Somatic Movement Meditation For ADHD And Anxiety

If you have difficulties meditating, focusing for short periods of time, or feel the need to fidget during meditation, this somatic movement meditation is for you. It will allow you to move, concentrate on movement and sensation, and retrain your brain's neural pathways through new and novel movements. This meditation encourages making sound and movement part of your meditation and has you focus on contraction and relaxation of muscles while instilling affirmations to release and let go.

Transcript

This is a somatic movement meditation for those with ADHD,

ADD,

Or anxiety.

If you have difficulties meditating or focusing for short periods of time,

Or you feel the need to fidget when you try to relax,

This somatic movement meditation will allow you to move your body,

Concentrate,

And retrain your brain's neural pathways through new and novel movements.

Our brain is capable of generating physiological change in the body,

And tension over time accumulates.

When we are stressed,

We stop attending to our breath,

And we may start ignoring body symptoms.

Many of us don't know or recognize that we are clenching and holding muscular contraction in the body.

We have to slow down enough to have the awareness,

And it takes discipline and some practice.

Somatics is wisdom that your body has,

And it's teaching you a specific kind of mindfulness that can impact your perception of pain and emotion and change the quality of your life.

So let's begin.

Get yourself comfortable lying down.

You may like to place a thin blanket under your thighs or your head for support.

When you feel comfortable,

Take a breath in through your nose and out through your mouth,

Letting go of what came before this.

Take a breath in through your nose and a breath out through your mouth,

Letting go of whatever is to come after this.

And a breath in and a slow breath out to be here now.

Become aware of your surroundings and your body in this space,

The distance from the objects around you.

Take note of any sounds that you hear.

Now with your eyes closed or your gaze softened,

Focus on your natural breath in and out through your nose.

We'll begin by setting an intention for this practice.

I will move through these somatic movements with gentleness,

Kindness,

And ease.

I am choosing to explore movements throughout my whole body without judgment or attachment to results.

I am open to discover through a new experience.

I ask you to now pay attention to the sensations in your body,

But in a new way through a lens of safety,

A mindful curiosity of your body and your emotions while letting go of fear,

Judgment or attachment.

As we practice this meditation,

Notice your need to fidget.

If you begin fidgeting during the meditation,

Just notice the urge and the habit of fidgeting as it comes up.

In addition,

If you notice your mind wandering to other things outside of this meditation,

Simply practice redirecting it back to the current focus point at the time you become aware of your thought.

For example,

If you notice you are feeling anxiety about being unsure of the movement I am asking you to perform during the meditation,

Simply say to yourself,

Anxiety is here now.

Breathe into the acknowledgement of this thought or feeling as it arises and imagine yourself stepping away from this feeling and back into your body.

Focus by saying to yourself,

I am here.

This deviation of thought or sense of a feeling as we practice semantics is normal brain behavior and the more we practice redirecting our minds,

The better we get at maintaining focus and relaxation,

Just like working out a muscle in the gym.

For now,

Bring awareness to the sense of breath in your nasal flares.

Place one hand an inch or so from your nose and feel your breath's temperature as you inhale and as you exhale.

Notice the duration of the inhale and the length of your exhale.

Is there any sound to your breath?

Now relax your arm and float your awareness down to your abdomen.

Can you feel your abdomen rise on the inhale and fall on the exhale?

If not,

Place one hand on your belly and breathe down and into where your hand is.

Breathing in,

Abdomen expands.

Breathing out,

Abdomen contracts.

Now move awareness to your ribcage.

Can you feel expansion of the ribs out to the sides of the room as you breathe in?

If not,

Move your hand or hands to your ribcage.

As you breathe in,

Ribcage expands.

As you breathe out,

Ribcage contracts.

Now move attention to your collarbones and shoulders within your upper chest.

Can you feel any lift of this part of your body as you breathe in?

If not,

Move your hands to your upper chest and notice your breathing and any movement that takes place with your breath.

Keeping one hand here near your chest,

Belly,

And relax your elbows near your ribcage.

Imagine you are filling up a cup with your breath.

Breathing into your hand,

On your belly.

Feel your ribs fill up with air and lastly your chest.

Maintain that full breath for a moment and then softly and slowly empty the filled cup,

Deflating your chest,

Your ribs,

And then your belly.

