Give Me A Break!

Life can be hard. Everyone needs a break sometimes. Enjoy this guided visualization for chronic or acute pain, stress & anxiety. Take a few moments to rebalance your nervous system and promote a state of healing and calm. Please do not listen to this recording while driving. Royalty free background music by "The Relaxation Works: Fire & Water."

Transcript

Welcome to this moment of mindfulness,

This opportunity to relax,

Giving yourself permission to let go.

So I invite you to find a comfortable place to sit or lie down,

Allow yourself to settle into a space where you can completely relax.

And if you haven't already,

Go ahead and close your eyes,

Take a deep belly breath and exhale slowly.

And with every breath you continue to take,

You can.

.

.

No one needs anything.

For this next little while,

No one has any expectations or demands.

This is your time to relax and let go.

And as you acknowledge giving yourself permission to relax and let go,

Just know that any time any random thoughts try to pop in and interrupt,

That's normal.

You can acknowledge them and bring your attention back to your breath,

Allowing the sound of my voice to bring you down deeper into a state of relaxation.

And as you take another slow,

Deep breath in,

Imagine,

See,

Feel or sense a warm,

Gentle wave of relaxation beginning at the top of your head.

Feel,

See,

Sense as it spreads down over your forehead,

Relaxing the space between your eyebrows and moving down across your eyes,

Relaxing your cheeks,

Your jaw.

With every breath,

It's almost as if you can imagine you're breathing in actual molecules of comfort.

And on the exhale,

Letting go any tightness or tension or tasks,

Allowing this wave of relaxation to spread down,

Relaxing the sides of your neck and tops of your shoulders,

Noticing how your body feels as you relax more and more.

And if that relaxation were a colorful light,

You can assign a very specific color to this light.

Perhaps it's golden,

White or relaxing cool blue.

However you experience it is right for you.

But as you notice that wave of relaxation,

That color or light,

Allow that to travel down across the top of your back and chest and as it moves down past your shoulders into each of your arms,

You can notice how good that feels,

Almost as if that color or light,

Maybe it's a heaviness or lightness,

A warmth or coolness spreads down past your elbows into your wrists,

Hands and fingertips.

And I wonder how good it could feel as that relaxation spreads down the length of your spine,

Connecting to your nervous system,

Rebalancing the energy within and around you.

And as that wave of relaxation,

That color or light,

Travels across your belly,

Softening the muscles in the small of your back and spreading with every breath you take,

Relaxing your pelvis,

Any random thoughts that might try to interrupt,

Acknowledge,

Bring your attention back to following along,

You deserve this time.

As that relaxation spreads down across your hips,

Into your thighs and down each of your legs,

Relaxing past your knees down into your calves,

Ankles and feet.

Now in a moment,

I'd like to invite you to continue to use your creative imagination,

Because the subconscious part of our brain understands imagination.

And so I invite you to go down deeper,

Simply by imagining with me a beautiful,

Safe,

Soft staircase.

Today this is your staircase of relaxation.

And you can make it look and feel any way you'd like it to look and feel.

The staircase has 10 steps down and in a moment,

As I count backwards from 10 to 1,

You can allow yourself to drift or float or sink down deeper into this relaxation.

And I wonder how good it would feel if with every number,

Every step,

You leave behind those things that no longer serve you,

Leave behind any old,

Outdated beliefs,

Sensations,

Thoughts,

Habits.

Moving down,

Beginning with 10,

Noticing as you drift or sink down deeper,

9,

Into this relaxation.

The deeper you go,

8,

The better you feel,

7,

And you might feel pleasantly heavy,

6,

Or lighter,

5,

Halfway down.

And at 4,

I wonder how good that would feel as you double your level of relaxation,

3,

Doubling mental and physical relaxation,

2,

A beautiful place,

A place of healing,

Calm,

Relaxation,

1.

And at the bottom of the staircase,

In this relaxed state,

Imagine,

See,

Feel,

Sense yourself holding a small bundle.

Maybe it's a bag,

A basket,

A bucket,

Or a backpack.

And this bundle represents today,

The physical and emotional pain you had been carrying.

Take a moment to notice its weight,

Its shape,

Its texture.

Understand that this old pain,

Habit,

Belief,

Memory,

Is something you had been holding onto,

But it is not who you are.

You've carried this pain because it once served a purpose,

Perhaps it taught you resilience or helped you grow.

It may be something you never sought out or deserved.

But you know now,

Today,

You can let it go.

This is not to say you're letting go of the responsibility of others for causing you pain.

But letting go of the energy that no longer serves you as you move forward on your journey.

You no longer need this old physical or emotional,

Mental pain or distress,

Anxiety.

See yourself now standing on a quiet path surrounded by nature.

Notice,

Imagine the temperature of the air against your skin,

Perhaps a fragrance in the breeze,

And ahead of you is a flowing stream.

The water here is clear and gentle and inviting.

Make your way over towards this body of water now,

Carrying this bundle,

And when you reach the water,

Notice,

See,

Sense,

Feel,

Imagine a soft golden light shining around,

Above,

And from the water.

This light represents healing,

Freedom,

And the life you truly deserve.

Hold that bundle close for one last moment.

Pass it into the water and watch as the water carries it away,

Each wave breath.

It moves further and further until it becomes nothing at all.

Notice now how that feels,

How free,

Light,

Relaxed,

Easy as your body and mind grow freer.

The water moving away,

Taking with it all of the pain,

Strain,

The stress,

Tightness,

Tension,

Fear,

Sadness.

Turn your attention inward now.

Feel how good this glowing light from the stream,

Pond,

Ocean,

Water flows to every part of you,

Dissolving any remaining tension or discomfort.

Feel these changes sinking deeply into your subconscious mind.

And as you take a last look around,

Notice,

Imagine,

See,

Feel,

Sense any colors or images,

Sensations,

Learning.

I invite you now to imagine seeing,

Sensing,

Feeling one specific object in your mind's eye that represents this positive change,

This freedom,

Lightness,

Comfort,

Healing.

I don't know if you notice a small piece of sea glass,

A shell,

Pebble,

A large tree flower.

Take a snapshot of this object,

This image in your mind,

Perhaps even taking a moment to imagine you could shrink this object down.

The kind of charm that you can dangle on an invisible bracelet.

And I wonder which wrist you might wear this bracelet on.

If you'd like,

You can give that wrist a squeeze right now.

Anchoring in all of these positive learnings,

Changes,

This relaxation,

Healing,

Comfort,

And calm so you can carry this into the future.

In a moment now,

I'll simply count you back from 1 to 10.

And at the count of 10,

You'll find yourself back in the here and now.

Taking with you all of the positive learnings and changes.

1,

2,

3,

All of the suggestions we've given your subconscious mind are for your greatest good.

4,

5,

6,

You let go of,

Set down,

Left behind those things that no longer serve you.

7,

8,

Anytime you see,

Feel,

Hear,

Touch,

Taste water.

Water as small as a raindrop,

As large as the ocean.

You will be reminded that you are loved.

Able to feel calm,

Grounded,

Moving towards healing.

8,

Now noticing the palms of your hands,

The bottoms of your feet.

Imagining at 9,

A nice refreshing energy flowing from the bottom of those feet all the way up to the top of your head.

At 10,

Take a nice deep breath in,

Coming all the way back now.

Feeling good.

Enjoying the rest of your day.

Thank you for joining me.