February 19, 2024 • 17 mins
Welcome to the second episode of the micro podcasts on the Inscape Quest podcast; a platform where we explore the ways people engage with their relationships, work, and passions. Tune into our latest episode where your host, Trudi Howley dives deep into a nourishing talk with the mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher and renowned astrologist, Kim La Rue.
The episode features Kim La Rue, a seasoned awareness coach with over 30 years of experience. During this episode, she unravels her journey of practicing body-centered therapies and somatic emotional release techniques. Trudi and Kim dive even deeper into the topic of mindfulness-based stress reduction, better reflecting Kim's professional training in craniosacral therapy, expressive arts, and mindfulness.
We unravel the secrets of managing anxiety and stress inherent with daily bodily challenges. The episode emphasizes the significance of self-awareness and how to tap into the nervous system's capacity for self-regulation. Through deep conversations and enlightening insights, learn how to connect with your body and adopt signs of stress in stride.
In this episode, you'll also discover the magic of progressive muscle relaxation and body scan techniques, proven methods to relieve stress and tension. Guided by Kim La Rue, let yourself experience how tuning into every cell of your body can help alleviate the stress we often unknowingly hold within us.
No matter who you are, whether a seasoned yogi or a newcomer to mindfulness, you'll benefit from Kim's guided mindful body scan. She shares how to holistically approach self-care, creating a safe space for listeners to breathe, release tension and get comfortable.
Give yourself the gift of understanding your body better. Tune in, and embrace this journey to a more mindful, connected, and relaxed you. Don't forget to follow and like our show to easily access new meaningful conversations together, one episode at a time.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello podcast listeners, thank you for tuning in today to the InScapeQuest podcast show.
I am your host, Trudy Howley.
Here I am talking with people about how they engage with their relationships, work and passions.
Please subscribe and share this show with a friend.
(00:20):
And thanks to you, we can grow meaningful conversations together, one episode at a time.
Welcome, podcast listeners, to Micro Session Podcast number two.
My special guest today is Kim LaRue, a dear friend and astrologist,
(00:41):
embodiment and mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher.
She has over 30 years of experience as an awareness coach with corporations
and one-on-one sessions.
Kim practices body-centered therapies and somatic emotional release techniques.
Techniques she's professionally and clinically trained
(01:02):
in mindfulness-based stress reduction craniosacral therapy
and expressive arts she now travels
the globe facilitating workshops and retreats before
we get started with the wonderful kim larue i just want to remind you what we
(01:23):
we already know that anxiety and stress are normal responses to the challenges
of both daily living and a potentially or actualized traumatic event.
Pausing to notice how these kinds of
stresses appear in our bodies by learning
to slow down and simply observe any sensations that show up in the the body
(01:46):
allows our nervous systems to do their jobs of letting the energy move through
the body and ultimately shift back into a relaxed state.
Even if you're not a yoga or meditation practitioner, gentle stretching and
movement, listening to soothing music, things like that also release relieve stress.
(02:11):
Another way of doing this is through progressive muscle relaxation and body scans.
They're a great way to develop this type of awareness in the body.
As Jon Kabat-Zinn in his wonderful book Full Catastrophe of Living says,
relaxation can be frustratingly elusive If you're unaware of your body, for instance,
(02:36):
if you happen to be clenching your jaw or holding your shoulders in a up by
your ears and rolled forward position,
things like this, you have to know where this tension is being held in your
body to actually feel it and then relax it.
Kabat-Zinn says you need to know where the automatic pilot is and to shut it
(03:01):
off so you can take over the controls of your mind and body.
So with the following muscle relaxation
and body scan technique you can practice
this as many times as you'd like possibly over a period of a few weeks so you
begin to build in a quick and automatic automatic response to releasing tension
(03:25):
wherever it may be held in your body and at any time Ultimately,
attending to the nervous system and the body like this puts you in touch with
sensations that allow you for being present in the moment with yourself.
Thank you, Trudy, for that nice introduction.
(03:48):
And I'm happy to guide your listeners today with the mindful body scan. again.
So before we begin, make sure that you're in a place that is free from interruptions
and that you're not operating a vehicle.
(04:08):
You can find yourself sitting down in a comfortable chair or lying down.
And the idea here is to connect with your body while staying relaxed,
yet conscious and aware and without judging.
(04:31):
So paying attention without judging, at least being neutral,
coming to a neutral state of consciousness.
