Mindful Relaxation

Connect to the sensations of the body and breath in this guided mindful meditation and invite relaxation to the body.
Beginning with a grounding in the space you're in, moving onto body scan and relaxation, connecting to your breath, and then silent space for you to deepen into the practice
No music is used throughout this recording.

This was recorded during a live group session.

Transcript

So let's just begin by getting a sense of the space that you're in and you can do this with your eyes open if you like. You can have your eyes move around your space and get a sense of the room and the structure, Looking at the different colours and shapes, Taking some time to know where you fit in this space, Noticing not only the shapes but the different textures that are around the room that you're in and if there is something particular about the room you're in that catches your attention just really take note of what that looks like for you. Notice if there's anything particular that catches your eye about this thing, This object. Have a moment to notice the finer details of what you notice in your space, Perhaps what you're looking at may cast shadows, Have different colours, Lines, Textures and then you can now gently close your eyes like a piece of silk has fallen upon them to allow yourself to settle in, Taking notice of any sounds that come from inside and outside of your space, Gently shifting your awareness from one sound to the next, Noticing the way your body feels in this moment and how it feels on the surface beneath you, Noticing all the different points of contact on your body with this surface, Notice the way your clothes feel against your body, Notice those textures, Perhaps you can feel different temperatures on your skin where your clothes cover your body and areas that are exposed. Allow yourself just to let go a little more in this moment, To sink a little deeper, Letting go of any tension in the jaw and shoulders to begin with. This is a time for you to bring a moment of self-care to yourself, Nurturing yourself and giving your permission, Your self-permission to be here in this moment, To refill your cup as we cannot give from an empty cup. Allow yourself now to set an intention for the practice today, Perhaps it's an intention just for this moment or perhaps it can be an intention you'd like to take to the rest of your week. Allow yourself now to take a deep breath in through your nose, Hold for a moment, Notice how that feels with that pressure as you hold the breath and then letting it go, Another nice deep breath in, Holding the breath and now when you let it go, You may want to let it out with a sigh, Letting go of any energy that doesn't serve you in this moment, Just allow your breath to go with whatever comes naturally to you. In your practice you may find that your mind wanders in thought, The mind might race, When this happens be kind and gentle with yourself, Know that this is natural and okay. Allow your practice today to bring you to this present moment and connecting to all the different aspects of your body and breath, Allowing the breath and body to anchor you in this moment. As we begin to place our awareness to the top of our head, Allow the top of your head to be centre stage in your awareness, Notice if there's any sensations, Vibrations, Perhaps there may be tension or different temperatures that are there for you in this moment or perhaps there's no sensation at all, Just a simple knowing. Allow now the top of your head to ease and relax as you move your awareness now to the back of your head, Notice all that is there in this moment, Perhaps the feeling of your head being on a pillow or the textures that it feels that it is upon and let now the back of your head ease and relax, Bringing your awareness now to your forehead, Notice all the sensations in the forehead, Is there a coolness, A tension and now let the forehead ease and relax, Your eyebrows, Allow them to relax, Your eyes, Allow them to soften and ease, Allow your awareness now to go to your cheek, Allowing your cheeks to ease and relax, Taking your awareness now to your jaw and chin, Allowing your jaw and chin now to ease and let go, Letting go of any clenching, Tightness, Become aware of the sensations in your mouth, Perhaps you can feel the moisture, Allow your tongue to rest and ease, Allow it to rest gently behind your teeth, Your neck, Bring the neck centre stage to your awareness now, Noticing all the sensations or perhaps just the simple knowing of this space and then allow that area of your body to ease and relax, Taking your awareness now to your shoulders, So much tension can be held in this space, Notice all that is there and then allow the shoulders to ease and let go, Perhaps you can feel the moving away from the ears as all those muscle fibres untangle, Bringing your awareness now to your left arm, Your bicep and tricep, Allow them to ease and relax, Your left elbow, Letting that go, The forearm, Allowing all tension to melt away, The left wrist, Noticing all