Relaxing Beach Practice For Sleep

Welcome to a slow relaxation practice - progressive muscle relaxation inviting the body to soften and relax in preparation for sleep. As the body relaxes we begin. beach visualization which invites a further letting go of any stress or tension held in the body as you prepare for a restful, restorative sleep. This practice may be the one for you if you are carrying too much stress or are concerned with an over-busy mind, exhaustion, or burnout.

Transcript

In this practice, I'm inviting you to begin by taking three deep breaths. So just breathing in and out, Nice and deep and nice and slow, Just that. And as you are breathing in and out, You can begin to allow relaxation and comfort to flow through you in whatever way that feels to you right now. Just letting relaxation and comfort arrive in a way and flow through you. You might start from your eyelids, Allowing relaxation to flow up over your forehead. This relaxation can flow up over the top of the head, Maybe spreading through all of your scalp and then down the back of your head. The sense of relaxation and comfort flowing down, Down into the muscles at the back of your neck. All those muscles there. Just beginning to relax in your own way and noticing of letting go. Of more ease. Of comfort. Allowing this sense of comfort and relaxation to flow through and down now. Down from your eyelids, Right down through your face so that the whole face might be a little softer, A little more at ease. Relaxation now trickling down rather like rain on a windowpane. Relaxation flowing down your cheeks, Your jaw so that you're not clenching your teeth together. And this relaxation and comfort flowing into the muscles at the front of your neck. All of the muscles now in your head, Your face and neck. Just beginning to relax. It might be that your head feels a little heavier, So taking some attention to the head now. And if you wish, You can allow it to move into its most comfortable position to one side or the other and seeing that the head has the support it needs from a cushion or a pillow. Feeling the head completely supported and you can allow now the same feeling of relaxation and comfort to slowly begin to spread and flow out across the shoulders and then on down through the arms. Relaxation, Ease and comfort flowing down through the shoulders and on down through the arms, Flowing its path in the mind's eye. Flowing all the way down, Down through all of the muscles at the top of your arms, Across your elbows, Down through the lower arms and into your hands, Even into your fingers, Right to the tips of your fingers, Just allowing ease, Relaxation all the way through the shoulders and on down through the heavy arms. Right down to the hands and to the fingers. And if the mind is busy, Absolutely no worries. Each time you notice the mind being busy, Just gently congratulating yourself for noticing what is here and then each time when you're ready on hooking and coming back to the guidance right now, Noticing the ease and relaxation in the fingertips, All of the muscles in your arms beginning to relax, Beginning to let go of any tension so that feelings of relaxation and comfort are flowing all the way down. The way down each of the muscles in the arms beginning to feel looser, More comfortable. When you're ready, You can allow that relaxed feeling and comfort to flow down now through your body, Down from the back of your neck, Through all of the muscles in your back, Flowing all the way down like a stream through these muscles on either side of the spine. This relaxation flowing down all the way to the base of the back, Just that very place where the spine emerges from the sitting bone. And all of these muscles begin to relax, To soften, To let go, So that the body can sink a little more onto the couch or the bed or the chair, Whatever is supporting the body, Just sinking a little and going down from the front of the neck allowing that relaxation now to flow down through all of the muscles in and around the chest, So that you are only using the muscles you need to breathe easily and comfortably, Only those muscles you need to use. Everything softening, A little ease in the whole chest area, Down now through all of the muscles around the waist, The tummy, The abdomen, And all of those muscles beginning now to relax, To soften, To let go even a little, So that you feel a little more ease, A little more comfort, And you can gradually become aware of the deeper state of comfort, Allowing that same relaxation now to flow down, Down into your legs, Flowing all the way down, Down through your thighs, Through the muscles at the front and at the back and at the side of the thighs, Flowing all the way down, All of those muscles in the whole of the thigh area, Gradually beginning to feel looser, More relaxed, Down across your knees, Into your calf muscles, Flowing all the way down into your feet, Right to the ends of your toes, So that even the tiniest muscles are beginning to relax, Letting go of any tension, And your feet can feel as though you have been wearing a pair of tight shoes that you've just taken off, Allowing the feet to spread out a little as you just rest, That feeling of ah, Relaxing more and more with each breath you take, All of the muscles letting go, Letting go of tension, Releasing even a little, Any remaining tension, Draining down, Down and out, And out through the soles of the feet, Feeling now more and more comfortable, More and more relaxed, Every muscle which you don't need to use right now, Softening, Relaxing, Letting go, Noticing now that in this practice, You don't need to work so hard, Just for this little bit of time, You too can let go, Even a little, Sinking, Settling, Knowing that the bed, Or the couch, Or the chair, Is supporting the body, As is gravity through the floor itself, And in the same way, In the same way, The guidance itself supports the practice. So just for this short time, You can relax, Let go, No need to work so hard. In your mind's eye, I want you now to imagine yourself walking down a beautiful path that leads to an amazing beach. As you walk the path, And as you arrive at this amazing beach, See if you might use all of your senses, So that you're truly noticing the colours, The smells, The sounds, The objects, And the feel of this place. You might find that you're