This somatic practice is a really powerful practice to take you out of states like fight and flight,
Where we feel oftentimes quite disconnected from our body and from our environment,
And we might even feel unsafe.
We might even feel this constant underlying subtle experience of not feeling safe.
So this practice called orienting is a really powerful way to begin to move out of these states of fight and flight,
To feel more connected to your environment,
And to allow your whole body to slow down and to bring in a greater sense of regulation.
So this practice can be done seated or lying down or standing.
Just make sure you're comfortable and at ease.
Take a deep breath in and deep breath out.
With your eyes open,
Just begin to very slowly gaze around the space that you're in.
Without any agenda,
Not looking for anything in particular.
Just allow your eyes to wander so your body and head can move.
They don't need to remain static or still.
You might want to gaze up towards the sky or the ceiling.
You may want to gaze down towards the earth.
See if you can slow the pace down half the speed again of what you're currently moving in.
Notice if there's any changes to your breath as you do this.
Oftentimes,
You might notice your body wanting to sigh or there just being a longer breath out.
Let's continue this practice.
Feel the ground underneath you,
Whether it's the earth,
A chair,
A bed.
Feel this connection of your body to earth,
Earth to body.
Maybe even looking behind you over your shoulder.
Now,
Bringing your gaze to something that's really close to you.
Maybe it's even to a part of your body,
To your legs or your hands.
And just allow your eyes to rest a little on this thing,
This maybe part of your body that's close to you.
Now,
Slowly allow your eyes to wander again and to find a part of the space that you're in where you can see the furthest away.
So maybe it's even out through a window if you have a window close to you.
Maybe it's just the corner of your room.
Allow your eyes to just rest on that space.
Notice how when you rest your eyes on something further away,
You have more access to your peripheral vision.
And when you have your eyes rested on something closer to you,
Which I invite you to do again,
Bring your eyes to rest on maybe a part of your body or an object that's close to you.
Notice that you have less access to your peripheral vision.
Your eyes become perhaps a little more intense looking.
Again,
Notice what's happening in your body.
Notice your breath.
And then again,
Shift your gaze to furthest part of the space that you're in that you can see.
And then for the last few moments,
Once again,
Allow your eyes just to meander.
Maybe gazing down or up.
Maybe gazing over your shoulder.
Feeling your feet on the floor or your bottom against a chair.
Notice your breath.
Just the last few moments of this practice.
Beautiful.
So either now with your eyes open or your eyes closed,
Just notice how you feel.
Notice how those few minutes of simply gazing around,
Of allowing the eyes to wander and meander,
How that's impacted how you feel.