the sensations around the wrist and then letting it ease and relax, The top of your left hand, Allow it to relax, The palm of the left hand, Allow it to let go and then easing every finger as they're mentioned, The thumb, The index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger and little finger, Bringing centre stage to the awareness now, The right arm, Focusing on the bicep and the tricep, Noticing all that is there in this moment and then allowing this area to ease and soften, The right elbow, Letting go, The forearm, Softening and relaxing, The right wrist, Allowing it to ease and let go, The top of the right hand, Relax, The palm of the right hand, Letting go, Relaxing the thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger and little finger, Taking your awareness now to your upper back, Notice all that is there in this moment, Any different temperatures, Vibrations, Perhaps tightness and then allowing it to ease and soften and taking your awareness to your mid-back and inviting relaxation to the mid-back now as we move our awareness to your lower back and allowing the lower back to rest and be at ease, Taking the awareness now to your left leg and allowing your thigh to be centre stage in your awareness, Notice all that is there in this moment and allowing now the left thigh to ease and soften, The left knee, Allowing it to let go, Your calf and shin, Easing and relaxing, The right ankle, Letting go, The heel of the left foot, Easing, The arm, Relax, The top of the foot, Softening and then relaxing all the toes of the left foot, The big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe and little toe, Bringing centre stage to your awareness now, Your right thigh, Notice all the sensations that arise here for you in this moment and then easing and letting that area go, The knee, Relaxing, Shin and the calf, Easing and softening, Your ankle, Letting go, The heel of the right foot, Softening, The arch of the foot, Relaxing, The top of the right foot, Letting go and then resting all the toes on the right foot, The big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe and little toe, Taking centre stage now is your chest, Notice all the sensations, Perhaps you can feel the rise and fall of your breath, Perhaps you can feel the rhythm of your heartbeat, Allow the chest now to rest and be at ease, Bringing the awareness to the belly, Perhaps you feel the breath most strongly here, Notice what else you feel, Perhaps you can feel your digestion and allowing the body, The belly to ease and relax, As you take your awareness now to the tip of your nose, Noticing the way the breath moves through the nose and how that breath connects to the chest and belly, The flow as it moves in and out of your body, Perhaps you can notice the change of temperature in your breath as it moves in and out, Noticing the coolness of the breath as it enters your body and the warmth as it leaves, Allowing you with every out breath just to let go a little more, Perhaps you can feel a vibration to the breath as it flows in and out, With every breath moving in your body, Bringing new fresh revitalising air to every cell, Allowing your breath to bring you here in this moment, Letting go of the breath before, Not concerning yourself with the breath to come, Just connecting to this breath, Allowing this breath to be your anchor, Allowing thoughts to glide by, If thoughts do arise, Perhaps you can do a gentle acknowledgement to the thought, Perhaps just label it thinking, And then return to your breath wherever it is the strongest for you, If it helps to have your hands on your belly and chest to feel the movement of the breath, Feel free to do this and feel the breath move in and out ever so gently, The flow in and out, Perhaps you can feel your whole body breathing, Perhaps with every breath you feel your whole body expanding like a bloom and then contracting back on the out breath, Feeling that flow in and out, With every breath inviting more and more calm and relaxation, Surrendering to letting go in this moment and allowing yourself to rest and be at ease, Take a few minutes now to connect to the breath and feel the flow breath by breath, Moment by moment, Feeling that flow in and out of your body, Feeling the expansion of your body with every in breath, Allowing yourself to ease on every out breath more and more, And I'll let you know when it is time to reconnect to the room, Noticing the way your body feels in this moment, Know that with the breath you can cultivate relaxation whenever you need it, Take a moment now to notice any sounds that are coming from in and out of the space that you're in, Noticing the way your body feels on the surface beneath you and the way your clothes feel wrapped around your skin, Taking a nice deep breath in and then releasing, One more time and releasing, And then bringing some gentle movements to your body, Wriggling your fingers, Toes and moving your head from side to side and rotating your wrists and ankles and whenever you're ready to do so you can open your arms.