Filling up the cup from the bottom to the top and emptying from top to bottom.

When your breath is fully released,

Notice the pause of stillness.

And repeat a few more times.

Now relax your hands and observe.

Is your mind still here and present?

Can you feel your heart beating in your chest?

Is it rapid or slow?

Now move awareness to your legs and feet.

If they are close together,

Separate them quite a bit.

Let your legs relax and your toes turn outward.

As you take a breath in,

Turn your toes in towards each other so that the big toes almost touch.

Then exhale and let them roll open and apart.

Feel the sensations that occur as you continue this movement with your breath.

Inhale toes turn in and the inner hips tighten.

Exhale and toes turn out and relax.

Pay attention to sensation,

But don't draw any conclusions about what or why it's there.

Now pay attention to your hands,

Your palms facing upward about 45 degrees away from your body.

As you breathe in,

Rotate your palms slightly so that the thumbs press into the floor.

Your upper back will contract and your chest will slightly elevate or open,

Lifting at the collarbones.

As you breathe out,

Rotate your palms down to the floor and feel your upper back relax and your arms roll inward.

Breathing in,

Palms are up,

Back contracts.

Breathing out,

Palms roll down.

Now we're going to add the legs and arms together in movement.

It can be confusing and we might lose track,

But that's okay.

Simply listen to the sound of my voice and join us when you're ready.

Breathing in,

The feet turn inward,

Palms roll upward and outward.

Exhale,

Feet roll outward and palms roll downward and inward.

The movement may be very minimal or you might be able to move quite a lot.

How much you can move doesn't really matter.

Just allow the movement to occur with your breath,

With relaxed effort.

Breathing in,

Feet turn inward and palms roll upward and outward.

Inner thighs and upper back contract.

And as you exhale,

Feet roll outward,

Palms roll downward and inward.

Now we'll add your head and neck.

As you breathe in,

Feet turn inward,

Palms roll upward and head will turn to the right.

As you exhale,

Feet turn outward,

Palms roll downward and the head will turn to the left.

Breathing in,

Feet turn in,

Palms roll up,

Head rolls right.

As you exhale,

Feet turn out,

Palms roll down,

Head turns to the left.

Again,

It's okay if you make a mistake.

Repeat this a few more times on your own,

Finding your own rhythm.

As you pay attention to any sensations that may be uncomfortable or painful or even unusual,

Notice if it's hard to pay attention to it without fear.

And if there is fear or discomfort in not knowing for sure if you're doing the exercise right.

And that is causing more anxiety,

Breathlessness or panic.

Maybe now is a good time to take a break and move in any way that feels good to you or even finding stillness.

Now letting this somatic practice go,

Relax your whole body.

Feel any sensation you're observing in your arms,

Your legs,

Your neck and head.

A mindful curiosity of the body and the emotions.

All while we let go of fear,

Judgment or attachment.

Recognize and reinforce that any sensations you feel are safe.

So maybe now you find that you're growing uncomfortable lying flat.

Can you add another pillow or a blanket where needed?

Maybe your body temperature has cooled and you need to lay a blanket over the top of you.

If not,

Remind yourself that you are safe.

And you don't need to get any sensation or feeling or thought to go away.

There's nothing to get rid of.

Just a simple awareness of what the body and mind are feeling.

State the feeling in your mind as it occurs and then repeat,

I am here.

Now we'll move into our next somatic movement.

So begin to bend your knees and bring your feet to the floor.

If you had a pillow or blanket underneath your knees or thighs,

You may want to move that out of the way.

Place your hands now on your pelvis and feel the heat of your hands move into your body.

Imagine that your healing hands are bringing loving energy and vitality to your abdominal and elimination organs.

Start to tilt your pelvis forward,

Rolling weight towards your tailbone.

Feel your lower back lift off of the floor and contract slightly.

Exhale and let the tension go,

Rocking your pelvis back so that your back flattens to the floor.

Feel your belly now tighten as you draw your tailbone towards your knees.

Continue to inhale and rock your pelvis forward,

Arching your lower back,

Feeling back muscles tighten.

And be present for the relaxation of the back muscles as you exhale and rock back.

Feeling your lower back press into the mat as your abdomen contracts.

This gentle rocking of the pelvis massages the lower back and releases any tension felt from sitting for long periods of time or standing for long periods of time.

