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Transcript

Loving-Kindness Meditation for Nervous System Regulation | 20-Minute Guided Practice · Calm By Lane

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  Welcome.
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  Welcome to Calm by Lane.
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  I'm Lane Kennedy.
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  These are meditation practices for life because life is life-ing all the time.
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  Today's practice is a loving kindness practice for your nervous system.
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  A few minutes to step out of doing and fixing and managing everything, and to come back into your body with a little more softness.
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  We all need that.
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  We're going to use breath and sensing, gentle nervous system regulation, and loving kindness to create a little more space inside our being.
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  This is one of my free practices, and if you'd like to practice with me more deeply, you'll find my full catalog and collection of longer meditations, breathwork, practices over at Calm by Lane Premium Practice Library at lanekennedy.com Practice
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  With Me.
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  But right now, you don't need to do anything else.
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  Just find a position, a position that feels comfortable for you.
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  You can sit down or lie down.
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  You can even stand if that's what your body wants today, right now And before we do anything with the breath, take a moment to look around you, allowing your eyes to move slowly through your space Notice where you
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  are Notice the light and the colors, and perhaps how the light bounces off the colors or through them Noticing the shapes around you And perhaps finding one thing that's pleasant to look at.
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  Nothing extraordinary, just something your eyes enjoy resting on And let yourself look at that for just a moment And now notice the support underneath you Whether that be the chair, the floor, your bed, or the ground Feel your
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  body and how it makes contact with the support And you don't have to hold yourself up all by yourself right now.
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  Just allowing some of your weight to be received.
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  It's okay And notice your breath.
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  You don't need to deepen it, and you don't need to slow it down.
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  Just notice, notice that your breathing is already happening here And your body has been doing this all day without you asking to manage it.
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  Just feeling the inhale Noticing and feeling the exhale And now if it feels comfortable, allow the breath in to be just a little fuller, just a little wider, not enormous, just enough to feel your ribs gently expand And
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  allowing the exhale to be easy and unhurried Again, breathing in here Feeling the body expand And breathing out, softening One more time here in And out And just allowing your body to breathe in whatever rhythm it wants There's
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  nothing to perfect here And bringing your attention to your face Just noticing your forehead and the space around your eyes Your cheekbones Your jaw, your tongue And see if any of these places might relax just one percent, one
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  percent more Releasing the face And now let the shoulders become heavy And your hands begin to rest And the belly becomes soft, feeling into the softness of your belly There's no need to pull it in.
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  You don't have to change it.
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  Just allowing your body to be And you can now place your hands somewhere that feels comforting.
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  Perhaps that's over your heart, your belly, or maybe one hand on the other Or perhaps touching yourself is not right for today.
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  You don't need to.
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  Just let your hands simply rest.
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  There's no correct way to receive kindness And feel the warmth of your hand if it is on your heart or your belly or the opposite hand and feeling the gentle pressure Noticing that you're here right now with yourself
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  And for these next few minutes, there's nowhere else to be Nothing about you needs to improve before you're worthy of your own care.
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  Breathing here.
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  Breathe And we begin by silently offering a simple phrase Repeating silently May I be gentle with myself today May I be gentle with myself today Allowing the words to land within and around and through you Not as something
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  you have to believe in, just, just an offering to yourself And may I be gentle with myself today May I be gentle with myself today And another, may my body know moments of ease May my body know moments
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  of ease Simply notice what happens when you hear those words Maybe there's something softening Or maybe there's nothing at all Maybe kindness itself feels uncomfortable, but all of it's welcome here today We're not trying to manufacture a feeling.
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  We're just practicing a way of relating to ourselves Breathing And bringing your attention to somewhere in the body that feels neutral or comfortable.
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  Perhaps it's your hands, your feet, your legs, the weight of your body against the surface Just finding one place that doesn't need your attention because something is wrong Allowing your awareness to rest there, to settle And sometimes we
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  become so accustomed to scanning for discomfort that we forget We forget the body contains information contains the information of warmth or stillness, neutrality Just allowing your nervous system receive some of this information And feeling your feet In the
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  palms of your hands Noticing the sensations of the body Right here, supported breathing And quietly offering to yourself In this moment, I am here In this moment, I can soften In this moment, I don't have to solve everything
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  And take a gentle breath here.
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  Inhale slowly And let the exhale leave slowly Just breathing in And breathing out, nothing to force here Breath is your companion Always something you can return to Receiving and releasing And now bring to mind someone who feels easy
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  to love Someone easy to love Choose someone whose presence brings a little warmth.
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  A friend, a child, a partner, someone from long ago.
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  It could even be an animal you love Just sense their presence Just notice what happens in your body when you think of them.
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  Perhaps the corners of the mouth change, your chest feels warmer, your s- shoulders soften, or maybe there's nothing at all And silently offer to them, may you feel safe enough to rest May you know that you are loved
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  May you have moments of ease May you feel at home in yourself Notice that kindness is happening inside your body The person may be miles away It's okay Sensing allowing the image of the person to soften Imagine some
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  of the warmth you just offered them turning gently back towards you It's returning warmth And repeating silently, may I offer myself the kindness I so easily give away May I offer myself the kindness I so easily give away
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  Your body is listening Your body has carried you.
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  It's gotten you through all the days All the difficult seasons.
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  Every morning it wakes you up Every breath it takes Your body is here with you And perhaps say quietly to yourself, "Thank you for caring for me."
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  I'm listening You don't have to earn my care Feeling into your breath Sensing the surface of your face Perhaps something has shifted.
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  Perhaps nothing at all And regulation isn't always a feeling of deep calm.
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  Sometimes regulation is simply having a little more room, a little more choice, a little more capacity And feeling into yourself wide widen to all the people you know All the people you've come into contact with, just recognize them
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  An offer.
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  May we all find moments of safety May we all experience kindness May we remember that we belong to one another Now let everyone go and come back to you, your body, your breath The place where you are And
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  feeling your feet Being Noticing the temperature against your skin And when you're ready Perhaps your eyes begin to open and just find a color or a shape Orienting yourself back to where you are Before we finish, place your
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  hands somewhere on your body one more time that feels comfortable, and take a comfortable breath in, inhaling And exhaling And quietly say to yourself, "May I meet myself with kindness?"
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  May I listen when my body speaks May I remember that softness is available to me And may I carry some of this kindness into the rest of my day One more breath with me.
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  Inhale Feeling the ground on the exhale Noticing the world around you And taking your time to wiggle your toes, move your fingers, roll your shoulders, and gently return to yourself I hope this practice supported you today It's always
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  so nice to spend time with you, and there are more practices waiting for you in Calm by Lane premium practice library.
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  You can join me anytime over at lanekennedy.com/practicewithme.
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  Until next time, take good care of yourself.
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  Be well