So as you find yourself lying down or sitting, you can begin to make contact
with the chair or the surface that you're lying down on.
(04:54):
You can begin to feel the outer structures of your body,
feel the form and shape of your body, and perhaps feeling the points of contact
with the position that you're sitting in to support.
And we can take a few cleansing breaths together, just opening the doors and
(05:17):
windows, allowing freshness or any stale energies to leave the body.
So taking a breath through the nose and slowly exhaling out the mouth,
breathing into the nose, maybe even pausing and slowly and slowly exhaling out the mouth.
(05:41):
Let's do a couple more breaths like this together, breathing in through the nose.
Perhaps now you're feeling the cool air as it's coming in through the nostrils.
And as you're exhaling, blowing far and wide, releasing any tension.
Breathing in again, and slowly exhaling.
(06:06):
You might even notice after a few breaths, the body starts to become more aware,
more relaxed, and you can start to sense in any part of the body where you might
be holding any tension, and we can meet the body with the breath.
Breath, breathing in, breathing into the tension areas and slowly exhaling and softening those areas.
(06:33):
And again, breathing in, meeting those areas that might hold some tension or
stress, and then very slowly exhaling and releasing, softening, letting be.
And then just sense the the whole part of the body as it's supported here.
(06:54):
Breathing in and breathing out.
And if at any time your mind wanders, you can just come back to the sense of
your body, the feel of your body as we scan the body right now.
Go ahead and take your attention now, your conscious attention,
(07:16):
and place your attention at the bottoms of the feet.
Perhaps you can feel the support of if you're lying down, the backs of the heels touching the support.
Or maybe you even feel if you're sitting, the bottoms of the feet touching the ground.
(07:37):
Maybe you feel your feet are tingling or warm or cool.
Or maybe you feel less connection with your feet. but just observing without
touching your feet right now.
And then moving up through the lower legs, begin to sense and feel the shin,
(07:58):
the bone of the lower leg, scanning and noticing the back of the calves.
Just noticing the lower legs, any sensations you're feeling right now.
Now we can move up into the knee, the tops of the knees,
(08:19):
perhaps circling around and underneath any sensations of the knee,
the back of the knee, the soft part of the back of both knees.
And then bringing your mind to the upper leg, the tops of the thighs, the muscles.
(08:39):
Do they feel tight or soft or aching, any pain?
Or maybe you feel not so much. It's okay.
Whatever you feel, just bring your attention to the tops of your thighs and
moving into the backs of the thighs, the inner thighs,
(09:01):
and the outer thighs, and even scanning deeper into the bones of the tops of the thighs,
and then expanding your awareness to the whole legs from top to bottom of the foot and even the toes.
And we can take a nice deep breath in, breathing in through the nose,
(09:23):
and slowly exhaling, this letting go of any tension in the legs as you bring
your attention now into the pelvis region.
Notice the support of the pelvis in this moment and also begin to sense any
sensations, tingling, warmth, coolness, or numbness.
(09:50):
We know that the pelvis contains many muscles that help us with standing upright and support,
as well as the reproductive organs and the elimination organs.
Just notice if there's any holding or tension without judging,
(10:12):
just putting a loving, kind attention on any sensations in the pelvic basin.
And now we draw our attention up into the belly region, bringing attention to
all the organs inside the belly.
Maybe you sense and feel your stomach. Does it feel hungry or full or do you
(10:39):
have some pain or discomfort?
Or is there any gurgling or sound? Just using all of your senses on the belly
region, on the stomach, the liver, the gallbladder, the spleen, the kidneys,
intestines, small and large.
(11:00):
So many organs in the belly region.
Our body is incredibly magical. all that happens through digestion and through
the cellular level of the body the body is,
when we bring conscious attention to the body the body becomes more super powered can observe our magic,
(11:29):
now we can move up into the chest, the rib cage might be sensing the breath,
maybe breathing in and you can really get a sense of the breath,
the expansion of the lungs, and when you exhale, the release of the lungs, air coming in.
And air coming out, just sensing and feeling the lungs, the chest and the ribcage.
(11:57):
Snuggled in between the lungs is the heart. You can bring awareness to the heart.
How is your heart feeling today? day? Does it feel soft, tender,
or do you feel it protected?
Or how does the physical sense, can you feel your own heartbeat,
(12:19):
sense the own beating of your heart, the rhythm of your being?
