20-Minute Full Body Relaxation NSDR

A body scan with simple breathwork to begin to calm your body and mind from head to toe. This relaxation encompasses knowledge from neurobiology, Yoga and Tibetan Buddhism to create a relaxation which will help you sleep better, think more clearly and reset your nervous system.

Transcript

Hey there,

Welcome to my channel.

My name is Tammy and I will be guiding you through a short meditation for the next 15 minutes or so.

So just spend the first few all-important moments letting yourself get comfortable,

Whether you want to be in seated or lying down,

Grabbing any pillows,

Any props,

Any blankets,

Just to make it as scrummy and softening for your body as possible.

Feel free to pause the video to allow yourself to do this now.

And now you're in this comfortable position,

Just take a moment to become a bit more familiar maybe with the environment around you.

So if your eyes are still open,

Having a quick scan of anything you can just see in your immediate vision.

And then taking a deep breath in through the nose,

Holding the breath in for a moment and then taking a long breath out through the mouth.

Begin to close your eyes down.

And then taking another deep breath in through the nose and again holding it in for a moment.

And this time when you breathe out through the mouth you're going to make a sigh and you can be as audible with the sigh as you want to.

And then take about two more breaths like this.

And with each out breath you take a bit like you're releasing any of the extra tension you're still holding into the body.

Begin to find a bit more softness through the shoulders.

Through the jaw,

Through your eyebrows,

All the way down through the spine.

And then just letting your feet drop down by their sides especially if you're lying down.

And then just letting your breath return back to breathing in and out through the nose.

Keeping the breath smooth,

Steady.

And then just beginning to lengthen through the breath,

Especially your out breath.

Becoming aware of the movement that happens into your belly or maybe your chest.

That rise and fall as you breathe in and breathe out again.

The inflation and expansion as you breathe in through the belly,

Through the chest.

And the softening and the release as you breathe out again.

And with each out breath you take,

Just letting your body become a bit heavier.

With each out breath you take,

Allow the earth to hold more and more of your weight.

Let the earth begin to support you.

Allow some of this tension that you constantly carry around with you on your shoulders and your back.

Allow yourself to put it down.

Allow this weight to be taken away from you.

Allow this weight to be taken by the surface beneath you.

You don't need to carry it anymore.

And just becoming aware of the surface beneath the body.

Just what parts of the back of the body are touching the ground or the bed or the chair.

Noticing maybe what shape your body's imprinting on the surface beneath you.

And then once again,

Just returning your attention back to your breathing.

Your breathing is the number one thing that can help you relax.

Because as you may or may not know,

But every time you take an exhale,

You engage that part of your nervous system that aids in your relaxation.

Every single time you take an exhale,

It physiologically,

Biologically slows down the heart rate.

So you can begin to tap into that power now by beginning to lengthen through those exhales.

So with your next breath in,

Maybe breathing in through the nose for a count of three.

Hold the breath in for a count of three.

Hold the breath in for a count of three.

And then if you're able to,

Breathing out through the nose for a count of five.

And then once again,

Hold the breath out for a count of three.

And you can count at your own pace.

If you want to count a bit slower or a bit faster.

Just feel with each breath you draw in through the nose.

And then finding that stillness and that sense of calm when you hold the breath in.

And still finding this release with each out breath you take.

And then once again,

Finding that stillness as you hold the breath out.

So breathing in for a count of three or longer if you wish.

Holding the breath in for a comfortable amount of time.

You don't want to be gasping for air.

Maybe three seconds.

And then again,

Breathing out through the nose for a count of five.

Or longer if you wish.

And then holding the breath out for a count of five.

And holding the breath out for a count of three.

Just knowing the idea of what we're doing here is to soften and relax the body.

So if at any point you feel like it's too much.

Just make the counting a bit shorter.

All the while just simply noticing and feeling.

That rise of the belly,

Of the chest.

The expansion,

That opening into the lungs.

And the softening and the release.

And the deflation as you breathe out again.

As you let go.

As you give yourself permission to let go.

And now we're going to begin to flow through a body scan.

Starting from the top of your head.

Working your way all the way down towards your feet.

With this idea of simply just bringing your attention to each part of your body.

Noticing how it's feeling.

If there's any tension there and allowing yourself to begin to release a little bit more.

Even if it's just a tiny bit.

