Somatic Stress Release Meditation | Let Your Body Finally Let Go

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Take a slow breath in three-your-nose, and let it leave the body naturally and gently, again inhaling, and letting go with the gentle exhale. Just allow the breath to be easy and natural. There are moments in life when something happens and we don't have the time, space, or safety to fully respond. So we keep going, answer the phone, finish the work day, take care of the people who need us, we smile, stay composed, and tell ourselves we'll deal with it later. And sometimes, later, it never really comes. The moment ends, but the body may still be carrying some of the tension that came with that moment. Be in a tight jaw, raise shoulders, a clenched stomach, restless legs, or a feeling that you should be doing something, even when there's nothing you need to do. So today we're not going searching for a story from the past, and we don't need to revisit anything painful. We're simply going to give your body something it may not have had enough of before, time, space, and permission. So let's begin by noticing whatever is underneath you right now. Feel the chair beneath your hips, or the bed beneath your back. Feel the floor beneath your feet. And just notice where your body makes contact with something solid. Let yourself press down very gently. It's enough to feel the support pushing back. Press your feet into the floor if they're touching it, or your back just slightly into the surface beneath you. And then release, again, a gentle press, noticing the strength in your body, and release. You are allowed to have weight, and allowed to take up space. And you get to feel the boundary between your body and the world around you. Now bring your attention to your hands, without trying to change them. Notice what they're doing. Now your fingers curled, palms tight, are you gripping anything? Just slowly make two gentle fists, not as hard as you can. Just enough to feel the muscles engage, and hold for a moment. And then open your hands. Let your fingers spread. Notice the difference between holding and releasing. Again, gently close. Peel the effort, and open and release, noting the sensation of the absence of effort. Your body knows how to do both. It knows how to brace, and then soften. It doesn't have to choose to do one forever. We're simply reminding it that it has options. Look another breath in, and as you breathe out, let yourself make a hum, if that feels natural. Again, breathing in, and humming out, hmmm. Sometimes we interrupt ourselves without realizing it. We stalk the sigh, swallow the words, hold back the tears. We keep the body still when it wants to move, and we learn how to stay contained. And while containment can at times be useful, it can help us move through moments when we need to keep going. Right now is not one of those. those moments, so you don't have to keep yourself contained. Notice whether your body wants any small movement. Maybe your shoulders want to roll. Your neck wants to turn. Your whole body wants to stretch. Maybe you want to push your feet into the floor. Or if nothing wants to move at all, that's okay. Just let your body lead. If a movement feels good, let yourself repeat it. Slowly and gently. Without needing to know why, there is wisdom in noticing an impulse and allowing yourself to respond. You want to stretch, so you stretch. You want to exhale, so you exhale. You want to be still, so be still. For a few moments, let yourself experience what it's like to respond to your own body without questioning it. Now bring your awareness to your shoulders and lift them gently toward your ears. Hold them there and feel the contraction. And then let them drop. Maybe even letting out a sigh. Again, lift, hold and release. Notice whether the release feels different when the tension is intentional. Sometimes we become so accustomed to holding that we don't even notice we're doing it. Feeling the contrast can help the body recognize when it no longer needs to put in the effort. Now let your shoulders rest. Feel your arms become heavy. Notice your hands, hips, legs, and feet. And ask yourself quietly. Is there anything my body is doing right now that it doesn't need to do? Just listen, no need to search too hard. Maybe your forehead is working or your tongue is pressing against the roof of your mouth. Perhaps your stomach is pulled inward or your fingers are curled. If you find something, see what happens if you let it loosen just a few percent. Your body doesn't need to drop every defense at once. It only needs to discover that release is available. Take a slow breath into your belly, ribs, and chest. Letting the breath expand, however it wants to expand. And as you exhale, imagine the breath traveling downward through your body, through your chest, belly, hips, legs, and into the ground. Again, breathe in. And let the exhale move all the way down. You might quietly say to yourself, "I don't have to hold this moment anymore. I'm allowed to respond to what is here and now. I am allowed to let some of the effort go. Notice what your body does with those words. There's no correct response. You may feel a softening, emotion rises, let it come. Or you may feel nothing at all. And all of this is welcome. If you notice energy moving through your body, give it room. A deeper breath, a yawn or a swallow, a stretch, or a little shiver. Simply let whatever naturally happens be enough. If your body becomes uncomfortable in any way, you can always open your eyes and look around the room. Move or change positions. Because you are the one deciding what happens here. Take a moment now to look around your space. Either with your eyes open or through a softened gaze. And find three things that tell you where you are. A color, object, a window, or a light. Your body recognize that this is now, not then, or the next thing. But here, safe and present. Feel the ground underneath you. The air around you. Feel the breath entering and leaving. There may have been many moments when your body needed to stay ready. Moments when slowing down was impossible. Or when you had to move forward before you felt finished. Your body was doing what it knew how to do. And here you are, teaching it a different experience. One where nothing happens when you soften your shoulders, where it's okay to take a full breath, follow a stretch, or when you stop gripping, you find you can rest without solving everything first. Place one hand over your chest, so place one hand over your heart, and one over your belly. Feel your own warps and your breath moving beneath your hands, and quietly repeat to yourself. My body doesn't have to finish everything today. I can release a little at a time. I can let this breath complete itself. I can let this moment be complete. Take one long breath in, and let the exhale go all the way to the end. Letting the next inhale come whenever it's ready. Letting it go when it's ready to leave, and noticing that the breath always arrives on its own. Let that be enough for now, noticing the moment with the soft transformation that happens with one completed breath, one unclenched hand, and one moment when your body didn't have to stay ready. Begin to bring gentle movement back into your fingers and toes. Roll your shoulders if you'd like, noticing the room again to support beneath you, and before you move on with your day, remind yourself that you don't have to carry every unfinished moment. Your body can learn when something is finished, and you are here to keep giving it small, heavy opportunities to let go. Take one final breath in, and release it slowly. When you're ready, open your eyes or lift your gaze. Move slowly. Let yourself return in your own time, and take with you only what feels lighter. Thank you so much for joining me here today, and giving yourself this space. No, must stay. If this practice landed for you today, it's worth exploring deeper. When we can finally name the survival pattern we've been living inside, something in the body exhales. The what's your pattern quiz is linked in the description. It's a fun way to understand yourself better. ♪ Maybe it's Maybelline. ♪