entirely alone on this amazing beach, Or maybe there are strangers, Or friends, Or perhaps animals who have joined you. So just allowing the fullness of the picture to emerge, The wonderful beach, The sights, The sounds, The smells, The objects that are there, Any strangers, Or friends, Or animals, Or perhaps just you, Noticing now that everything is exactly as it should be, Exactly as you would like it to be. This place is just perfect for you today. This beach is comfortable, And warm, And safe. You can hear the ocean waves, You're smelling the salt sea air, And you feel the warmth of the sand against your toes. So you find a spot now on the beach, A place where you decide you can rest a while. You might choose to sit, Or to lie down, On this comfortable, Warm, Safe beach, Where you're hearing the waves crashing, You're smelling the salty air, And the warm sand is caressing your feet. So finding your spot, And allowing yourself to sit, Or to lie down as you wish, And realising that you can rest a while here, Feeling the support that is there for you today on this beach. Nothing can affect you here, Nothing can disturb you, No matter what occurs in the outside world, You are safe and supported here. This beach is a peaceful and comfortable place. As you relax even more, Begin now to feel the warmth and the comfort of the sun touching the skin of the body. Maybe it's someplace on your face, Or your scalp, Or your arms, Or hands, Or legs, Or feet. Just noticing this warmth of the sun, Lightly touching the skin of the body, And becoming aware that it is just the right amount of warmth. Maybe there's even a cool breeze on parts of your body that need some coolness today. It's comfort feeling the warmth of the sun and the sand making contact with the rest of your body. The warmth from the pleasant sunshine begins to fill the centre of the body with a very pleasant, Gentle, Warming, Healing glow. You can begin to notice this place of comfort, Of warmth, Of safety, Right in the centre of your body now. And you begin to feel the safe and warmth begin to spread. It is a pleasant sensation, And you can imagine this warmth spreading out from the core of the body, Almost like rays of the sun, Radiating from right inside you, Spreading out throughout the torso now. Warm, Comfortable, Soothing sensations, Almost like this comfort and warmth is spreading, Spreading out throughout the torso, Throughout the abdomen, The chest, Spreading throughout the lower, The middle, And the upper back. This safe, Warm glow spreading slowly all the way up the length of the spine. This safe, Warm glow up into the neck and the head, And then travelling all the length of the spine again, Right back down to the tailbone, So that the whole of the torso, All of the spine, The neck, The head, The face, The chest, And the belly, All bathed in this safe, Warm glow. Noticing this now, And now noticing this safe, Warm glow, Begin to spread down the legs, Right from the hip joints, All the way down to the knees, Feeling each muscle, Each sinew, Every bone in that part of the legs, With warmth, Safe glow. The knees themselves are bathed in the warmth of the glow, And then travelling slowly down from the knees, All the way down to the feet, The warm glow spreading all the way down through the legs, To the feet. And now this glow, You notice, Is all through the shoulders. The shoulders themselves are bathed in the safe and warm glow, And then down from the shoulders, This warm glow moves down through the arms, As far as the elbows, Filling the upper part of the arms with this warm, Healing, Safe glow. And then the elbows themselves, And then noticing this warm glow spread from the elbows, All the way down to the wrists, And now into the hands, Noticing that your hands, Too, Have this safe, Warm glow. You might even be surprised to notice that your hands are getting warmer and warmer. Your hands are getting warmer and warmer, Almost as if you are warming your hands by the sunlight, Feeling the heat from the sun going straight in the tips of the fingers, Or almost like you are holding a warm cup of coffee, Or tea, Or a warm bowl of soup. You can imagine the heat entering into the tips of the fingers, While this warm, Soothing sensation traveling down the arms into the fingers. No need to try here or work hard, Just allowing this warmth into your hands. As you might say silently in your own mind, My hands are getting warmer and warmer, Easy, Pleasant sensations. My hands are getting warmer and warmer, Feeling the heat from the sun, Feeling the warmth of the core spreading all the way down into the hands. My hands are getting warmer and warmer, Just noticing that. The hands, Warm glow, My hands are getting warmer and warmer, Just noticing and enjoying this state, This state of relaxation, Or of being, Or of noticing that you have just created for yourself, Created for yourself, Sitting or lying on this beach, Feeling your whole body at ease, Feeling very, Very relaxed, Just resting here. Now that the body is soft and warm and has some ease, Inviting the breath too, To be easy. Maybe the breath is slowing, Hardly noticeable, So that as the body is soft and at ease, The breath too might be easy, Just resting, Body soft, Breath easy. In a moment, We'll begin to travel back, Picking yourself up, Taking one last look at the beautiful waves, The objects that are on the beach, Any body or any animal that is there, Just taking it all in. And then when you're ready, Beginning nice and slowly to retrace your steps back down the beautiful path, Leaving this amazing beach. But as you do so, Knowing that this is a place you can return to anytime you want, That it's always there for you to come back to. So beginning now to feel yourself traveling back, Perhaps noticing the body on the bed, Or the couch, Or the chair, Noticing where your feet make contact with whatever is supporting you, Noticing the weight of the body, And maybe the points of contact between the body and the chair, Becoming aware of the head, Wherever it is resting, Noticing any sensations of air anywhere around the body, Maybe sensations of coolness or warmth, Maybe on the face, Or the head, The hands, Just becoming aware of any sensations of air.

Reviews

I appreciate this recording it was very soothing and relaxing I went right out!! I needed that deep rest. Thank you Ariel 🙏🩷