And then moving up to the top of the chest and into the neck,
shoulders, shoulders, sensing the shoulders.
Is there tension? Are you carrying any burdens, unnecessary burdens?
(12:41):
Just noticing and breathing into those areas, observing with a neutral awareness.
Just taking the time to do deep listening for your body.
And coming up into the neck and the throat notice the neck notice the throat.
(13:04):
Coming up through the throat. Notice the tongue inside your mouth and inside
your mouth. Is your mouth dry?
Or is there any awareness of the teeth, the top of the palate,
the bottom of the palate?
Noticing the insides of your cheeks.
(13:26):
Notice your lips, any sensation. and
then place your attention on your face feel the outermost exterior part of your
face and how it's formed and shaped and how we contort our faces based upon
so many emotions thoughts and feelings,
(13:49):
just noticing your face and just softening any tension in the jaw the eyebrows brows.
Notice your eyes, your eyebrows, your eyelids, even your eyelashes.
Bring attention to your forehead, the sides of your head,
(14:12):
the back of your head, and the top of your head, all the bones in the cranium
that support a very intricate structure called the brain.
Feel your brain, noticing and even having an appreciation for this organ in your body.
(14:33):
And coming back to the sensations of the bones in the head, bones in the body,
in the neck, in the spine, just feeling your bones.
How do your bones feel?
Just listening. perhaps you
feel heavy and relaxed now just taking the time to feel your whole body.
(14:56):
Supported, attended to just by bringing your conscious awareness to any sensations, a deep listening,
it's part of an energetic hygiene we can create beautiful energetic shifts and
awareness and relationships when we take time to connect with our body,
(15:21):
our breath, and our mind,
and we can feel interconnected.
When we connect deep on an inner journey, we connect outwardly, so within, so without.
Taking some time to breathe and relax. And now when you're ready,
(15:45):
we're going to cleanse the body of any last stagnant energies or unwanted material.
Breathing in through the soles of the feet. Imagine breathing in from the earth
through the soles of your feet all the way up through the torso of your body
and out the crown of your head towards the sky.
(16:09):
And then imagine breathing in from the cosmos,
cleansing all the way down through the torso and back out through the soles
of the feet, giving back to Mother Earth.
And we can do this again, breathing in through the soles of the feet,
(16:30):
imagining all the air cleansing from the earth all the way out through the crown
of the head to the cosmos.
And then breathing in through the crown of the head all the way through the
body drawing that energy towards Mother Earth and knowing that we've connected
(16:54):
and that we're united and that we are protected,
on a deep cellular level when we observe pay attention and listen with compassion
passion and love for ourself and for all being.
(17:14):
So thank you for practicing mindfulness today.
May all beings have mindful practices for the love and care of everything.
And as you gently transition back into your space, thank you for tuning in today
(17:36):
day and giving yourself the gift of a body scan.
Please take a moment to follow and like our show and then you can have easy
access as and when we post new content.
Hello podcast listeners, thank you for tuning in today to the InScapeQuest podcast show.
I am your host, Trudy Howley.
Here I am talking with people about how they engage with their relationships, work and passions.
Please subscribe and share this show with a friend.
(00:20):
And thanks to you, we can grow meaningful conversations together, one episode at a time.
Welcome, podcast listeners, to Micro Session Podcast number two.
My special guest today is Kim LaRue, a dear friend and astrologist,
(00:41):
embodiment and mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher.
She has over 30 years of experience as an awareness coach with corporations
and one-on-one sessions.
Kim practices body-centered therapies and somatic emotional release techniques.
Techniques she's professionally and clinically trained
(01:02):
in mindfulness-based stress reduction craniosacral therapy
and expressive arts she now travels
the globe facilitating workshops and retreats before
we get started with the wonderful kim larue i just want to remind you what we
(01:23):
we already know that anxiety and stress are normal responses to the challenges
of both daily living and a potentially or actualized traumatic event.
Pausing to notice how these kinds of
stresses appear in our bodies by learning
to slow down and simply observe any sensations that show up in the the body
(01:46):
allows our nervous systems to do their jobs of letting the energy move through
the body and ultimately shift back into a relaxed state.
Even if you're not a yoga or meditation practitioner, gentle stretching and
movement, listening to soothing music, things like that also release relieve stress.
