The Embodied Jewish Woman With Rena Reiser

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159 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 12 03 2023

Dec 3, 2023

10:00

Self-Awareness and Vulnerability Meditation Rena led a guided meditation focused on self-awareness and vulnerability. She began by instructing participants to take deep breaths, noting the depth and sensation of each breath. Rena then invited participants to reflect on a vulnerable situation, asking them to consider its intensity and location in the body. Following this, she guided participants through a series of questions aimed at understanding the vulnerability from different perspectives. Finally, Rena suggested offering what the vulnerability might need to feel safer, emphasizing the importance of empathy and compassion.

202

158 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 30 2023

Nov 30, 2023

9:41

Feeling Joy When Life Feels Heavy Rena led a guided meditation focused on breathing and body awareness. She encouraged participants to notice their current emotions, where they feel them in their bodies, and how they can help their bodies feel safe enough to stay with these emotions. She then invited participants to shift their attention to the emotion of joy, allowing their bodies to experience both emotions simultaneously. The practice ended with an invitation to expand the sense of joy within themselves.

203

157 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 29 2023

Nov 29, 2023

9:48

Being Held by Hashem Rena led a guided meditation focused on mindfulness and relaxation. She started by asking everyone to take deep breaths and observe their bodies, from head to feet. She then guided the participants to imagine their parts being held by Hashem, with a sense of security and trust, and to notice how this felt in their bodies. She suggested that the participants could expand this sense of support to other parts as needed. The meditation concluded with the participants staying with the sense of being supported for as long as it was beneficial for their bodies.

204

156 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 28 2023

Nov 28, 2023

9:24

Sensing Space Rena led a guided meditation focused on sensing space. She invited participants to focus on their breath, soften their eyes, and become aware of the space around them. She then guided them to shift their attention to a physical sensation in their body, encouraging them to observe the space around this sensation before focusing back on it. Finally, she invited participants to check in with their bodies and choose a word or phrase to remember the experience.

205

155 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 27 2023

Nov 27, 2023

9:48

Meditation Session: If Anything Was Possible Rena guided a meditation session, focusing on breathing exercises and body awareness. She encouraged participants to notice their current state of being, including thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. She then asked them to consider the opposite of their current feelings - if anything was possible - and observe how it felt in their body. Participants were instructed to switch between their current feelings and the opposite, holding both simultaneously. The session concluded with Rena asking participants to identify a new thought or feeling that emerged during the meditation, and to stay with it throughout the day for added support.

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154 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 26 2023

Nov 26, 2023

9:32

New Breathing Technique + Body Awareness Meditation Rena led a demonstration of a new breathing technique. She instructed participants to inhale through their noses, close their mouths as if their lips were wrapped around a straw, and exhale through their mouths for a count of eight. They were then told to close their mouths and exhale through their noses for a count of two, followed by three regular breaths. This process was repeated for three rounds. Participants were encouraged to stop if they felt the first round was sufficient, or to repeat if they wanted to continue. Rena then guided a body awareness meditation. She encouraged attentiveness to the physical sensations, emotions, and overall state of the body. She then asked participants to visualize these sensations as if they were a person and to greet them with compassion. She suggested asking this 'person' about their heart's desire and feelings, and to offer help achieving their desires. Rena emphasized the importance of providing internal support and returning to this practice as needed.

207

153 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 23 2023

Nov 23, 2023

10:03

Guided Meditation: Joyful Body Scan Rena led a guided meditation focusing on breathing techniques and body awareness. She instructed participants to focus on their breath moving through their heart space, and then guided them through a full body scan to notice and relax each part of their body. She then invited participants to notice the overall emotion that was present in their body, and noticing where and how they feel it. She then invited them to recall a joyful memory, noting how it felt in their body. She suggested going back and forth between the original emotion and the joyful one, and then staying with the feeling of joy for as long as it was comfortable.

208

152 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 22 2023

Nov 22, 2023

9:44

Neshama Support Exercise Rena guided the participants through a breathing exercise, and then introduced the concept of how the Neshama is the mother of the Nefesh and can provide emotional support. She invited the participants to connect with their bodies, paying attention to their feelings and needs. She then suggested imagining the Neshama as a loving mother, and invited the participants to let their felt sense express its feelings without judgment, trusting that their needs could be met in this way. The exercise was open-ended, allowing participants to stay in this supported state for as long as they needed.

209

151 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 21 2023

Nov 21, 2023

9:59

Mindfulness Exercise: Breathing and Orienting Rena guided the group through a mindfulness exercise focused on breathing, nervous system awareness, and orienting. The exercise began with mindful breathing and noticing the nervous system state. Participants were then asked to observe their hands as if for the first time, noticing details such as color and size, and the sensations of air touching their hand. The exercise progressed to looking around the room, then back to the hand, and finally to observing the whole space around the body. The practice ended with a return to mindful breathing and noticing any changes in the nervous system state.