And if that's too much.

Then simply just notice this part of your body.

As often simply just noticing it is enough.

To begin to let go.

So now just bringing your attention to the crown of your head,

To the top of your head.

And maybe it's through imagining a cloud or some mist.

Or a color of relaxation.

Simply just to come to the top of your head.

Whatever it is to help you visualize,

To feel.

This sensation.

As it begins to flow down through into your forehead.

And your eyebrows,

Your left eye.

And your eyebrows,

Your left eyebrow and your right eyebrow.

As you maybe feel them begin to gently part from each other.

And then down into your eyes,

The left eye.

And the right eye.

And all the tiny muscles behind the eyes.

Into the cheeks.

The nose.

The tongue,

The tip of the tongue.

And the root of the tongue.

The chin.

And the jaw.

And maybe you feel your lips gently part.

And then allowing this color or mist to begin to flow down.

Into the front of the neck.

Down from both the ears,

Down the sides of the neck.

Into the collarbones.

And then into the back of the neck.

And then into the back of the neck.

The entire head.

All the muscles in the face.

And the entire neck area.

Is a bit softer.

And just taking another deep breath here.

In through the nose.

And then breathing out through the mouth.

And then breathing out through the mouth.

A bit like you're trying to fog up a window.

With the breath.

And then allowing this mist and this idea of softening to flow down.

Into your left shoulder.

And your left upper arm.

Letting it flow down into your left forearm.

And your left hand.

The palm of the hand.

The back of the hand.

All the fingers and the thumb.

The entire left arm as a whole.

And then flowing your attention over to your right shoulder.

Your right upper arm.

Right lower arm.

Right hand.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Fingers.

And thumb.

And the entire right arm as a whole.

And just noticing how maybe your arms begin to feel heavier.

Or maybe they begin to feel lighter.

Just knowing that this idea of relaxation will feel different from me to you.

And from day to day in yourself.

Knowing there is no right or wrong.

Just begin to notice what it is for you that feels good.

And then taking your attention and bringing it to your chest.

Again just noticing the rise and fall in the chest.

In the belly.

In the upper back.

Middle back and lower back.

Noticing the area where the torso connects onto the chest.

Noticing the area where the torso connects onto the hips.

Onto the pelvis.

And finding this softening through the entire length of the spine.

The spine that starts at the tailbone.

The bottom of the back.

And it flows through the back of the body.

Through the lower back.

Middle back.

Between the ribs in the upper back.

And then back up into your neck.

And then just bringing your attention back down into your hips.

Feeling the weight of your bottom cheeks on the surface beneath you.

As you begin to find a bit more softening through the left hip.

The left thigh.

The right side of the thigh and the back.

The left lower leg.

And the left foot.

The sole of the foot.

And the toes.

The entire left leg.

From the hip down to the toes.

And then bringing your attention into your right hip.

The right thigh.

The right lower leg.

And the right foot.

The sole of the right foot.

And the toes of the right foot.

The entire right leg.

Both of the legs together.

And then feeling the entire body as a whole.

Wherever you are in this moment.

Letting this idea to continue to circulate through your body.

With your breath.

Knowing you're in control of whatever happens.

And as we begin to draw this relaxation to a close.

Whether you want to allow yourself to begin to drift off to sleep.

Or if you want to begin to wake up the body.

And just take a slightly deeper breath in through the nose.

And again a long breath out through the mouth.

And again a long breath in through the mouth.

And if one's not enough feel free to take one or two more breaths just like this.

As you begin to allow the energy to come back into your body.

Again just becoming aware of the surface beneath your body.

Where you are in contact with the ground.

Slowly beginning to bring some movement into your fingers.

Into your toes.

Notice how the energy shifts through the body.

Bringing some movement into your arms.

Into your legs.

And just noticing what feels good.

Whether you want to take a stretch out.

Maybe curl into a ball.

Just take your time.

Noticing how the body feels now.

How the mind feels now.

And then in your own time.

And whenever you're ready.

If you don't feel like you want to drift off to sleep.

You can begin to open your eyes.

And welcome the day.

Or the evening.

Back in.

Allow yourself to take this feeling.

With you.

Wherever you're going.

Thank you.

For taking the time to listen to this video.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this.

And for taking this time to focus on you.

Because you deserve it.

Have a wonderful day.