Hi, it's Sam here, and welcome to Radio Headspace and to Wednesday.
Recently I visited a Japanese spa, which was very peaceful.
As I was exploring all of the pools and the steam rooms,
I came upon a room filled with lounge chairs.
As I looked closer, I saw that the chairs were ever so gently rocking adults to sleep.
And it was so sweet to see adults getting that deep rest that they seemed to really need.
I nestled myself into one and immediately felt soothed.
And this made me think of ways that we can soothe ourselves,
rock ourselves figuratively and literally into ease.
Rocking your body rhythmically and syncing the movement to your breath activates the parasympathetic nervous system,
putting us into rest and digest mode.
When I'm teaching mindfulness to kids,
I often help them ease into stillness by rocking side to side,
making the movement progressively smaller until they land in stillness.
I also rock side to side when I feel stressed or restless,
like when I'm waiting in line or having a difficult conversation.
I slow down and bring awareness to the sensations in my feet, a point very far from my busy mind.
When we slow down and gently scan our bodies, we may notice areas that are holding tension,
and just a gentle awareness of that tension can cause it to ease up a bit.
So let's try it now.