Welcome to this practice on exploring an embodied sense of safety.
Embodied means being in your body.
For many of us,
This is the opposite of what we've taught to be our whole lives.
We've been taught to suppress,
To numb,
Or to distract ourselves from being in our bodies.
And in this gentle practice,
We will take the first steps towards feeling safe in your own skin,
Feeling safe in your own bones,
In your own system,
With all of the different sensations,
Thoughts,
And feelings that arise,
That are part of being human.
Because the more we tend to run away from what we feel,
The more it will chase us.
And in this practice,
We will stop running away,
And we will simply be with what is.
And we'll create a sense of safety.
Within ourselves,
So that you can hold and allow the different sensations,
Or thoughts,
Or emotions.
We'll begin by coming into a comfortable position,
And you can absolutely lay down for this one.
And when you've brought yourself in a comfortable position,
Begin by gently closing your eyes,
Or you can choose to keep your eyes softly open,
Just a little bit,
A soft gaze on a place that is not moving.
And begin by bringing your focus to the contact points of your body and the surface below you.
Notice the back of your head pressing down firmly in your pillow,
Feeling both your shoulders heavy and wide,
Feeling your upper back,
Parts of your middle back touching the surface below you,
And noticing your hips and your lower back,
Where they make contacts with the surface below you.
And feeling the back of your arms,
Your hands,
And your whole back line of your legs,
Both legs and both feet.
And feeling this sense of groundedness,
The support of the earth below you.
And let your body become a little bit heavier,
And sink one millimeter deeper down into the earth.
Let yourself take a comfortable inhale here,
And gently sigh it out.
And let's do that again.
Take a comfortable inhale here,
Feeling your belly expand,
And gently exhale,
Sigh it out.
Allowing your breath to return back to a normal rhythm,
And follow these gentle waves of your breath.
Your inhales and your exhales,
Like soft waves going back and forth,
And noticing the movement this brings in your body,
Very subtle.
Maybe it's your chest that rises and falls with every breath.
Maybe it's your stomach or your belly.
And begin to shift your focus now from your breath,
To a place in your body that feels comfortable.
And if you cannot find a place,
Or you cannot feel in your body,
Allow your focus to shift to a place that feels neutral.
Perhaps the palm of your hand,
The tip of your finger,
And remember this place in your body.
You can always come back to this neutral or comfortable spot.
And then allow your attention to expand from this one single spot,
A little bit further out into your body.
Your breath gently continues,
And you are noticing how other parts of your body feel like.
Your feet,
What do you notice there?
Both your legs,
Can you find in your lower body a spot where it feels comfortable,
Where it feels soft?
And then bring your focus away from that place.
And we gently move upwards from our legs to our hips.
Noticing what is present.
Your breath gently continues,
Feeling your belly,
Noticing the sensations in your stomach,
And in your chest.
And if it ever gets too uncomfortable,
You can always return back to your spot,
Your neutral or comfortable spot.
And then noticing your whole back,
Your lower back,
Your upper back,
And your middle back.
Feeling both your shoulders,
All the way down to your arms,
And your hands and fingers.
Also realizing that there is no perfect way or perfect state that you should be in now.
Everything is welcome.
It's okay if you don't feel much or anything,
And it's okay if you feel a lot.
Bringing your focus now to your neck and your throat,
The back of your head,
And your whole face.
And notice in your upper body,
If you feel any discomfort,
Is there any spot that feels safe for you,
That feels comfortable and soft,
That feels a bit open?
And perhaps you begin to notice the difference between an unsafe sensation in your body and how safety feels like in your body.
And this is one of the most important things we can embody,
We can feel and begin to notice,
Because this is your body speaking to you,
Communicating to you.
And you can let go now of finding that place or focusing on that place.
And you can allow your whole body here to rest.
And you did such a beautiful job today.
You just spent a solid 10 minutes of really being in and with your body.
This strengthens our insula.
This helps our insides.
This allows our sensory perception to be strengthened.
And this is important because it improves our awareness of ourselves,
Our decision-making process,
Our emotional regulation.
It brings us closer to who we are and further away from being lived,
Being lived by our traumas or our fears or our minds.
And you did a beautiful job,
So thank you so much for joining me.
If you'd like,
If you feel comfortable with this,
You can hold yourself here and gently bring both hands on your body,
Feeling the warmth of your hands,
Maybe even giving yourself a hug and really allowing yourself to drink in this feeling of support and safety.
Whenever you are ready,
You can gently open your eyes.
You can fully land back into the space that you are in,
Noticing the different objects around you and the space around you,
Feeling your body in this space.
Thank you for joining me.
Namaste and I'll see you soon.
Namaste.
