Guided Relaxation Practice

Welcome to this guided relaxation.

You can do this seated or lying down.

If you're lying down,

Lie on your back with your arms alongside your body,

Not touching,

Either with your palms facing up or resting on your belly.

Choose a place where you won't be distracted and turn off or silence your phone.

Now is time for you,

For you to come home to yourself,

To take good care of yourself,

To be fully present for yourself,

Your body and mind.

In this moment,

You have nothing to do and nowhere to go.

So just notice how you're feeling in your body,

In your feelings,

And in your mind,

Allowing however you're feeling,

Whatever you're experiencing,

To just be.

And now,

Whether you're sitting or lying,

Feel the support of the earth.

Feel how you can let go and allow all of your weight to give itself to the earth.

The earth is always there for us.

And right in this moment,

We can allow ourselves to be held,

To be carried by the earth.

We don't have to do anything.

We can be like a child in our mother's arms.

Begin to feel the places where your body is making contact,

Either with the floor or with the chair.

Feel your feet,

Feel your legs,

Your buttocks,

Your back,

The back of your head,

And the backs of your arms and hands.

With each exhale,

Allow your body to sink into the earth,

Into those places of contact,

To melt,

To really release.

You can feel yourself growing a little bit heavier.

And now feel your breath.

Feel the in-breath and feel the out-breath.

Just allowing the breath to happen,

Just noticing how it breathes itself.

You don't have to do anything.

Enjoying the rhythm of the breath flowing in and flowing out.

Being aware of your jaw and letting space be there between the upper and lower rows of teeth,

Allowing the tongue to rest on the floor of the mouth,

Allowing the muscles of the face to soften,

The forehead and the eyes.

If at any point in this practice you notice that your mind is lost in thinking,

In planning or in worries,

Just gently bring your attention back to wherever we are focusing in the body.

And in this practice,

We are not trying to relax.

We're just being aware of what's happening in our body and allowing this to be as it is.

Taking a few deep breaths,

Breathing in,

Feeling your belly rising,

And breathing out,

Feeling your belly falling.

And letting your breath come to its normal rhythm,

Bring your attention now to your feet and your toes,

Getting a sense for any sensations,

Whatever may be there in your feet and toes.

You can feel them at the more superficial level of the skin.

Maybe there's itching,

Maybe there's coolness or warmth or tightness or tiredness,

An ache,

And feeling them at a deeper level in the muscles,

Tendons,

Whatever you can sense.

Breathing in with your feet and breathing out,

Allowing your feet to rest,

Allowing them to give all of their weight to the earth.

Our feet do so much for us.

And now we allow them to rest.

Breathing in,

Bringing your awareness now to your legs,

The ankles to the shins,

The calves,

The knees,

The thighs,

Breathing out,

Allowing your legs to fully rest on the support of the earth.

Feeling your legs at the level of the skin,

The contact between your legs and your clothing,

And seeing if you can experience any sensations deeper into the legs.

Maybe there's the feeling of the pulsing of blood,

Maybe tingling,

Maybe a feeling of calm.

Whatever it is,

Just being aware.

Noticing giving our attention to the legs as we breathe in and allowing them to rest and give their weight to the floor as we breathe out.

And if it's not so easy to feel sensations in any part of the body,

We can be aware of that,

Some kind of numbness,

And accepting that as it is,

Including that in our awareness.

Now breathing in,

Bringing your awareness to your hips,

Your buttocks,

Your pelvis,

Breathing out,

Allowing your hips and buttocks to give all of their weight up to the earth.

Noticing any sensations in this part of the body,

And giving space for them to be just as they are.

Feeling whatever is there on the outer parts of your hips and buttocks,

And noticing any sensations deeper in.

Bringing your pelvis and your hips and your buttocks to fully rest.

Now bringing your awareness to your back.

Breathing in,

Feeling the lower back,

The middle back,

And the upper back,

And breathing out,

Allowing the whole length of your back to rest.

Either giving all of its weight to the floor if you're lying down,

Or in the seated position,

Allowing your back to fully rest.

Noticing any sensations in the back,

And bringing a kind attention and care for your back.

This part of the body that often carries quite a lot of tension.

Now it has full permission to rest and let go.

Now breathing in,

Bringing your awareness to your belly and your chest,

And breathing out,

Allowing the belly and chest to soften,

To release.

Being aware of whatever state our chest and belly are in.

If there's holding or tension,

Just noticing that.

With each exhale,

Inviting this part of the body to let go.

Giving kind attention to the chest and to the belly.

Now bringing awareness to the shoulders,

The arms,

And the hands.

Breathing in,

Feeling the length of our arms down to the fingertips,

Breathing out,

Allowing our arms and hands to rest.

And noticing any sensations in the fingers,

Palms of the hands,

The back of the hands,

The wrists,

Forearms,

Elbows,

Upper arms,

Underarms,

And shoulders.

Bringing a curiosity and interest to what's happening now in our arms and hands.

And opening with kindness,

So whatever that may be.

And with each breath,

Allowing our arms to grow heavier and to rest a little deeper.

Now bringing our attention to the neck and the head and the face.

Breathing in,

Being aware of the whole head,

And breathing out,

Allowing the head to rest and the neck.

Allowing the head and neck to give all of their weight to the support of the earth.

Being in touch with the hair on the head,

The scalp,

The forehead,

The temples,

The eyebrows,

The eyes,

The nose,

The cheeks,

The lips,

The teeth,

The tongue,

The chin,

The back of the neck,

And the ears,

And back of the head.

Breathing into this part of the body,

Breathing out,

Just being with whatever sensations you're aware of in the head and neck.

Bringing kindness and care to experiencing your face and head.

And now bring awareness to your whole body from head to toe,

Left to right,

Front to back.

Feel your whole body lying on the floor or sitting.

Breathing in,

Be aware of your body,

Breathing out,

Allowing your whole body to rest just as it is.

Bring kindness and gratitude towards your whole body,

Being aware that you are still alive and how very precious this is.

And now be aware if there is any part of your body that is tired,

Ill,

Weak,

Or in pain.

Breathing into this part of the body,

Or perhaps this function of the body,

And breathing out,

Allowing this part of the body to rest and to let go.

You may want to call upon the healthy parts of your body to come and support this part of the body that needs care and attention.

So with compassion,

With tenderness,

Surrounding this weak or hurt part of the body with care and love,

Allowing your energy of mindfulness to penetrate this area of the body fully and to embrace it with kindness.

So feeling your body now lying or sitting completely supported by the earth,

Safe and protected.

Breathing in,

I go back to the island within myself.

There are beautiful trees within the island.

There are clear streams of water.

There are birds and shine and fresh air.

Breathing out,

I feel safe.

I enjoy going back to my island.

May the road rise with you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face.

May the rain fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May love hold you in the hollow of her hand.

May the road rise with you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face.

May the rain fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May love hold you in the hollow of her hand.

I cannot add more days to my life,

But only more life to each day.

I cannot add more days to my life,

But only more life to each day.

I cannot add more days to my life,

But only more life to each day.

I cannot add more days to my life,

But only more life to each day.

So taking a deep inhale now,

And a long slow exhale.

Our practice of guided relaxation is complete.

So you can slowly move your fingers and wiggle your toes.

And take your time transitioning into your next activity.

Take this energy of relaxation,

Of ease,

Of kindness and compassion to yourself into your уdget.