Hello and welcome to this comforting and safe meditation.
My name is Doris,
I'm amongst other things a trauma-informed yoga teacher and I am guiding you through the next minutes here.
And the techniques that we're going to use are to regulate and soothe the nervous system and create a sense of comfort and release.
So the setup that I envisioned for this practice would be to sit somewhere and lean your back and that includes your head as well against something.
So it could be on the ground,
Leaning against the door or the wall or perhaps the sofa if that supports your whole back.
And then making sure you're nice snug and warm with a blanket perhaps and then hugging a little pillow into the chest.
So something that creates a natural border and it's also something that you can hug in.
And take your time to set it up,
Pause however long you need to and then once you're settled I invite you to gently hug that pillow into your chest,
Finding a nice comfortable grip.
Perhaps you want to close your eyes or keep them open and soft,
It's up to you.
And all I invite you to do is to connect to your breath.
So as you breathe in and out,
Just noticing where you can sense your breath.
Can you maybe feel the chest rise and lower?
Maybe the belly rises and lowers as well.
Can you perhaps feel something move in the body?
Just take a moment to check in with your breath and as you breathe here,
Listen to your body and connect to your body.
Just taking a quick scan from your toes all the way to the crown of the head.
So from the toes all along the feet,
The legs,
Your back,
Your arms,
Your torso and your head.
And as you scan your body,
Allowing these areas to soften and relax just a little bit more.
So inviting a sense of ease,
A sense of maybe even heaviness into the body.
Maybe you can find softness in places that were a bit tight.
Maybe you can lean a little more weight into your back support.
Maybe the sit bones are becoming heavier.
Perhaps there is just a little bit more softness in the whole body that you can notice.
Relaxing the jaw,
Relaxing the face,
The shoulders and just continue breathing,
Allowing emotions to perhaps surface,
Whatever they might be.
We allow anything to be present.
We don't discriminate.
We try to be very neutral,
Almost taking an analytical approach here.
Know that you can always open your eyes or close them at any time during this meditation.
Staying connected to your breath and just noticing if you can make that breath perhaps a little bit longer,
Maybe sending it further into the belly.
And as you invite more conscious breaths into the body,
How does that make you feel?
Once again,
We try to be very open-minded to whatever is arising.
Perhaps you can slowly notice a sense of comfort arising.
Maybe it's in a way of feeling less tension in the body.
Perhaps it's from allowing the back to rest against something and feeling the support,
Almost like from a loved one.
A pillow to create a barrier and to protect you.
And also having something that you can hug into the chest.
Almost take an internal screenshot of how you feel in this very moment.
Allow yourself to take a few more rounds of breath,
Really taking it all in of how you feel.
Then gently come back into the room whenever you're ready.
Maybe you want to squeeze that pillow just a little bit more.
Maybe you're starting to open the eyes and look around the room.
Maybe you can rest even more weight into your support.
Perhaps you want to move the body in a way,
Maybe stretch the arms.
Know that you can always come back to this whenever you need to,
Whenever you need to feel a little bit more safe and just connect to that sense of inner comfort.
Thank you for meditating with me.
Namaste.
