Let's begin seated in an open receptive posture,
Arms and legs uncrossed,
Feet firmly against the earth.
Adjust yourself until you feel comfortable.
Close your eyes and become aware of how you're doing below the surface of your being.
Focus physical sensations,
Emotional state,
Mental state.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10,
With 10 being blissful and 1 super stressed out.
5 is simply okay.
Start to breathe deeply.
And on your next exhalation,
Squeeze the stale air out of your lungs,
Taking a full deep breath in through the nose,
And exhale slowly through a slightly open mouth.
Continue to breathe in this manner,
Filling up the belly and the low ribs on the inhale,
And exhaling with a sense of slowly releasing and letting go,
Like you're letting off steam.
Become aware of any unnecessary tension in the face.
Jaw,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Chest,
And belly.
Keep breathing deeply,
And take a moment to reassure your nervous system that you are safe and you can release now.
Mentally tell yourself it's okay to let go.
Now we will add an energy medicine practice from Donna Eden to soothe the vagus nerve and bring us into the relaxation response.
Listen carefully.
Take your two-piece fingers,
Your index and middle finger,
On both hands and make a V with these fingers.
Place the index finger behind your ear and the other fingers rest in front of the ear on the face.
Push up gently with the fingers until some of the fingers reach the temples.
Relax the elbows.
By simply resting our hands here,
We presence our hands against our skin,
Soothing the vagus nerve.
Keep breathing in through your nose and out slowly through the slightly opened mouth.
It's helpful to know that the vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve that can alert the nervous system into the fight or flight response.
The vagus nerve runs like a fiber optic cable from your brain into your face where you sense your hands.
It goes down your neck where you sense your thumbs,
Moves on to the shoulders,
Into the chest,
Abdomen and belly.
Now feeling the warmth of the hands soothing your nervous system,
Gently,
Lightly and lovingly,
Pull your hands downward,
Stroking your face.
You may notice your jaw relax.
Bring the fingers to the soft spot behind the ear where the earlobe attaches to the jaw.
And gently circle behind the ear.
It may be tender,
So be very gentle.
And now rest the fingers here as you allow the bottom jaw to open and move slightly side to side.
And then as you're ready,
The bottom jaw moves forward and back.
The vagus nerve can create tension in the jaw and we're gently releasing this tension.
Notice if you wish to swallow or yawn,
That tells us we're moving toward relaxation.
Breathe and now gently move the hands down your neck.
Allow them to rest here so you feel the fingers warm against your neck.
And again,
In that very stroking manner,
Let your hands move along the neck and down to the shoulders.
Let the hands grasp hold of each shoulder.
Allow the elbows to relax.
Breathe as you may begin to notice stress releasing.
Now pull down on the shoulder muscles with your hands and bring the hands one on top of the other at the base of the neck.
Not on the neck,
But just at that little V at the base of the neck.
Now let your head hang forward.
Relax and surrender here as you breathe deeply in through your nose and out super slowly through that slightly opened mouth.
By surrendering the head forward,
We release the reptilian brain where the vagus nerve is very much engorged.
This brain stem at the base of the skull often creates cycles of energetic stress that run around our head and it keeps us in anxiety.
Keep breathing deeply as you surrender into this pose,
Noting that the reptilian brain is surrendering to the frontal brain,
Our thinking brain,
So we can be more clear.
Relax and breathe.
We usually take about five breaths here.
One more full deep breath.
And on that exhale,
Just feel release.
Yeah,
Let your shoulders go.
Now lift your head and gently move your hands to your heart space in the center of the chest and rest them there.
Begin to breathe as if you were breathing directly into the back of your hands,
Putting all of your attention into your heart.
The heart can become tight and constricted with stress and anxiety.
We're inviting the heart to gently open in a wonderful caring manner.
You can even circle the hands around gently here,
Encouraging this release.
Breathing deeply.
Let the tension go.
A sense of release and again surrender.
Heart open,
Energy flowing.
One more full deep breath here.
On the exhale,
Encouraging that release.
Now move both hands to the center of the abdomen at the low ribs.
We're just sensing the breath here.
As you breathe deeply,
Feel the ribs expand.
And as you exhale,
That sense of release and letting go.
The vagus nerve often restricts us from breathing deeply and this creates anxiety.
As you relax and breathe,
Begin to notice how this energy medicine practice unites our mind and our body.
Allowing us to breathe deeply and diaphragmatically in a slow,
Easy manner.
Energy flowing.
Breathing easily.
One more full deep breath here.
Allow the hands to drop down 2 to 3 inches below the navel or 5 to 8 centimeters.
Keep your hands one on top of the other,
Breathing deeply.
Your hands are helping to release an energy loop at your belly that interferes with digestion and can leave our bodies feeling gripped.
Blocking energy flow.
This can leave us feeling very ungrounded and disconnected.
Like we're living in our heads all the time.
Now focusing on inhaling fully.
Let your exhalation become longer than your inhale.
Even doubling the exhalation.
Finding a nice rhythm with your breath.
And on that exhale,
Just directing your attention all the way down to your feet.
Staying aware in your body.
And just relax into this practice.
Breathing deeply,
Feeling the low ribs widen.
And on that long,
Slow,
Deep exhale,
Just gently direct your attention down your legs and to your feet.
Now release your hands as you let go of the breath.
And notice your body.
Bring attention to how anchored you may feel in your body.
Body in the chair.
Feet on the earth.
Perhaps feeling more relaxed,
More connected with yourself.
Your mind may feel calmer and clearer.
Feeling that sense of ease in the body-mind.
And notice the vibrance of this whole body as a field of sensation.
Now bring in a sense of love and gratitude to your body for all that it does for you.
A simple I love you,
Thank you.
Now rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10.
It is my sincere hope that you feel good in your body and have moved up on this scale.
Wishing you deep peace and love my friends.
Namaste.
