Everyday Practices
Settling Into Connection Mode
For Resetting a Stressed Nervous System
US$6 4 practices · 11 tracks · listen or download
Get the pack · US$6Stress doesn’t always arrive as one big moment. Often it builds through the day, sometimes before we’ve even got out of bed. The shoulders creep up, the breath gets shallow, and we feel a bit on edge without quite knowing why. Sometimes it’s bubbling away at a 3 or 4 out of 10. Sometimes it’s a lot higher.
That’s Protection Mode, doing what it’s there to do. There’s nothing wrong with us when it happens. And the body has its own way back. When we rest our attention on the breath, and come back to it each time we drift off, with gentle persistence, the nervous system can begin to settle. We find our way back into Connection Mode.
These are longer, slower practices, for when you have a bit of time. Each one uses the breath as an anchor. In some, you soften the out-breath by just a touch, which I describe as giving your nervous system an extra soothing stroke. One also brings in a story about birds that fly in the calm eye of a hurricane.
There are four practices here. Each comes in a full version and at least one shorter one, from around five minutes up to just over half an hour, so there’s one for the time you’ve got.
What’s inside
Nervous System Reset
3 versions
Full version · 19 minShorter version · 10 minMicro version · 6 min
For when you can feel your system running high, whether it’s overwhelm, anxiousness or a low hum of stress. After a short explanation of the stress response, your body melts into gravity. Then you follow the breath with an imaginary balloon that fills and empties in time with it. Later you soften the out-breath by a touch. It ends with a few words: ‘I am here for me in this moment.’ The shorter version skips the explanation and the body. The micro version is mostly the balloon.
Me First
2 versions
Full version · 17 minShorter version · 11 min
For putting yourself first, even for a few minutes. Most of this one is spoken in the first person, so the words become yours: ‘In my immediate surroundings, right now, all is well. I am safe.’ Your body softens part by part and melts into where you’re resting. Then you count the breath, if that helps, and lengthen the last part of each out-breath by a touch. It ends with words like ‘I trust my body’s ability to find balance.’ The shorter version leaves out the softening through the body.
The Soften
3 versions
Full version · 18 minShorter version · 11 minMicro version · 5 min
For soothing the body, step by step. You start by letting go of tension you might not have noticed, from the forehead down to the legs. Then you rest with the breath, counting if your mind is busy, and I ask you to ‘see how gentle you can be.’ If you feel calm enough, you soften the out-breath by 10 or 20 per cent. It finishes with a small half-smile. The shorter version skips the tension check. The micro version stays with the breath and leaves out the soften itself.
The Calm in the Storm
3 versions
Full version · 33 minMedium version · 23 minShort version · 12 min
For when there’s a storm, inside or out. You settle into the body first, tracing an imaginary line around where you’re resting. Then a story: some birds ride out a hurricane by flying in its calm eye, under blue sky. Your out-breath becomes that calm centre, with the option to soften it by a touch. Near the end you notice what you can see behind closed eyes. The medium version leaves out the imaginary line. The short one goes from the story to the breath, without the closed eyes.