Rolling weight into the tailbone as you breathe in and then back towards the sacrum,

The SI joints as you breathe out.

Now settle your pelvis in the center where it feels neutral and relaxed and notice.

Now we're going to let the pelvis rock side to side,

Leaning weight into your left hip as you breathe in and leaning weight towards your right hip as you breathe out.

Your knees might rock slightly side to side.

Breathing in,

Leaning to the left hip.

Breathing out,

Leaning to the right hip.

This almost feels like the motion we would have if we were standing up and walking.

Now bring your pelvis back to center and put the two movements together,

Moving your pelvis in a slow circle.

Inhale,

Tip your pelvis forward to the left,

Back towards the floor so the tailbone draws up,

Then to the right and forward again,

Arching your back slightly.

This gentle pelvic movement and breath is here to ease discomfort in your lower back,

Hips and pelvis.

If you feel confusion or worry about if you're doing this right,

Do not worry.

Simply move your pelvis and notice what feelings come up,

What thoughts.

Recognize the judging mind,

The anxious mind and say,

I am here.

The movement of the pelvis is almost like the movement you would be doing if you were standing up and hula hooping or doing hip circles,

Rolling around on the perimeter of your sacrum at your lower back.

If it feels comfortable,

Reverse the circles a few times and notice if that is challenging.

Remember,

It's not about doing it right or wrong,

But just observing what comes up when you try to be present with movement in the body.

Now again,

Relax your pelvis and extend your legs once again to lie flat.

Notice any change in sensation,

Breathing,

Mood or mindset.

Feel the ground rise up to catch and support you.

Feel yourself grounded in the earth.

You are here now.

You are protected.

With acceptance,

Think the words,

I accept my body as it's showing up right now.

I accept that past experiences have occurred that might have been painful,

But in this moment I am choosing to remain present in my body and be at peace with what is.

Now bend your knees and place your feet on the floor hip distance or wider apart to your comfort.

As you breathe in,

Rock your knees towards the right.

As you breathe out,

Slowly roll your knees over to the left,

Rolling onto the outside edge of your left foot and the inside arch of your right foot.

Continue for several more breaths,

Keeping your mind aware of the sensations that you're feeling in your back,

Your hips and your glutes.

Now begin to add a head turn.

As you breathe in,

Rock your knees to the right and turn your head to the left.

As you breathe a slow breath out,

Rock your knees to the left and turn your head to the right.

It doesn't matter how far you rock your knees or turn your head.

Let go of any worrisome thoughts that you're doing this wrong.

If you lose your place,

Just pick up where you left off.

Notice any anxiety that arises,

Any judgment and let it go.

Now bring your head and knees back to the center.

Lengthen your legs back down the mat and lie still and relaxed.

Letting go of all self-limiting thoughts,

Releasing any barriers to your healing.

Recognize that you are safe and relaxed and that you are riding the waves of peace and calm.

Affirming that I am empowered to explore my body and movement,

My breath and my thoughts in new ways.

I can acknowledge and confront my feelings and emotions because I have new tools to use.

Even though old thoughts and experiences and memories might come back to me during this meditation,

I have new tools that help me work through it.

I feel like I can feel my future finally opening up and I care about having a healthy and happy future.

Now slowly return to your body,

Resting and relaxed.

Divide your attention between your physical body and your breathing.

Notice how your body feels now versus when you first started this meditation.

Where is the breath landing now?

Has it smoothed out?

Does your mind feel more calm and at peace?

Do you feel different bodily sensations?

More ease or comfort?

Was your mind mostly focused throughout the meditation?

If not,

You can recall what emotions,

Thoughts or feelings arose.

I am connected to myself as a whole and I have the ability to let my mind rest and feel renewed.

Begin to recognize the sounds that you hear.

Notice the taste in your mouth.

Your body relaxed.

Slowly start to rub your palms together.

Cupping your warm hands over your eyes,

Gently blink in the light and return to your space.

You may choose at this time to sit up and journal about your experience.

Overtime journaling can help you work through common thoughts,

Worries,

Reviews

Hello beautiful 🌹🍎🌹🍎🌹Thank you so much for the wonderfully practice 🌞🌞🌞my inner sun is shining and I have glimmers all over 🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste