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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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Hi, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, I'm going to share a soothing practice called the butterfly hug. So every once in a while, I like to offer very practical exercises you can do. And this is one of those. The butterfly hug is a self administered, bilateral stimulation method.
I know it's a, it's a mouthful, but it helps us process trauma and also settle our nervous system. It's often used in EMDR therapy and also different tapping modalities. So I want to do it with you. You can start by taking your hands like this, crossing your thumbs. Placing it right around the chest.
And what you'll notice is that the fingers just gently rest around the collarbone, right here. If this is uncomfortable, you could also replace it and just have the hands resting on the shoulders. And you might see where this is going and where it gets the name the butterfly hug, as that this does create the image of a butterfly. And what we do here is we just tap back and forth. Let the right fingers tap, and then the left fingers tap.
And as you're doing this, you're just breathing. You might notice different images or thoughts or sensations arise in the mind and body. And what this is doing is settling your nervous system as you experience these different things that might otherwise be activating. It helps to desensitize the nervous system response to these otherwise activating thoughts, emotions, sensations, images. If you want to try the other version, you can as well.
Sometimes you can just do this soothing motion on the shoulders, the arms. And if you're watching this and going, I'm not going to do something like a butterfly hug. I really encourage you to try it out. There's some, nobody needs to see you doing it. And there's something very soothing about it.
So if you're experiencing and navigating some trauma or just intense emotions are arising in your practice, this is something that you can pause and do periodically. And you can research it a little bit more. Google butterfly hug, if you want to understand its particular relationship to trauma. But it's a practice that I tend to share with my students as a grounding exercise that they can use. And it really goes a long way for settling the nervous system and just helping to desensitize some of that emotional charge in relationship to the different thoughts, emotions, and images that might arise in the mind.
So try it out, the butterfly hug. Feel free to share it with friends. Thank you for your practice. Let's settle in for today's meditation.
Grounding When Activated
Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Duration
Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.
Hi, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, I'm going to share a soothing practice called the butterfly hug. So every once in a while, I like to offer very practical exercises you can do. And this is one of those. The butterfly hug is a self administered, bilateral stimulation method.
I know it's a, it's a mouthful, but it helps us process trauma and also settle our nervous system. It's often used in EMDR therapy and also different tapping modalities. So I want to do it with you. You can start by taking your hands like this, crossing your thumbs. Placing it right around the chest.
And what you'll notice is that the fingers just gently rest around the collarbone, right here. If this is uncomfortable, you could also replace it and just have the hands resting on the shoulders. And you might see where this is going and where it gets the name the butterfly hug, as that this does create the image of a butterfly. And what we do here is we just tap back and forth. Let the right fingers tap, and then the left fingers tap.
And as you're doing this, you're just breathing. You might notice different images or thoughts or sensations arise in the mind and body. And what this is doing is settling your nervous system as you experience these different things that might otherwise be activating. It helps to desensitize the nervous system response to these otherwise activating thoughts, emotions, sensations, images. If you want to try the other version, you can as well.
Sometimes you can just do this soothing motion on the shoulders, the arms. And if you're watching this and going, I'm not going to do something like a butterfly hug. I really encourage you to try it out. There's some, nobody needs to see you doing it. And there's something very soothing about it.
So if you're experiencing and navigating some trauma or just intense emotions are arising in your practice, this is something that you can pause and do periodically. And you can research it a little bit more. Google butterfly hug, if you want to understand its particular relationship to trauma. But it's a practice that I tend to share with my students as a grounding exercise that they can use. And it really goes a long way for settling the nervous system and just helping to desensitize some of that emotional charge in relationship to the different thoughts, emotions, and images that might arise in the mind.
So try it out, the butterfly hug. Feel free to share it with friends. Thank you for your practice. Let's settle in for today's meditation.
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Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
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