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150 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 20 2023

Nov 20, 2023

9:49

Meditation Exercise on Thoughts and Breathing Rena guided the group through a meditation exercise focused on thoughts. She started by instructing the participants to use the physiological sigh. Rena then invited the participants to shift to noticing the thoughts that were prominent in their minds, with emphasizing that these thoughts are from Hashem. She then asked the participants to bring these thoughts into their bodies, observe their physical response, and compare it to the response when thinking an opposite thought. The exercise ended with a deep breath and a reflection on the effect this had on their bodies and minds.

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149 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 19 2023

Nov 19, 2023

9:36

Meditation and Emotion Dialogue Rena led a meditation session where she guided participants to focus on their physical and emotional states, identify their dominant emotion, and converse with it with compassion. She suggested asking the emotion what it likes or dislikes, what it needs, and how to help.

212

148 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 16 2023

Nov 16, 2023

9:23

Meditation Exercise for Joy and Nervous System Regulation Rena guided a meditation exercise designed to help the participants shift their nervous system state and find a sense of joy. She first asked the participants to focus on their breath and bodily sensations. Then, she instructed them to bring to mind a memory, image, person, place, or thing that brings them a sense of joy. They were asked to imagine this and notice how it felt inside their body, shifting their focus back and forth from the initial sensation to the feeling of joy. Finally, they were guided to stay with the sense of joy, inviting it to spread throughout their bodies, and observe how their state had shifted after spending time with the feeling of joy.

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147 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 15 2023

Nov 15, 2023

9:45

Rena guided the participants through a meditation exercise to connect with their bodies and minds. She encouraged deep breathing and awareness of the surrounding environment. The aim was to recreate the felt sense of a memory of feeling Hashem's support in the present, focusing on the physical sensations and emotions it invoked. Rena reminded the participants that they could return to this place of peace and comfort at any time they needed additional support.

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146 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 14 2023

Nov 14, 2023

9:35

Rena guided a meditation starting with focusing on breathing and then shifting one's attention between something directly in front and then to the surrounding space, expanding it to the whole world. She then guided the attention inward, focusing on an object or emotion inside the body, and then to the space all throughout the body. Finally, she suggested that they find a word to describe their experience to integrate it into their whole body and take it into their day.

215

145 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 13 2023

Nov 13, 2023

9:44

Rena guided the participants through a meditation exercise to help them become more aware of their thoughts and emotions. She encouraged them to focus on a primary thought that had been preoccupying them, to question how it aligned with their values, and its corresponding emotional sensation. She then led them through an exercise to explore the opposite of this thought, to question how it aligned with their values, and its corresponding emotional sensation. Then moving back and forth between the two thoughts, the participants deepened their felt experience of each thought, leading them to further integration of their values.

216

144 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 12 2023

Nov 12, 2023

9:47

Rena guided the group in a meditation focused on grounding and connecting with the body. She emphasized the importance of finding a comfortable position and adjusting it as necessary. She also led the group in an exercise where they focused on their breath and became aware of the overall mood and emotion in their body at that moment. She encouraged the group to stay with the felt sense and to listen with compassion to what it had to say. The goal was for the group to offer compassion and understanding to their body's current state.

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143 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 09 2023

Nov 9, 2023

9:56

Rena guided a relaxation exercise, encouraging participants to become more aware of their body's state and to focus on the sensation of joy, feeling the sense of serving Hashem with joy. She then invited participants to connect with any other emotions present, and to hold both the joy and the other emotions simultaneously, before letting go of the latter. The goal was to create space for both joy and whatever other feelings were present, and notice how by doing so the nervous system shifts into a more regulated state.

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142 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 08 2023

Nov 8, 2023

9:30

Rena led a guided meditation to help participants relax and connect with a sense of security. She invited them to focus on their breath and release tension in different parts of their bodies. She then invited them to imagine themselves being held in Hashem's loving arms, a place of security and safety. Rena encouraged participants to bring their attention to any feelings of resistance or lack of security and to wrap those feelings with the sense of security they were imagining. She also asked them to find a word that captured the sense of security they were feeling, to help them revisit that experience later.

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141 - Somatic Mindfulness Practice 11 07 2023

Nov 7, 2023

9:57

Rena led a guided meditation to help the participants settle and relax. She first guided them through a deep breathing exercise, encouraging them to focus on their breath and body sensations. Then, she invited them to look intently at a specific object in the room, before shifting their attention to a broader awareness of the space. The exercise was repeated with an internal focus, asking the participants to direct their gaze inward to notice sensations in their body. After the final repetition of the exercise, Rena encouraged the participants to continue in a more relaxed state, noticing any changes in their breathing patterns.