Settle into your space,
Whether seated or lying down,
Making yourself as comfortable as possible in this moment.
Take a few deep breaths to arrive in your space.
Settle.
Filling your lungs on the inhale and releasing the breath on the exhale.
Take another deep breath in through the nose.
And release through the mouth.
Doing that again.
Deep breath in through the nose.
And exhale through the mouth.
One more breath like this.
Inhale deeply through the nose.
And let it go through the mouth.
On your next breath,
Feel the belly and chest expand.
And as you release the breath,
Observe the way the chest and belly contract.
Returning to a normal breath.
Something that feels easeful to you.
No need to try to control the breath.
Your eyes might be opened or closed.
Whatever is most comfortable for you right now.
We'll do a scan through the body,
Looking for any opportunity to release tension.
Starting with the crown of the head,
Begin to soften your face.
Release the muscles of the forehead and around the eyes.
Softening through the cheeks and jaw.
Perhaps letting the jaw unhinge slightly.
Softening the throat,
The collarbone region.
Relaxing the tops of the shoulders and down through the shoulder blades.
Areas where we tend to hold on to a lot of stress for many of us.
Invite any tension,
Any stress hanging out in those areas to start to dissolve.
Our goal is not to eliminate all stress and tension today.
But rather to give an invitation to start to release and relax.
Continuing to soften all the way down the spine and the back body.
Inviting any tension along the way to begin to dissipate.
To melt away into the ether.
Returning to the tops of the shoulders.
Relax the upper arms,
The forearms,
The wrists,
All the way down to the hands and the fingertips.
Allowing the hands to soften.
Relaxing all the way down the chest and into the belly.
Particularly focusing on softening through the belly,
Which is another area where we tend to hold tension.
Continuing down to the hips and glutes,
Pelvic region.
Relaxing there.
Softening the muscles of the thighs and the calves as you continue to relax the legs.
All the way down to the ankles,
The feet,
And the toes.
Returning to the face one more time.
Noticing if any tension has crept back in over the course of this journey.
And if so,
Again,
Just invite it to release or to start to release.
Resoftening the jaw.
Relaxing the shoulders again.
Softening the belly.
Letting your entire body grow heavy,
Sinking into the surface beneath you.
Letting go of any tension in the muscles.
Letting go of any thoughts.
Knowing that you don't need to solve any problems right now.
You're just here breathing.
You might imagine roots gently extending from your body down into the earth,
Grounding you there and connecting you to the planet and to all living beings.
Continuing to breathe in a comfortable,
Easeful way.
Knowing that the breath is your anchor in this practice of stress relief,
But it's also a tool that can send a direct message to your brain saying,
I'm safe.
There is no threat.
When we're breathing slowly and deeply,
That triggers the parasympathetic nervous system,
The opposite of the fight or flight response.
Know that any time you're under stress or duress,
Simply taking several deep breaths or breathing for a few minutes slowly and deeply can help you to relax in that moment.
Letting the breath flow through you.
Feeling the way belly and chest rise and fall with each breath cycle.
