I really appreciate how you encourage us to bring attention to both neutral/positive sensations and to a deeper sense of internal okay-ness. I’m not sure I’ve heard those both in the same practice before. I will be coming back to this! ❤️

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© 2026 Lara Birk. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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