A Guided Meditation for Trauma Recovery. (How to rewire your nervous system)
Simple guided meditations are amazing for calming your nervous system and toning your Vagus nerve.
In trauma recovery, having a toned Vagus nerve is essential in not only getting you out of fight or flight mode but also in keeping you out of it.
In it’s most basic explanation:
The Dorsal (back) portion of that nerve is known for panic and fatigue and living in a heightened and stressful state. So you can run away if needed.
The Ventral (front) portion is where you can access the reasoning part of your brain and your system is regulated and working in a solid happy flow.
They are both normal states but the dorsal vagus response is intended to be in moments of danger. It slows down digestion, dumps hormones into your system like adrenaline and cortisol, increases your heart rate and blood pressure and breathing rate and keeps you hyper-focusing and searching for danger.
If you aren’t in danger, you don’t need to activate it.
So imagine how destructive it is to live in that mode for and extended period of time, or even on a daily basis.
That is the part that isn’t normal. It’s an extreme stress response, not a way to go about daily life.
The Guided Meditation
I love how simple this one is. I’ll break it down into steps that you can talk yourself through as you meditate.
Get into a comfortable position. It doesn’t matter how you are. Sit down, stand up, lie down, lean on something… Whatever works for you.
First do a simple body scan. Start at the top of your head and work your way down your body to your toes. Pay attention to what your skin feels like.
Next do a breathing inventory. Count out 10 breaths in and out. Try to control the pacing. Speed it up if you want or slow it down. You are in control of it. Do what feels good at that moment.
Now imagine a tiny version of yourself. A small miniature you that is ready to do some work. You have some scissors in your back pocket and they are great for cutting things.
Place that mini you inside your head. Imagine it’s walking around in the very center of your brain. Right where your flight or fight center is. It doesn’t have to be anatomically correct. It can look like anything you want it to look like. A storage building, a cave, or an actually brain, etc…
Think of one thought is is stressful for you and imagine it has a cord plugged into it.
Take that cord and cut it. Sever it completely.
Take the end of that cord in your hands and drag it to the front of your brain. Imagine a flight of steps is in front of you and your are walking this cut cord to the top of them.
Once you get to the top, take that cord and plug it into the front of your brain. This is your reasoning center. That thought is now no longer stuck in your fear center, it is plugged into your rational brain. You control it. You can talk to it and tell it to stop stressing you out.
Give it a try and let me know what you think of this meditation
I have been using this guided thought process for a few weeks now and it helps.
Thoughts and feelings that seemed out of my control before are now more manageable.
I hope this helps you as well.
