Pause for a moment and allow yourself to settle into your seat. Feel your feet on the ground and the weight of your body in your chair. Let down just a little into your chair and notice that you are held here. Open your eyes and allow your gaze to move slowly around the room where you are sitting. Easily. Notice if there is any threat here. Take your time. No effort needed. Notice what you notice and allow your gaze to land on objects of interest or curiosity. Notice how quiet your looking is.
Pause again and listen. Allow sounds to come to you and leave the same way they came. No straining to hear. Notice how quiet your listening is. Listening requires no effort at all. Sounds just come to you. What do you notice?. Is it quiet? Is it noisy? What is it like to have no preference at all? Just allowing sounds or no sounds to come and go.
Bring your attention back to your feet on the ground. Wiggle your toes slowly and feel where the soles of your feet meet the carpet or the floor. Notice the temperature of the air around your feet? Is it warm or is it cold? Feel the weight of your body in the chair and notice if there are any signs of settling in your body. A yawn. A release of tension. A sense of ease or curiosity. A single tear drop.
From this place of settling bring one hand to your heart and one hand to your belly. Notice the contact between your hands and the fabric of your clothes or your skin. Notice how it feels. Be curious. Notice your belly rise and fall with your breath. Don’t try to change your breathing simply allow your breathing to happen on it’s own. No effort needed.
If you notice places of tension in your body simply ask yourself, “is this tension necessary right now?” Just a gentle curiosity. No demand for the tension to release or let go. Be patient. Just a little cue to the body that the present moment is safe. It takes time and repetition to shift patterns of tension in the body.
“Finally, can we be awake to the listening presence that is beholding it all? Is this listening presence, this awareness, disturbed in any way by what appears? Or is it like the mirror that is undisturbed by the reflections, allowing them to come and go, without resisting or clinging to any of them?” ~ Joan Tollifson
If you have time you can repeat this simple neurosensory exercise a couple more times or come back to it throughout your day. The present moment is safe. Give your physiology time to register safety.
All of Candace’s services are Trauma, PTSD, Complex Grief, Chronic Illness and Benzo withdrawal symptom sensitive.