Introduction to The Havening Technique
I want to share with you a beautiful Mindbody healing tool which is very gentle and yet powerful. It is called the Havening Technique.
It will soothe your nervous system, and can be one of the tools I share with you to begin to help you create a sense of SAFETY.
Read through the instructions here, and you can choose to follow along three minute video below.
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The Havening Technique Exercise
Take a deep breath in and let it go.
Allow your shoulders to soften and the muscles in your face to relax.
Let your breathing return to its normal rhythm.
Very gently stroke your face with your hands.
From your forehead, stroke down the cheeks to the chin.
Do this a few times.
Stroke your arms.
Stroke downwards gently from the shoulders to the elbows.
Give yourself this gentle stroking hug.
It might produce tears. It is okay if it does, and it is okay if it doesn’t.
Rub your hands.
Stroke one hand against the other.
Brush the energy off the end of your fingertips.
Say this to your heart.
“I accept myself just as I am in this moment”
Repeat these words again, as you repeat the first few steps.
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Video Introduction to the Havening Technique
A little background on The Havening Technique
The word itself, Havening is from the word “Haven”, meaning a safe place. And as you may be starting to learn, creating safety has relevance on your recovery journey.
There is a lot of talk in the chronic health community about Fight, Flight or Freeze. This is great. You may already know that this means your nervous system needs some support so that you can come out of Fight or Flight, or so that you can stop living in a state of Functional Freeze.
So rather than “hunting for a cure” (which creates more stress on the Autonomic Nervous System) we want to do things that help us create a sense of being safe. And this is one of the Mindbody tools that is really easy, and really powerful for this.
The Havening Technique – more formally known as Amygdala Depotentiation – is a psychosensory therapy which is being used in the mainstream to help with deep rooted anxiety, rumination, severe negative thinking and depression. It can also be used to access and soothe – or start to process out – the full range of human emotion.
It uses simple touch applied to arms, hands and face. This touch, via touch receptors in your skin produces delta brain waves which relax your body and mind and allow your subconscious mind to safely bring forward feelings and emotions.
The BrainFog-Friendly version
We are creating SAFETY for you.
We are creating safe ways for you to feel your feelings and release stressors.
When you use this technique, you can use the phrase I have included above. These words are designed to help you let go of resistance and to accept what is. This immediately reduces stress and can cause emotions to surface.
“I accept myself just as I am in this moment”
When you let go of resistance it automatically relieves your system of stressors, as resistance and stress are one and the same.
It is very powerful to accept and allow what is.
It is okay to not like what is.
It is okay to say to ourselves “but I hate this”. And then we allow that too.
And “hating this” can be a big part of this moment. Okay. So that is what is.
You don’t have to be calm. You don’t have to be “zen”.
You can be just how you are.
And you don’t have to feel emotions. Maybe you feel totally numb.
However you are right now is just right for where to begin.
The first step towards change is to accept where we are.
Allow.
Accept.
This moment.
Here and Now.
“I accept myself just as I am in this moment”
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Well done!
💗 Is it time for a rest or a reward for all your hard work on recovery? 💗
