15:06

Rest In Flow - Meditation & Vagus Nerve Exercise

by Erica Skone-Rees

Rated
4.7
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
1.7k

No need to still the mind, bring your awareness to the ever-changing movement in each moment. There is freedom in letting go of trying to quiet the mind, and instead, let's direct our attention to the continuous flow of sensations within and outside of us. Everything is in constant flow, let's rest our awareness there, on the movement of life. Erica will gently guide you in meditation and finish with a vagus nerve exercise, a tool to help ease anxiety and activate the parasympathetic (rest and repair) nervous system.

MeditationVagus NerveAwarenessFreedomFlowSensationsLifeAnxiety ReliefParasympatheticBody AwarenessPresent MomentSensory AwarenessEmotional AcceptanceMind WanderingSelf CompassionVagus Nerve StimulationBreathing Awareness

Transcript

Hello friend,

I invite you to join me for the next few minutes as we quiet the mind and inhabit our bodies,

Relaxing into this moment.

Let's start by letting our bodies move in a way that feels supportive.

You might find yourself swaying side to side,

Rolling your shoulders or your neck,

Shifting your hips,

Allowing all excess energy to release and letting yourself find a posture that feels skillful for you right now.

That might be sitting on a chair or a cushion.

It might be gentle movement,

Stretching or walking,

Standing or even laying down.

Allowing yourself to be in any way that feels nourishing in this moment.

There is no right way or wrong way,

All belongs,

All is welcome.

And all of you is welcome in this moment.

The part of you that's ready to let go and relax.

The part of you that feels anxiety or fear,

Your analyzer,

Your mind racing.

Any grief or tension,

Joy,

Excitement,

All parts of you are welcome here.

And let's start by placing a hand over our hearts,

Saying a gentle hello to ourselves as an invitation to bring yourself right here into this moment in time.

When our minds can align with our body,

We are in the same place at the same time.

Our minds are brilliant.

They have the ability to travel into the future and into the past,

But our bodies can only be present now.

So your body is your guide to this moment right now.

And using your body as your guide,

Notice any sensations that are showing up,

Feeling temperature of different parts of the body,

Any feelings of aliveness like tingling,

Sensing the breath,

The inflow,

The outflow,

Feeling the weight of your body,

Noticing where your body makes contact with the floor or the chair or the bed,

Listening to sounds around you,

Those near and those in the distance,

And knowing that everything is in constant flow.

We're not trying to grasp anything or keep it still.

We're bringing our awareness to the flow,

To the changes in sensations,

To the changes in sound,

Bringing our awareness to the changes in temperature of the air around us,

Where it touches our skin and how it feels different on our legs than it does on our arms or chest.

Knowing that the belly rises and falls with each breath,

As do the lungs and the temperature,

Feeling it under the nose with each in-breath and out-breath.

It's all changing in flow like a river.

So we rest our awareness on the flow.

We rest our awareness on motion.

We're not asking to keep our mind still.

We're asking ourselves to bring awareness to what is in each moment.

And if the mind wanders,

If thoughts come in,

You can bring awareness to those thoughts.

Not the content,

But just the curiosity of,

Oh,

There's a thought present,

Coming in and moving out,

Letting yourself watch it move by like a cloud.

And if a emotion arises,

Notice that emotion,

Meet it with curiosity and love and compassion.

All is welcome.

And when you meet it with that compassion,

Notice if it changes.

Emotions are like weather systems.

They move in and they move out.

They are also in flow.

And it's okay to let your awareness flutter around,

Moving from the body sensations to sound,

To watching thoughts move through,

Feeling emotions rise and fall,

And feeling the vast spaciousness that you are.

You are like the ocean.

All of these sensations move like waves.

They swell.

They break.

They move out.

They collect,

Gather,

Turn into another wave.

The wave crashes and goes back out to the beach.

And it repeats.

You are the vast ocean and you can hold it all.

All belongs.

Letting yourself take a deep breath in.

And as you exhale,

Exhale with a hum.

Mmm.

Humming shakes the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body,

Stretching from your head all the way down to the end of the spine.

And it touches almost every organ in the body.

And when it is toned,

Stretched,

Or shaken by that hum,

It's sending a message of safety.

So as we hum,

We are sending a message of safety to the body.

And the rest and repair nervous system is invited to show up.

So taking a deep breath in,

And with your next exhale,

Hum it out.

Mmm.

Letting yourself breathe at your own pace.

And I invite you to continue to hum as long as it feels good and nourishing for your body.

And at any point in your day when you need to reset,

Come back to center.

Let yourself hum.

Hum it out.

Let your awareness rest on the flow and motion of your body sensations.

Let your body be your guide to this moment.

Remembering that when you are in the present moment,

You are not planning for the future.

You are not worrying about the past.

Peace is available in the present moment.

So I leave you today with these tools.

Resting your awareness on the flow.

Using your body as your guide.

And humming it out.

Wishing you well,

My friends.

Meet your Teacher

Erica Skone-ReesAlameda County, CA, USA

4.7 (173)

Recent Reviews

Coco

December 23, 2025

Excellent guidance with wonderful visualizations, connections and practical take aways.

Wendy

August 28, 2023

I’ve been meditating for 10 years and found some helpful instructions in this meditation. Especially “the body can only be in the present moment “. I’m going to be traveling to Italy soon and will be listening to this meditation to help me be more present. Namaste 😊🙏

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© 2026 Erica Skone-Rees. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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