Today we're going to explore a few gentle practices to help your nervous system shift out of freeze mode,
That numb,
Stuck or shut down state that often follows chronic stress or trauma.
Freeze mode is a biological state triggered by the dorsal vagus nerve where the body slows down to protect itself.
It can feel like fatigue,
Disconnection,
Indecision,
Doom scrolling,
Procrastination or even depression and while you may look calm on the outside,
Inside it can feel like everything is frozen.
The good news is your system can shift.
With simple cues of safety,
We can gently activate the ventral vagus nerve which supports connection,
Presence and ease.
You don't need to push or fix anything,
Just follow along,
Move slowly,
Stay curious and notice what you feel.
Let's begin.
Sitting up straight,
Feet flat on the floor.
Feel the weight of your sit bones on your surface,
Close down your eyes,
Elongate your spine.
It should form one long straight line from your pelvis,
Running up through your lower back,
Mid back,
Neck and top of your head.
Start to slowly roll your shoulders back and down,
Opening up your chest and creating more room in your lungs,
So you can take deep breaths.
As you roll,
Feel the flow of air in through your nose,
Travelling down your neck and into your lungs and belly,
Straighten your posture even further and last roll,
Drop your shoulders back and down.
Feel the openness through your chest,
The openness through your throat and feel your breath running through your body.
Bring your attention to your face,
Relax your forehead,
Unclench your jaw,
Teeth should be slightly apart.
Using the tip of your tongue,
Find your front teeth,
Now draw a line with your tongue,
Backwards,
Feeling the roof of your mouth,
Draw the line backwards and forwards,
Exploring this area,
Feeling the texture of the roof of your mouth,
Feel the rough palate that lies just behind your teeth and feel the smooth palate which lays further behind,
Feel the bones that make up this area,
Notice the ridging,
Explore this new part of your body,
Rhythmically stroking the roof of your mouth,
Feel the muscles behind your eyes soften and relax,
If you feel the need to sigh,
Let it out,
If you want to yawn,
Go ahead and last stroke and relax your tongue completely,
Lips parted,
Complete relaxation through your face and jaw.
Now,
Softly open your eyes just halfway,
Find a spot on the wall directly in front of you,
At eye level or just below,
Let your gaze soften,
Let your vision become blurry,
Focusing on this spot on the wall,
Slowly and gently turn your head to the right,
Keeping your eyes focused on the same spot on the wall,
Hold your head in this rotation and breathe,
Feel the muscles of your eyes,
Work to keep your eyes in the peripheral vision,
Deep breaths in through your belly,
My eyes are already starting to water,
Keeping your gaze focused on that same spot,
Carefully rotate your head through to centre and to your left side,
Letting your eyes shift to the right peripheral vision,
Hold your head here,
Deep breaths,
Let your body sigh,
Yawn,
Release anything that it needs to and slowly moving your head back to centre and through to the right side again,
Keeping your eyes focused,
Breathing deeply,
If any of the releases become too much,
You can shift your head back to centre and close your eyes,
Big breaths through your belly,
Turn your head back to centre and to your left side,
Shifting your eyes to the right,
Breathing deeply,
Sending those signals to your brain,
Letting it know that it's safe,
You are safe,
Movement is safe and last deep breath here,
Sigh it out now and turning your head back to centre,
Closing down your eyes,
Feel how your eyes are completely relaxed,
Complete softness through your face,
Neck and shoulders,
Now give yourself a hug,
Crossing your arms over your chest,
Hands over your chest and shoulders,
Let your chin lower,
Deep breaths here,
Now using your hands,
Start to pat lightly through your chest and shoulders,
Feel the vibration run through your chest,
Self soothing,
Self comforting and giving safety to yourself,
If it feels good for you,
You can sway your body side to side,
Let your spine relax,
You can let it curve over and completely soften,
Let your head lull on your neck and enjoy this feeling,
Feel any emotions that come up,
Let yourself release them and last deep breath and sigh it out and let your arms rest,
Remain here,
Hugging yourself and when you're ready,
You can carefully release your arms and start to stretch and move your body whatever way at once,
Just continuing that release,
Moving your spine,
Circling your shoulders,
Expanding your chest and circling your neck and wrists,
Whatever feels good for you and when you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes and come back to your environment
