A Moment To Rest

Give yourself permission to rest. Settle down, connect to the senses and take a journey through the body. Allowing yourself to just be. Can be practised seated or lying down, or however you may feel comfortable.

Transcript

This is a short space for you to rest, Choosing a comfortable position whether it's sitting or lying down, Making yourself comfortable but knowing that there's no perfect level of comfort. Checking in with yourself, How are you feeling? What sensations are there? What emotions are there? What thoughts? Allowing these things to be there in your awareness with no need to analyze or judge them. Allowing them to come and go through your awareness. Allowing your body to surrender into its resting place. Allowing yourself to be supported by gravity. Connecting with your senses, What can you touch with your fingers? Feeling the air on your skin, The texture of the different materials or clothes on your skin, The sense of smell, Noticing any aromas or fragrances coming to your nostrils without any judgment. Sense of taste, Is there any sensation in the tongue, The tip of the tongue? Sense of hearing, Allowing yourself to listen like an innocent child, Receiving sounds from all over you, From all around you without analyzing them, Without categorizing them, Without labeling them. Just noticing the qualities of the sounds, The volume, Intensity, Frequency, Pitch, Vibration. Sense of vision, Even with your eyes closed maybe noticing shapes or colors behind your eyelids, Maybe visualizing the space you're in, The room you're in, The objects around you. And if your eyes are open, Softly gaze ahead of you. And then allow the senses to rest. Taking a journey through the body, No need to move the body, Just feeling the sensations in the different areas of the body without any judgment, With friendly curiosity and openness. Awareness on the top of the head, Back of the head, Sides of the head, Front of the head, The face, Forehead, Eyebrows, Space between the eyebrows, Temples, The eyes, Eyelids, Eyelashes, The nose, Tip of the nose, Nostrils, Cheekbones, Cheeks, Top lip, Lower lip, The chin, The jaw, Inside the mouth, Teeth, Gums, Tongue. Moving the awareness down the throat and to the chest, The belly, The whole torso, Arms, Wrists, Hands, Fingers. Awareness moving back up the arms to the shoulders, Shoulder blades, Upper back, Middle back, Lower back, Base of the spine, Tailbone. The pelvis, The glutes, The hips, Front of the pelvis, Thighs, Knees, Lower legs, Ankles, The feet, Toes, Tips of the toes. Feeling the whole body, Back of the body, Front of the body, Inside the body, Outside the body, Left side of the body, Right side of the body, The whole body. And then moving the attention to the breath. A soft focus on the breath. Noticing the rise of the belly as you inhale, The release as you exhale. Observing the sensations of the inhale and exhale. Without needing to change the breath in any way, Allowing the breath to be just as it is. And then returning to the sensations of the body, The points of contact between your body and wherever you're sitting or lying on. Connecting with the senses again, Touch, Smell, Taste, Hearing, Vision. Allowing some movement to happen, Maybe wiggling fingers and toes, Circling ankles and wrists. Maybe opening the mouth, Releasing the jaw, Maybe moving head side to side. Allowing the body to move in the way it wants to move right now. As you prepare to return to the world of doing, But knowing that you can always take a moment to rest anytime during the day. You can stay where you are, Or you can start stretching, Maybe opening the eyes softly. Giving yourself a moment of gratitude for taking this time to rest. Thank you for sharing this practice with me.