(02:11):
Another way of doing this is through progressive muscle relaxation and body scans.
They're a great way to develop this type of awareness in the body.
As Jon Kabat-Zinn in his wonderful book Full Catastrophe of Living says,
relaxation can be frustratingly elusive If you're unaware of your body, for instance,
(02:36):
if you happen to be clenching your jaw or holding your shoulders in a up by
your ears and rolled forward position,
things like this, you have to know where this tension is being held in your
body to actually feel it and then relax it.
Kabat-Zinn says you need to know where the automatic pilot is and to shut it
(03:01):
off so you can take over the controls of your mind and body.
So with the following muscle relaxation
and body scan technique you can practice
this as many times as you'd like possibly over a period of a few weeks so you
begin to build in a quick and automatic automatic response to releasing tension
(03:25):
wherever it may be held in your body and at any time Ultimately,
attending to the nervous system and the body like this puts you in touch with
sensations that allow you for being present in the moment with yourself.
Thank you, Trudy, for that nice introduction.
(03:48):
And I'm happy to guide your listeners today with the mindful body scan. again.
So before we begin, make sure that you're in a place that is free from interruptions
and that you're not operating a vehicle.
(04:08):
You can find yourself sitting down in a comfortable chair or lying down.
And the idea here is to connect with your body while staying relaxed,
yet conscious and aware and without judging.
(04:31):
So paying attention without judging, at least being neutral,
coming to a neutral state of consciousness.
So as you find yourself lying down or sitting, you can begin to make contact
with the chair or the surface that you're lying down on.
(04:54):
You can begin to feel the outer structures of your body,
feel the form and shape of your body, and perhaps feeling the points of contact
with the position that you're sitting in to support.
And we can take a few cleansing breaths together, just opening the doors and
(05:17):
windows, allowing freshness or any stale energies to leave the body.
So taking a breath through the nose and slowly exhaling out the mouth,
breathing into the nose, maybe even pausing and slowly and slowly exhaling out the mouth.
(05:41):
Let's do a couple more breaths like this together, breathing in through the nose.
Perhaps now you're feeling the cool air as it's coming in through the nostrils.
And as you're exhaling, blowing far and wide, releasing any tension.
Breathing in again, and slowly exhaling.
(06:06):
You might even notice after a few breaths, the body starts to become more aware,
more relaxed, and you can start to sense in any part of the body where you might
be holding any tension, and we can meet the body with the breath.
Breath, breathing in, breathing into the tension areas and slowly exhaling and softening those areas.
(06:33):
And again, breathing in, meeting those areas that might hold some tension or
stress, and then very slowly exhaling and releasing, softening, letting be.
And then just sense the the whole part of the body as it's supported here.
(06:54):
Breathing in and breathing out.
And if at any time your mind wanders, you can just come back to the sense of
your body, the feel of your body as we scan the body right now.
Go ahead and take your attention now, your conscious attention,
(07:16):
and place your attention at the bottoms of the feet.
Perhaps you can feel the support of if you're lying down, the backs of the heels touching the support.
Or maybe you even feel if you're sitting, the bottoms of the feet touching the ground.
(07:37):
Maybe you feel your feet are tingling or warm or cool.
Or maybe you feel less connection with your feet. but just observing without
touching your feet right now.
And then moving up through the lower legs, begin to sense and feel the shin,
(07:58):
the bone of the lower leg, scanning and noticing the back of the calves.
Just noticing the lower legs, any sensations you're feeling right now.
Now we can move up into the knee, the tops of the knees,
(08:19):
perhaps circling around and underneath any sensations of the knee,
the back of the knee, the soft part of the back of both knees.
And then bringing your mind to the upper leg, the tops of the thighs, the muscles.
(08:39):
Do they feel tight or soft or aching, any pain?
Or maybe you feel not so much. It's okay.
Whatever you feel, just bring your attention to the tops of your thighs and
moving into the backs of the thighs, the inner thighs,
(09:01):
and the outer thighs, and even scanning deeper into the bones of the tops of the thighs,
and then expanding your awareness to the whole legs from top to bottom of the foot and even the toes.
And we can take a nice deep breath in, breathing in through the nose,
(09:23):
and slowly exhaling, this letting go of any tension in the legs as you bring
your attention now into the pelvis region.
Notice the support of the pelvis in this moment and also begin to sense any
sensations, tingling, warmth, coolness, or numbness.
