So welcome everyone.
And thank you Thank you for listening.
Thank you for being here.
So this is a simple guided practice.
For letting the nervous system find its way back.
And I want to say one thing before we begin gently.
The nervous system doesn't really reset.
In the sense of being switched off and on.
The nervous system simply returns.
It finds its way back to settled when conditions allow.
So today we are going to do as little as possible to make those conditions available.
And let the body do the rest.
There is nothing to achieve,
There is nothing to perform.
If you fall asleep,
That's fine.
If your mind wanders,
That's fine.
That's what minds do.
If you notice something happening,
That is also fine.
The work is happening below the level you can observe.
Your only job is to be here.
Everything else is the body's job.
So just find a position you can stay in for the next few minutes or so.
Lying down is okay.
Sitting is fine if lying is not possible.
Let your body be fully supported.
By whatever is underneath you.
Now let your eyes close if they want to.
And if they don't?
That's fine too.
You can just soften your gaze towards something neutral.
Whatever feels right for you today.
Now just take a moment to arrive here with me.
Notice that you have somehow made it here.
Through the whole of the day.
Through everything it asked of you.
And the body has been carrying you for all of it.
It is here now.
It is allowed to put the work down for a little while.
Notice the weight of the body.
Where is it heavy?
And where is it supported.
Notice the temperature of air.
The quality of light even through closed eyes.
And just notice that for the next few minutes or so.
There is nothing you have to do.
Nothing you have to be.
Nothing you have to fix.
Now before we continue,
One small permission.
If during this practice the body wants to move.
A small shift,
A stretch,
A yawn,
A sigh,
A swallow or a sound,
Let it.
The body completes itself in small involuntary ways.
When it is finally given the space to do so.
Yawning is the nervous system regulating.
Sighing is the nervous system regulating.
And small adjustments of the body.
Are not interruptions of the practice,
They are the practice.
If a tear comes,
Let it.
If a thought arrives,
Let it come,
Let it pass.
If a memory rises,
Let it rise and let it move through.
The body is going to do what the body needs to do.
And your job today is to stay out of its way.
Now just take one breath in your own time.
That is slightly slower than the one you were just having.
Not a deep breath.
Nor a special bread.
Just a slightly slower breath in your own time.
And notice that the body knew how to do that.
Without you telling it the details.
So just let the next few breaths happen by themselves.
Don't manage them,
Just notice them happening.
And now for a little while,
We will work gently with the breath.
Not breath work,
Just a small invitation.
On your next exhale,
As you breathe out,
Just let the exhale be slightly longer than the inhale.
Just a beat or two longer.
And then let that next inhale arrive on its own.
In its zone time.
You don't need to pull it in.
The body will breathe when the body is ready.
A slightly longer exhale.
And then wait.
And again.
Now this small move.
The slightly longer exhale.
The patient inhale.
Sends a quiet signal to the brainstem.
It is the body's way of telling itself that the conditions are safe.
We are not doing this to perform Kaam.
We are letting the body do.
What the body knows how to do.
And now.
.
.
Bring your attention slowly to the body itself.
Not to any one part.
Just to the whole shape of you.
Here in this position.
Notice where the body is touching what is underneath it.
The places of contact.
The places of weight.
And just let this weight settle now.
Not by trying.
Just by noticing where it is already habituated.
Notice your shoulders now.
Wherever they are.
Don't move them.
Just notice them.
And now your jaw.
Wherever it is.
Don't change it.
Just notice it.
And now your belly.
Wherever it is.
Soft,
Held or somewhere in between.
Notice.
And the back of the neck.
The small soft place where the skull meets the spine.
Just notice that.
The noticing is the work.
You don't have to do anything with what you notice.
The body.
Knowing it is being attended to.
Often softens a little on its own.
And often the softening is not what you expected.
And often this softening is somewhere you weren't even watching.
Now slowly.
Whenever you're ready.
Bring one hand to your chest.
Over your heart.
And just feel the weight of the hand.
The warmth between palm and chest.
Now this is one of the simplest signals of safety the body knows.
The hand on the chest tells the nervous system,
In language older than words,
That someone is here,
Even when that someone is you.
So let's stay here just for a few breaths.
The hand on the chest.
A slightly longer exhale if it wants to come.
And the body is slowly registering that in that moment,
In this moment.
It is not alone.
Now,
If it helps.
You can offer internally a sentence.
Something simple.
I am here.
You can rest.
It's okay.
I am here.
You can rest.
It's okay.
You can also use your own words.
Whatever sentence your body recognizes.
Whatever your sentence,
It has been quietly waiting to hear from you.
I'm here.
You are not alone.
And it's okay.
Now we will do almost nothing for a little while.
The body given safety,
Given space.
Given the slightly longer exhale and the hand on the chest knows what to do.
And it will produce its own small completions.
A yawn,
A sigh.
A small involuntary movement.
A tear.
And emotion.
May be a memory for some of you.
These are not symptoms.
These are nervous system regulating itself.
They are what we have been waiting for.
So let whatever comes,
Come.
Don't try to make them happen.
Don't try to stop them coming either.
Just be present with the hand on the chest.
Slightly longer axiom.
And let the body do its quiet work.
Now,
If during this practice,
The mind has been busy.
Planning,
Remembering,
Drifting.
That is also fine.
The mind being busy does not stop the body's work.
The nervous system is regulating below the level of your thinking.
As long as the body is there,
Supported,
With the hand on the chest,
The work is happening.
And the mind can do whatever the mind is doing.
It does not have to be quiet for the body to settle.
If when you notice your mind has wandered,
Just gently return to the hand on the chest.
To the weight of the body.
And to the slightly longer exit.
No judgment.
The returning is the practice and the wandering is normal and expected.
And for the next few seconds,
Just rest.
Your hand on the chest.
Your body supported.
Whatever state has emerged.
Whatever has not emerged.
Whatever has moved through.
Wherever it is still moving.
Just here.
There is nowhere to get to.
There's nothing to do.
The work for now is the resting itself.
Now if you would like to spend a little bit more time in this resting,
You're very welcome to pause this recording here.
Now very gently Just begin to notice the room's room around you.
The sounds if there are any.
And the temperature of the air on your skin.
Notice your body very slowly.
Notice the hand on the chest if it is still there.
Notice the weight of the body.
And the contact with what is underneath you.
Let the breath be whatever it is now,
Don't try to control it,
Just notice it.
And if your hand is still on the chest.
Let it stay there for one or two more breaths.
There's no need to rush.
And when you're ready,
In your own time.
You can let the hand come to rest whenever it wants to.
You can let your awareness widen.
And if your eyes are still closed or they were closed,
You can slowly let them open at your own pace.
There's no rush.
So you can stay where you are for as long as you need to,
If you need to.
The nervous system has been settling in the background.
And will continue to settle for some time after this practice ends.
Now,
A single practice is useful.
A returning practice used few times a week slowly retrains the system to recognize that this state is also available.
And over time this state becomes easier to find without the practice.
For now.
Thank yourself.
For giving yourself this time.
The body has been waiting for it.
Take gentle care.
And until next time.
Namaste.
