You can do this either sitting or lying,
Making sure that you have support for your head,
Maybe a pillow or the back of your chair,
Allowing those eyes to close gently when you're ready.
Bring your awareness to the body,
Feeling the weight of the body as it sinks down into its support.
Maybe you can feel those feet on the floor or the weight of the head resting on a pillow or against your chair.
And when you're ready,
Bringing your attention to the breath and allowing the out-breath to be slightly longer than the in-breath.
Some people will count three for the inhale and five or six for the exhale.
Others may count two for the in-breath and three or four for the out-breath.
You will find the count which works best for you as you linger over that relaxing out-breath.
And maybe you can bring your attention to the abdomen and you might notice how that lovely relaxing feeling deepens as you focus the attention on the rise and fall of the abdomen as you breathe in and out.
As you listen to my voice,
Order the spaces between the words.
Everyone will have had a nice time in a place where they feel relaxed and content,
A warm place with a sense of sunshine on your shoulders,
Maybe a fresh breeze.
This might be a garden or a beach or maybe sitting by a stream,
Perhaps a place you remember or maybe a place that springs from your imagination.
And just as sunshine can make animals stretch out on the pavements or it makes ice cream melt and it makes the ice in drinks melt and dissolve into the water.
So that sunshiny warmth softens the muscles around the head and the face and the muscles around the eyes.
And that sunshiny warmth spreading through the body like melted honey brings that sense of relaxation deeper into the body as it spreads through the neck,
The shoulders,
Down one arm or the other.
I don't know which hand I'll relax first or whether it will be the other hand but now the shoulders and arms which have worked so hard can take time out to relax and drop.
And just as the movement of the tides on the seashore,
Like the gentle movement of sunshiny warmth spreading around the body like a blanket of calm,
Bringing relaxation deeper into the back and chest and abdomen.
And that sunshiny rest spreading through the muscles of the throat,
The neck,
The chest,
The tummy with the cells responding and moving in their own restful way.
Not just skin deep but muscle deep,
Brain deep,
Bone deep,
Organ deep,
Bringing that refreshing restful movement like the tides.
That sunshiny rest through the hips and thighs,
Through the knees and the calves,
Bringing relaxation,
Melting the tension in those muscles and those deeper tissues.
And just as that sunshiny rest takes us to a place beyond thinking,
Beyond dreaming,
It can teach us many things which will be helpful in times to come.
Like the movement of water which is so refreshing,
Washing away pain,
Tension,
Anger,
Hurt and bringing comfort,
Relaxation,
Restoring health,
Filling us with energy to every cell,
Every space.
Just like the tides breaking on the shore,
So the movement of the abdomen and the breath as you breathe in and out and as you return gently to the feeling of the weight of the body on the support,
The chair or whatever you might be lying on.
So your brain,
In your unconscious mind,
The learnings and understandings you've gained and then returning to the world whenever you are ready,
As you always are.