(09:50):
We know that the pelvis contains many muscles that help us with standing upright and support,
as well as the reproductive organs and the elimination organs.
Just notice if there's any holding or tension without judging,
(10:12):
just putting a loving, kind attention on any sensations in the pelvic basin.
And now we draw our attention up into the belly region, bringing attention to
all the organs inside the belly.
Maybe you sense and feel your stomach. Does it feel hungry or full or do you
(10:39):
have some pain or discomfort?
Or is there any gurgling or sound? Just using all of your senses on the belly
region, on the stomach, the liver, the gallbladder, the spleen, the kidneys,
intestines, small and large.
(11:00):
So many organs in the belly region.
Our body is incredibly magical. all that happens through digestion and through
the cellular level of the body the body is,
when we bring conscious attention to the body the body becomes more super powered can observe our magic,
(11:29):
now we can move up into the chest, the rib cage might be sensing the breath,
maybe breathing in and you can really get a sense of the breath,
the expansion of the lungs, and when you exhale, the release of the lungs, air coming in.
And air coming out, just sensing and feeling the lungs, the chest and the ribcage.
(11:57):
Snuggled in between the lungs is the heart. You can bring awareness to the heart.
How is your heart feeling today? day? Does it feel soft, tender,
or do you feel it protected?
Or how does the physical sense, can you feel your own heartbeat,
(12:19):
sense the own beating of your heart, the rhythm of your being?
And then moving up to the top of the chest and into the neck,
shoulders, shoulders, sensing the shoulders.
Is there tension? Are you carrying any burdens, unnecessary burdens?
(12:41):
Just noticing and breathing into those areas, observing with a neutral awareness.
Just taking the time to do deep listening for your body.
And coming up into the neck and the throat notice the neck notice the throat.
(13:04):
Coming up through the throat. Notice the tongue inside your mouth and inside
your mouth. Is your mouth dry?
Or is there any awareness of the teeth, the top of the palate,
the bottom of the palate?
Noticing the insides of your cheeks.
(13:26):
Notice your lips, any sensation. and
then place your attention on your face feel the outermost exterior part of your
face and how it's formed and shaped and how we contort our faces based upon
so many emotions thoughts and feelings,
(13:49):
just noticing your face and just softening any tension in the jaw the eyebrows brows.
Notice your eyes, your eyebrows, your eyelids, even your eyelashes.
Bring attention to your forehead, the sides of your head,
(14:12):
the back of your head, and the top of your head, all the bones in the cranium
that support a very intricate structure called the brain.
Feel your brain, noticing and even having an appreciation for this organ in your body.
(14:33):
And coming back to the sensations of the bones in the head, bones in the body,
in the neck, in the spine, just feeling your bones.
How do your bones feel?
Just listening. perhaps you
feel heavy and relaxed now just taking the time to feel your whole body.
(14:56):
Supported, attended to just by bringing your conscious awareness to any sensations, a deep listening,
it's part of an energetic hygiene we can create beautiful energetic shifts and
awareness and relationships when we take time to connect with our body,
(15:21):
our breath, and our mind,
and we can feel interconnected.
When we connect deep on an inner journey, we connect outwardly, so within, so without.
Taking some time to breathe and relax. And now when you're ready,
(15:45):
we're going to cleanse the body of any last stagnant energies or unwanted material.
Breathing in through the soles of the feet. Imagine breathing in from the earth
through the soles of your feet all the way up through the torso of your body
and out the crown of your head towards the sky.
(16:09):
And then imagine breathing in from the cosmos,
cleansing all the way down through the torso and back out through the soles
of the feet, giving back to Mother Earth.
And we can do this again, breathing in through the soles of the feet,
(16:30):
imagining all the air cleansing from the earth all the way out through the crown
of the head to the cosmos.
And then breathing in through the crown of the head all the way through the
body drawing that energy towards Mother Earth and knowing that we've connected
(16:54):
and that we're united and that we are protected,
on a deep cellular level when we observe pay attention and listen with compassion
passion and love for ourself and for all being.
(17:14):
So thank you for practicing mindfulness today.
May all beings have mindful practices for the love and care of everything.
And as you gently transition back into your space, thank you for tuning in today
(17:36):
day and giving yourself the gift of a body scan.
Please take a moment to follow and like our show and then you can have easy
access as and when we post new content.
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