Welcome to your little five-minute embodiment practice.
I'm going to start somewhere comfortable.
You can be seated or standing or lying down.
That's up to you.
Wherever you are,
Arrive fully in this moment.
So set aside any distractions,
Close the door,
Maybe light a candle,
Make this moment special.
And when you're ready,
Land.
Noticing the way that the floor feels below you,
Do a quick body scan,
Checking in with anywhere you're holding tension,
Anywhere that feels open,
And inviting your mind into the space of curiosity rather than judgment.
It's not always easy,
But just the invitation to focus in that direction of curiosity.
Let that be enough for now.
Coming towards your breath,
Begin to expand through your inhales,
Letting your belly fill and release.
And as you exhale,
Draw your belly button towards your spine,
Inhale,
Expand,
And exhale,
Hug it in.
Continuing with that depth of breath,
We'll begin.
You've been holding fire inside of your body and your muscles and your bones.
Maybe you didn't even know it but that fire has been burning you from the inside.
This ritual is about letting it move,
Letting it express safely with love and fiercely too.
So you can stop freezing,
Stop just burning yourself,
And start feeling what is demanding to be felt.
Take a deep breath here,
Inhaling through the belly and exhale belly button to spine.
Place both your hands right over your low belly,
Continuing to breathe deep,
Asking yourself,
Asking your body,
Your gut,
This wisdom center right here,
Am I willing to meet my fire today?
Am I ready to feel it even if it's messy?
Soften through your knees,
Soften through your shoulders,
Through your jaw.
Gently start to bounce or sway,
Rocking your body side to side.
Let your nervous system know that you can deepen into this,
That you're safe to ask these questions.
Am I willing to face my fire today?
Am I willing to feel even if it's messy?
Even if you're scared,
Even if you feel tension,
Keep breathing.
Know that it's not going to feel comfortable right away.
It will probably take quite a bit of time to feel totally comfortable and familiar,
And that's okay.
But for now,
Drop a little deeper to your body.
Start to move a little bigger,
Letting it slowly grow.
Move wherever you feel tight,
Tense,
And keep breathing into those spaces.
You can shake out your arms and your legs,
Can gently roll your neck if you're holding tension in your shoulders.
Make sure to go both directions and pause anywhere that needs some extra attention.
Stomp your feet if you need to.
If you feel sound welling up from your belly or in your throat,
Make that sound.
You can growl.
You can hum.
Make any noises that you need to.
Let it be wild.
Let it be illogical.
Be playful with yourself.
If you feel tears welling,
Notice if your body naturally tries to send them back inside.
And if the noticing is all you get to and you can't get yourself to cry,
Let that be enough for this moment.
If just one tear falls and then your body gets nervous and sucks the rest back in,
Again,
Let that be enough.
Let that be a win.
Remind yourself,
I am courageous for doing this,
For feeling.
You can continue to move as much as you need,
Even pausing this meditation if you need.
And then when you're ready,
You can say out loud or in your head,
I release the pressure I've been holding.
I release the rage I've buried.
I set down this need to play small.
I trust myself to feel my emotions without drowning.
Let all of this move within you,
Your body,
Your breath,
Your feelings,
Even just 5 or 10%.
It's going to take time and repetition to build familiarity in your body,
In your nervous system,
With feeling if you have been frozen for so long.
So come back to this as many times as you need.
But for now,
Place one hand on your heart and feel into your body.
Notice any warmth or coolness,
Any tingling or numbness,
Softness,
Openness.
Notice that you did not lose control,
That you came home to freedom,
To wildness.
Your feelings are so sacred,
And they want to move.
They don't want to define you.
They just want to move you.
Every time you come back to this practice,
You're choosing to flow and move and let yourself feel what's there,
Rather than holding it all inside and letting it burn you alive.
Take a deep breath here into your belly.
And exhale,
Open mouth sigh.
You can even stick your tongue out and do a lion's breath.
Let some of that fire go.
You are so held and so seen in what you're feeling.
You've got this.
Keep going,
Even if it feels uncomfortable.
