Hello my friends and welcome to a guided meditation with me,
Jess.
Today I'm going to lead you on a guided meditation from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
This is a meditation for creating deep relaxation out of one of his books titled Creating True Peace.
The purpose of this meditation is to help you achieve a deeper sense of relaxation through guided meditation through the words of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
This is a guided meditation that you'll want to do while lying down,
So find a place to lie down comfortably on your back,
On the floor,
Or on a bed,
And allow your eyes to gently close,
Allowing your arms to rest on either side of your body and let your legs relax,
Turning outward.
As you breathe in and out,
Become aware of your whole body as you lay down,
Feeling all of the areas of your body that are touching the floor or the bed that you're lying on,
Your heels,
The backs of your legs,
Your buttocks,
Your back,
The backs of your hands and arms,
The back of your head.
And with each breath,
Feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper into the floor,
Letting go of tension,
Letting go of worries,
And not holding on to anything.
As you breathe in,
Feel your abdomen rising,
And as you breathe out,
Feel your abdomen falling.
For several breaths,
Just notice the rise and fall of your abdomen,
And now as you breathe in,
Become aware of your two feet.
As you breathe out,
Allow your feet to relax.
Breathing in,
Send love to your feet,
And breathing out,
Smile to your feet.
As you breathe in and out,
Know how wonderful it is to have two feet that allow you to walk,
To run,
To play sports and dance,
To drive and do so many activities throughout the day,
Sending your gratitude to your feet for always being there whenever you need them.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your right and left legs.
Breathing out,
Allow all of the cells in your legs to relax.
Breathing in,
Smile to your legs,
And breathing out,
Send them your love.
Appreciate whatever degree of strength and health is there in your legs.
As you breathe in and out,
Sending them your tenderness and care,
Allowing them to rest,
Sinking gently into the floor,
And release any of the tension that you may be holding in your legs.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your two hands lying on the floor next to you.
Breathing out,
Completely relax all of the muscles in your two hands,
Releasing any tension you may be holding in them.
As you breathe in,
Appreciate how wonderful it is to have two hands.
As you breathe out,
Send a smile of love to your two hands.
Breathing in and out,
Be in touch with all of the things that your two hands allow you to do to cook,
To write,
To drive,
To hold the hand of someone else,
To cradle a baby,
To wash your own body,
To draw,
To play a musical instrument,
To type,
To pet an animal,
To hold a cup of tea.
There are so many things available to you because of your two hands.
Just enjoy the fact that you have two hands and allow all of the cells in your hands to really rest.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your two arms.
Breathing out,
Allow your arms to fully relax.
As you breathe in,
Send your love to your arms and as you breathe out,
Smile to them.
Taking the time to appreciate your arms,
Whatever health and strength is in them.
Send them your gratitude for allowing you to hug someone,
To swing on a swing,
To help and serve others,
To work hard cleaning the house,
Mowing the lawn,
Doing so many things throughout the day.
Breathing in and out,
Allow your two arms to let go and rest completely on the floor.
With each breath out,
Feel the tension leaving your arms.
As you embrace your arms with mindfulness,
Feel joy and ease in every part of your two arms.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your shoulders.
Breathing out,
Allow any tension in your shoulders to flow out into the floor.
As you breathe in,
Send your love to your shoulders.
As you breathe out,
Smile with gratitude to them.
Breathing in and out,
Be aware that you may have allowed a lot of tension and stress to accumulate in your shoulders.
With each out breath,
Allow the tension to leave your shoulders,
Feeling them relax more and more deeply.
Send them your tenderness and care,
Knowing that you do not want to put too much strain on them,
But that you want to live in a way that allows them to be relaxed and at ease.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your heart.
Breathing out,
Allow your heart to rest.
With your in breath,
Send love to your heart.
With your out breath,
Send a smile to your heart.
As you breathe in and out,
Get in touch with how wonderful it is to have a heart still beating in your chest.
Your heart allows your life to be possible,
And it is always there for you.
Every minute,
Every day,
It never takes a break.
Your heart has been beating continuously since you were a four-week-old fetus in your mother's womb.
It is a marvelous organ that allows you to do everything you do throughout the day.
Breathe in and know that your heart also loves you.
Breathe out and commit to live in a way that will help your heart to function well.
With each out breath,
Feel your heart relaxing more and more,
Allowing each cell in your heart to smile with ease and joy.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your stomach and intestines.
Breathing out,
Allow your stomach and intestines to relax.
As you breathe in,
Send them your love and gratitude.
As you breathe out,
Smile tenderly to them.
Breathing in and out,
Know how essential these organs are to your health.
Give them the chance to rest deeply.
Each day,
They digest and assimilate the food you eat,
Giving you energy and strength.
They need you to take the time to recognize and appreciate them.
As you breathe in,
Feel your stomach and intestines relaxing and releasing all the tension.
As you breathe out,
Enjoy the fact that you have healthy stomach and intestines.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your eyes.
Breathing out,
Allow your eyes and the muscles around your eyes to relax.
Breathing in,
Smile to your eyes.
Breathing out,
Send them your love.
Allow your eyes to rest and roll back into your head.
As you breathe in and out,
Know how precious your two eyes are.
They allow you to look into the eyes of someone you love,
To see a beautiful sunset,
To read and write,
To move around with ease,
To see a bird flying in the sky.
So many things are possible because of your two eyes.
Taking the time to appreciate the gift of sight and allow your eyes to rest deeply.
You can gently raise your eyebrows to help release any tension you may be holding around your eyes.
Here you can continue to relax the other areas of your body using the same pattern.
If there is a place in your body that is sick or in pain,
Take this time to become aware of it and send it your love.
Breathing in,
Allow this area to rest.
Breathing out,
Smile to it with great tenderness and affection.
Be aware that there are other parts of your body that are still strong and healthy.
Allow these strong parts of your body to send their strength and energy to the weak or sick area.
Feel the support,
Energy and love of the rest of your body penetrating the weak area,
Soothing and healing it.
Breathe in and affirm your own capacity to heal.
Breathe out and let go of the worry or fear you may be holding in your body.
Breathing in and out,
Smile with love and confidence to the area of your body that is not well.
When you feel a great deal of pain and sickness in your body,
You may also want to call on your ancestors to support you.
Know that all of your ancestors are present in every cell of your body.
Identify one of your ancestors who was strong and healthy.
Breathing in,
Call on the strength and vitality of your ancestor to support you.
Breathing out,
You will feel their energy and presence in you,
Helping to restore your strength and well-being.
Breathing in,
Become aware of your whole body lying down.
Breathing out,
Enjoy the sensation of your whole body lying down,
Very relaxed and calm.
Smile to your whole body as you breathe in and send your love and compassion to your whole body as you breathe out.
Feel all the cells in your whole body smiling joyfully with you.
Feel gratitude for all the cells in your whole body.
Gently begin to bring your awareness back to the gentle rise and fall of your abdomen.
Slowly stretch your body and open your eyes,
Taking your time to sit up slowly and peacefully.
Now you can carry the energy of calm,
Mindfulness and peace you have generated into your next activity and throughout the day.
Thank you so much for joining me for this guided meditation by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh out of his book Creating True Peace.
This was a guided meditation for deep relaxation.
I hope that you have been able to achieve some state of relaxation during our meditation.
I wish you a wonderful day.
Namaste.
