Dr. Ameet Aggarwal guides a nervous system practice that teaches your body it's safe to rest and feel emotions. He uses breathing, hand placements, and permission phrases like "it's safe for me to relax" to help you access calm without forcing it.
Chapters
Permission to heal or permission to feel exercise. So like I said, we're resisting our feelings. Yeah. And so this exercise basically says I get you to say to yourself, it's safe for me to feel exhausted from time to time or it's safe for me to feel anxious or good or pleasure from time to time. So the important words to use at the end of the sentence, and this exercise is on my website as well, is the words from time to time. Because if I say it's safe to feel happy, it's almost like a forced affirmation or safe to feel anxious. I'm kind of trying to convince myself, but I'm not convinced. But if I say from time to time, I'm allowing myself to experience and not experience at the same time. So I give my nervous system my mindset, my perception, choice. And whenever there's choice, the body takes over. And when the body takes over, it naturally goes into a healing state. Yeah. So let's try that if you're open to it. So I invite you to put whatever phones, etc on the couches or wherever. Make sure you're not driving or doing anything dangerous. Take a deep breath in and out. And you can put one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart or even one hand on your forehead if you want. I often say one hand on your forehead and one hand behind your head as well. That actually connects the brain hemispheres and makes this exercise more powerful. And then notice the feelings you're feeling. So I'm just going to walk you through some sentences and you can replace the words I'm using with the own emotions you're feeling. Okay, so let us begin. Deep breath in. And relax. And out. And then just connect to whatever you feel in your heart and you can begin. You can whisper it or say it out loud. It's safe for me to relax once in a while. Just feel how that feels to say once in a while. So you're not forcing relaxation, you're just exploring the possibility of it from time to time. So once in a while, from time to time, it's safe for me to let go of my thoughts or my sensations once in a while. Beautiful. And notice how you feel. Good. It's safe for me to be ready from time to time and just notice what that feels like. I'm not asking you to be ready, I'm not forcing you. It's just safe to be ready once in a while. You don't have to stay there all the time. Beautiful. Exactly. Notice what kind of permission your whole body your physiology gets when you just allow it some permission. And then you can say it's safe for me to collapse or be exhausted from time to time or once in a while and notice what happens there. You don't have to force exhaustion, you don't have to force alertness. All is okay. It's safe for me to relax and maybe push people away or I don't know, let go of stress or people's energy from time to time. So put your own words there. So in my books and online course I give more specific examples, but just feel what is true for you in this moment and I'll just give you a couple of minutes in silence for you to continue the sentences in your own pace and just notice how it feels. You can think them, explore whispering or saying it aloud. Lovely. Just feel the permission, no shoulds, no judgment about your emotions, your beliefs. You can even say it's safe to feel angry from time to time or jealous of my cousin or my friend or whatever. Once in a while, give yourself permission to explore the entire spectrum of human experience. You are allowed today and forever. Excellent. Take a deep breath in and out. Let it go. Let the exploration and the experiment just let it go. And invite you to just come back to the screen to fleet in me and just enjoy the rest of this interview.
