Closing your eyes if you feel comfortable.
Notice your inner world and how you are feeling in this moment.
And notice without judgement.
Before we start this meditation,
Let's set an intention to calm our nervous system with this practice.
Whenever your mind wanders,
Bring it back to the intention and remind it about why we have set aside this time for ourselves today.
Remind our minds that we don't wish to stay in a state where our sympathetic nervous system is over reactive.
We want to activate our parasympathetic nervous system and create balance between these two parts of our nervous system.
We want to train ourselves to be able to return to a calm,
Centered and balanced state when we need to.
This can be done every time we notice an overreaction in our sympathetic nervous system.
Take a moment to notice your breath and follow your inhale and your exhale.
Without changing it,
Notice how it is in this moment and again notice without judgement.
Just notice and be aware.
Follow your inhale and your exhale.
Do this for the next 20 seconds.
Sometimes by just connecting with your breath and doing this,
It can bring you into a much calmer state.
Now put your hand on your stomach and breathe in in a way that makes your hand rise and fall with your breath.
Diaphragm breathing or abdominal breathing can be one way to signal to your brain that everything is ok and that you are safe in this moment and then this is a signal to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
I'll give you a moment to practice this in your own time and to notice what is happening for you.
So breathe in to your belly and follow your breath and breathe out.
No matter what your experience is so far,
Realize that it is perfect for you in this moment and acknowledge it may change and it may not.
Be with your breath as much as you can.
If your mind is wandering a little,
Just observe it.
Watch it and notice it without judgement and let it know that it can take a break from all the distractions and that it can be focused on this practice instead.
Be kind to your mind rather than fight with it.
If you aren't already,
See if you can switch to breathing in and out of your nose.
If this is not possible today,
Then this is ok.
Breathe in and breathe out and follow your breath.
Put as much awareness and focus on your breath as you can manage and notice your breath flow all the way to your stomach and back out.
Do in your own time for 30 seconds.
Now we will focus on evening out the breath.
We will breathe in for the count of three,
Pause and then breathe out for the count of three and pause.
If you happen to have any difficulties with any of the breathing exercises,
Make sure you stop immediately and return to normal breathing.
I will count for you at first and then leave you to find your own natural rhythm.
Breathe in to the belly and pause.
Breathe out and follow your breath and pause.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Pause.
Now have a go by yourself for the next 30 seconds.
Now return to normal breathing for a moment and check in with how you are going.
And do this without judgement.
If your eyes are closed you might like to keep them closed as this will assist with having an inner focus.
You might feel calm and more relaxed and you might not.
Both experiences are okay.
Be present if you can with whatever your experience is today and feel good that you have taken the time for self care regardless of the result.
Our next focus is to lengthen our exhale to be double the amount of our inhale.
We will breathe in for the count of three,
Pause for the count of three,
Exhale for the count of six and pause for the count of three and we will repeat this.
I will count for you and then I will give you a moment to practice on your own.
So breathe in to your belly and follow your breath and breathe out.
Breathe in two three,
Pause two three,
Breathe out two three four five six,
Pause two three,
Breathe in two three,
Pause two three,
Breathe out two three four five six,
Pause two three,
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Now practice on your own for the next 45 seconds.
Do this with gentleness and kindness especially if these breathing techniques are new to you.
Well done,
Tune in again without judgement and see how you are feeling.
Now,
If any of this was tricky for you or you found it difficult to focus,
This is no problem.
Be gentle with yourself and be curious and interested in this practice that can bring calmness and well-being to your life whenever you need it.
Thank yourself for giving this a go today and practice this meditation as many times as you need.
Eventually you won't need the recording as you will be so skilled to employ these techniques whenever you need to.
You will develop an awareness around when your nervous system needs to be calm and settled and you will be able to do this with your breath.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Bring your awareness back to your body,
Notice your fingers and toes and give them a wriggle and slowly opening your eyes,
Remaining with the calm energy you have just created.
