Internal Resourcing is a foundational somatic practice that invites you to notice a place within your body that feels pleasant, comfortable or simply better than the rest.
Rather than focusing on discomfort or activation, you will gently bring your attention towards sensations that feel supportive or more available. By remaining curious and spending time in contact with these sensations, you offer your nervous system an opportunity to become more familiar with experiences of ease, grounding and regulation.
Before You Begin
Choose a quiet space where you can remain undisturbed. Find a comfortable seated or lying position and allow your hands to rest naturally. Headphones may help you follow the guidance but are not required.
Remain attentive to your boundaries and capacity. You can pause, change position, reduce the intensity or stop at any moment. When your nervous system is particularly activated or numb, locating a resource may feel difficult. Remain gentle and curious without forcing yourself to find or feel something particular.
Listen to the Practice
This practice is offered for personal use through the Healing Art website. Please do not download, reproduce or redistribute the recording without permission.
Read the transcript
Welcome. Let’s resource.
Take a moment to find a comfortable position. You may sit or lie down allowing your hands to rest somewhere comfortable.
If it feels comfortable, I invite you to close your eyes. You can also keep them open and allow your gaze to soften. Take a couple of conscious deep breaths and let the out breath be an invitation for your body to let go of tension.
Notice the support beneath your body. Give yourself a moment simply to arrive. There is nothing you need to change.
Now allow your attention to move gently through your body. You do not need to examine every part. Simply notice what becomes available to your awareness.
See whether you can recognise a place that feels pleasant, comfortable or a place in your body that is better than the rest. It might be a place that feels warm, open, soft, steady or alive. It could also be a place where you notice no particular discomfort. Your resource does not need to feel extraordinary. A subtle sense of ease is more than enough.
Take your time. When the nervous system is particularly activated, locating a resource may require patience. There is no need to force yourself to find the perfect place. You might simply begin with the area that feels least activated or most available to your attention.
When you recognise a possible resource, allow your attention to rest there. Begin to notice the physical information present in this part of your body. What sensations can you feel?
You might notice for example temperature. Weight. Density. Texture. Contact. Movement. Stillness. Expansion or softness.
Perhaps you perceive a colour, an image or a more abstract energetic quality. There is no particular sensation that you are expected to find. Remain curious about what is actually there.
Allow yourself to experience these simple and real sensations. There is nothing else you need to do.
Maybe you can feel your breath meeting this part of your body. There is no need to make your breathing deeper or change its rhythm. Simply allow the breath to move as it wants to move.
Continue resting your attention in the resource. Allow your system time to receive the experience.
As you remain here, you may begin to notice a small movement towards regulation. Your breath may open a little. A muscular tension may soften. You may feel warmth, grounding or greater presence. Your thoughts may become quieter. You may feel the impulse to yawn, swallow or move.
You may also notice no particular change. Nothing needs to happen for you to be practising correctly. The practice is simply to recognise the resource and spend time in contact with it.
If you find your attention moving towards discomfort, thought or activation, notice that this has happened. There is no need to investigate it now. Gently invite your attention back towards the resource. Return to the sensations that feel supportive, pleasant or more available.
Stay with the experience for as long as feels appropriate for your system.
Now begin to prepare for the end of the practice. Notice the support beneath your body once again. Become aware of the room around you. Maybe you can hear sounds around you.
If your eyes are closed, allow them to slowly open. Invite your gaze to move slowly through the environment. Notice colours, shapes and light. Really allow yourself to see the space around you.
You may gently move your fingers and toes. Allow any other movement that your body needs.
Before continuing with your day, notice your experience as it is now. Has anything shifted in your breathing, muscular tone or quality of attention? There is no right answer. Simply notice what is present.
Thank you for practising Resourcing with me. Have a great continuation of your day!
After the Practice
Take a moment to notice whether anything has shifted in your breathing, muscular tone or quality of attention. There is no particular change you need to find.
The practice can become more effective through regular repetition. Adapt the frequency to your needs and capacity.
Origin and Credits
Created by Giulio D’Anna. Developed from the principle of resourcing in Somatic Experiencing, associated with the work of Peter Levine.