Breath & Body Meditation For Nervous System Regulation

This is a breath and body meditation for regulating the nervous system.

We're going to move through alternate nostril breathing,

Also known as Nadi Shodhana,

A series of chair seated yoga poses,

Followed by a brief embodiment practice,

Using your breath,

Using your body to take shape in ways that are nourishing and life-giving.

So to begin,

Find yourself in a comfortable seated position.

Maybe your eyes flutter shut,

And you begin to notice the gentle rise and fall of the breath in the body.

Maybe you tune into the quality of your breath,

Noticing if it's getting stuck on its journey in and out of the nose,

And what you can do to tend to it.

Maybe that's a nice,

Deep inhale,

Followed by a nice,

Deep exhale,

But just notice how you're arriving and how your breath is arriving right now.

Whenever you're ready,

I'll invite you to bring your right hand up towards your face and putting your right thumb on the right nostril,

Gently closing it,

Blocking it off to air.

Exhale completely through the nose,

And then fully block the right nostril,

Inhaling through the left nostril.

Pause at the top of the breath.

Place the ring finger now on the left nostril,

And exhale out through the right.

Inhaling through the right this time,

Pausing at the top,

Closing the right nostril off with the right thumb,

And exhaling fully out through the left nostril.

And if it helps to place your pointer and middle finger on the third eye,

The spot just between the eyebrows,

Go ahead and rest that there now.

And begin this pattern of inhaling fully while one nostril is closed off,

Pausing at the top of the breath,

Switching fingers,

Exhaling out the other nostril,

And then breathing in on that side,

Pausing at the top of the breath.

Release,

Exhale.

Do this for 10 to 12 rounds at your own pace,

And if at any time it feels like too much,

You can let go of the practice and just take a few grounding breaths as we started.

Whenever you've completed those cycles of breath,

Release the practice,

Letting your breaths with both nostrils,

And noticing any differences,

Noticing if the breath feels any different in the body,

Or if your body in general feels any different than before.

And now if you aren't already in a chair or on the floor in a seated position,

I invite you to find yourself there.

It can be a couch,

A bed.

But I invite you now to do 10 rounds of cat-cow,

Seated cat-cow,

Following your breath at your own pace.

So that could look like holding your knees with your hands,

Inhale,

Drawing your chest forward through your legs,

Slight arch in the back,

And then exhale,

Kind of grabbing onto your knees,

Rounding the spine into cat,

Exhale.

Inhale,

Drawing yourself forward through your knees,

Pulling on them,

Pulling yourself through.

Exhale,

Holding onto the knees for support,

Rounding the spine,

Cat.

For this next pose,

You can stay seated or you can stand.

We're just going to gently twist the spine,

Inhaling and exhaling as you move through each twist,

Keeping your sit bones and below as facing forward and steady and rooted as you can,

And just twisting the upper half of the body on an inhale one way,

And exhale the other.

Or you can exhale at the twist and inhale as you come back to center.

Whatever feels the most intuitive and helpful for your body and your breath.

Do this five times,

Each side,

With your breath as your guide.

And for this last posture,

We're just going to do a seated forward fold,

Or if you're standing,

Feel free to do these standing.

If you are standing,

Make sure you have a generous bend in the knees so you don't get dizzy or lose your balance.

We're just going to inhale,

Arms up overhead,

Whether seated or standing.

Exhale,

Folding over your legs,

Folding in half,

Without putting any strain on the muscles.

Exhaling completely,

And then inhaling all the way back up to standing.

Move through this movement of inhaling up,

Exhaling down,

Fold ten times with your breath as your guide.

For the second part of this meditation,

As I mentioned before,

We're going to embody postures that feel life-giving and nourishing to us.

And so before we begin,

I invite you to bring something to mind that you hope to have more awareness around,

More or less control of in your life,

Or something that's weighing heavily on your mind.

This could be a habit or behavior you wish to change,

A relationship you want to mend,

A person you hope to forgive,

Or maybe it's just the state of the world that you're holding and that is okay.

And so view this as your current immediate problem in this moment right now.

What comes to mind as the thing that is heavy that you're holding,

Or the thing that's weighing on you?

And as you hold that in mind,

I invite you to close your eyes,

Dropping back into your body.

If your breath helps you get there,

That's great.

And we're going to determine which area of the body our concern is residing.

Where it feels the heaviest.

Is it our heart,

Chest area?

Is it the mind,

The head?

Maybe it's the belly or the breath.

Any specific part of the body,

Tension in the shoulders,

Tightness in the hips.

Just locate where this concern,

This thing you've chosen today,

Is living in your body.

And once you've located what you brought to mind in your body,

I invite you to bring just some conscious and kind awareness to what shows up when you reflect on why you chose this topic.

Pay attention to how your body reacts,

How each part of your body feels when you reflect on this thing.

What are the emotions that sort of flood your system or thoughts that flood your mind?

Any physical or visceral sensations emerging.

We're just noticing without judgment what is showing up.

And just know if at any point this is too much to hold and explore,

You can stop.

You can come back to the breath.

You can anchor yourself to the room you're in.

There's always a way out.

So as we explore this a bit more with our breath,

I'll invite you again to come into a comfortable position.

So whether that is seated,

Laying down,

Standing up,

Just make sure the spine is nice and aligned,

The shoulders are relaxed and the eyes are gently closed.

And then take five full breaths,

Slowly and steadily,

Making your in-breath and out-breath the same length if you can,

As you drop deeper into this present moment.

As you breathe,

Let the belly be soft,

Allowing the breath to flow as deep as comfortable.

After these five grounding breaths,

Shift your attention now to the earth beneath you.

So the earth could even just mean the couch,

The floor,

The chair you're sitting on.

But notice where your body is making contact with that surface.

Whatever physical reality is supporting you,

Hold your attention.

Focus your attention on the areas of the body that are in direct contact with what is beneath you.

And stay present here for about 10 breaths.

Move your awareness and focus to the area of the body you brought to mind earlier,

The part of your body holding any tension or the part of the body that's experiencing the impact of the thing that's weighing on you today.

What do you notice here now?

Does it have a color?

Is there warmth present?

Numbness?

Does it have a shape?

Stay present with whatever is showing up in your mind's eye,

Imagination,

Felt sense for another 10 breaths.

Gently shifting now your attention to hold the fullness of your body and awareness.

Notice what it feels like to be in or with your physical body right now.

What does she,

He,

They feel,

Sense,

Experience in this moment?

Observe whatever sensations might be here for another 10 breaths.

And now we're going to notice the way the body wants to respond.

Maybe you're feeling tears well up.

And if that's the case,

What would happen if you let yourself cry?

Maybe you're feeling this need to move around,

Jump,

Shake,

Dance,

Laugh,

Yell.

Go ahead and give permission to yourself as long as it is safe and does not put you in harm's way to move however your body wants to move or respond to this however your body wants to respond.

Come back to the breath now,

Letting go of the physical movement,

Coming back to center.

We'll take an inhale together through the nose and an exhale out through the mouth.

Whenever you are ready,

You can gently open your eyes and begin to reflect upon your experience.

Your experience of this practice.