Restorative Rest Through Safety

If you have chosen this meditation,

You must be tired.

Your fatigue may come from illness,

Overwhelm,

Overwork,

Trauma,

Anxiety,

Stress,

Or caretaking.

Many of you try to get sleep but don't feel rested when you wake.

In this practice,

We will explore the deep importance of feeling safe that allows us to get restorative rest.

To have deep rest,

Our nervous system needs to land in our safe dorsal vagal system.

This system is the more primitive branch of our vagus nerve and part of our parasympathetic nervous system.

When we are under threat,

The dorsal system pulls us into immobility,

Freeze,

Collapse,

And invisibility so that a predator can't find us.

Some of you may also operate predominantly from your sympathetic nervous system,

Your fight-flight state,

Which also makes it extremely difficult to achieve satisfying rest.

If we try to sleep or rest when our body is in a state of threat,

Our rest time is not deep or healing as we are still in a state of vigilance.

However,

When we perceive we are safe enough,

Our parasympathetic nervous system can come on fully in our safe dorsal vagal system.

When we feel safe,

When we perceive safety,

And then come to rest,

We become still,

Quiet,

And deeply settled,

And our rest is healing and restorative.

You may have felt this in the past,

Doing yoga nidra,

Dozing on the beach,

Listening to the lapping of waves,

Or at the end of a bodywork session.

In our meditation today,

We will practice skills to enhance our sense of safety as well as to shift to a more safe dorsal state.

Let's begin.

This is a good meditation to practice lying down.

Before you get too comfy,

Though,

Take a moment to orient.

Look around the space you're in.

Notice what is in front of you,

To the sides,

Behind you,

And above and below.

Gently move your eyeballs and neck slowly as you take in your environment,

Especially any cues of safety or beauty or comfort.

Next,

Orient to ambient sound in the room,

Heaters or coolers running,

People or animals in the next room,

Traffic sounds,

Or nature sounds from outside.

Now notice sensations of touch,

Your hands on fabric,

Your back against the surface beneath it.

There may also be pleasant fragrances or taste sensations that you can identify.

This process of orienting in the present moment is a way to let our bodies perceive that it is safe enough in our current environment.

Our bodies are always in present time,

And when we take in cues of safe enough,

It jumpstarts our parasympathetic nervous system,

Rest,

And digest vagal activity.

Now let your body settle into a restful pose.

You can have eyes open or closed.

Notice your internal speed.

Does it feel like you're still going 70 miles an hour,

Or are you beginning to slow down,

Perhaps going 35 or 20?

Our body,

Mind,

And heart need to slow down in order for us to have deep rest.

If you need to slow down a bit more,

Imagine the body sensations that you feel when you exit the freeway or you slow down in a car,

On your bike,

Or in a train.

See if you can invite your body to keep slowing down,

Slower and slower,

Until it is at a speed that feels restful and settled for today.

If you sense that you're still a bit braced,

You may be a little vigilant still and in the freeze threat side of your dorsal system.

Our body will always prioritize protection,

And it can sometimes be hard for our body to drop its vigilance.

Imagery can be very helpful here to shift from the vigilant dorsal vagal to the restful dorsal vagal.

Imagine a lake that has been frozen but is now slowly melting.

Feel the softening of the ice.

Notice that this softening offers some gentle fluidity in your system.

See if you can feel the sensations of softening,

Loosening,

Flowing.

Any type of imagery or a past experience of slowing down and softening can be useful if the lake metaphor doesn't work for you.

Slowing down,

Melting into the surface beneath you.

You are safe enough right now.

When our bodies are not used to deep rest,

We need to pace or titrate our restful experiences.

Too much relaxation can sometimes feel unsafe.

Not enough relaxation is exhausting.

See if you can find your just right amount of slowing and softening your body for today.

Over time,

You will increase your capacity for rest as you begin to feel safe enough more often.

If restlessness appears,

That's okay.

You can gently and slowly just move your arms or legs a little bit.

Or you may feel the impulse to squeeze your muscles a little tighter and then releasing them in your arms or your legs.

And then come back into stillness.

Slowing,

Softening,

Melting.

Thoughts may rise and fall.

Emotions can come and go.

Again,

That's really okay.

In fact,

You may begin to notice what thoughts or feelings tend to shift your nervous system out of rest.

This is really good information to have.

Come back again and again to your body resting.

Continue to feel the support of the surface beneath your body.

Having the felt sense that you are held and safe.

My voice can also be an anchor of connection and safety.

Right now,

In this moment,

There's nothing to fix,

Nowhere to go,

Nothing to change.

We can just be together as our bodies soften into the surface beneath us.

As we draw this practice to a close,

I wish for each of you deep,

Restorative,

Healing rest.

And above all,

Safety.

Thanks for your practice today.