Hello,
Dear friends,
And thank you for joining me for this relaxing evening wind down meditation.
Today we will be focusing on releasing tension from the body and restlessness from the mind.
I will guide you through the first 10 minutes,
Which will then be followed by a 10 minute silent meditation so you can practice simply being.
Now before we begin,
Let's find a comfortable Shavasana pose,
Either on the floor,
Couch,
Or bed,
With our arms at our sides,
Palm facing up or down,
Or one hand on the heart and the other on your belly.
Laying on our backs,
Legs can be hips width apart,
Allowing the feet to splay out if that's comfortable for you.
If you desire to use any props for today's practice,
Such as a blanket or pillow,
Now is the time to get them and adjust them to your liking.
When situated comfortably,
Let's meet on the bottom of an exhale.
On your next inhale,
Breathe deeply in through your nose,
Fill up from the belly to chest to head,
And exhale out the mouth,
Releasing stale air and the first waves of tension.
Rounding yourself in this sacred space that you yourself co-create.
Two more deep inhales rippling from your belly upward,
Pausing at the top for a second and releasing at your mouth,
Letting go of the day,
Of your roles,
Of the you that you play each day,
Just setting that to the side for now.
Giving yourself the loving permission to just be here for this too,
To be important enough because you are important enough.
Now let's bring the attention to your nose for a count of four as you inhale deeply,
Four,
Three,
Filling up from belly upwards,
Two and one.
Pause now for a count of two,
One,
And exhale out your nose for an extended count of six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And pausing for two,
One,
And repeating it two more times like so.
Inhale deeply through your nose for a count of four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause for two,
One,
And exhale out your nose for six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And pause for two,
One.
Once more let's inhale through the nose for four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause for two,
One,
And exhale for six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause once more at the bottom for two,
One.
Good.
Now allow yourself to return back to a natural breathing rhythm.
By now you may begin to notice a slowing in your heart rate,
Reduction of physical tension,
Or perhaps any old mental chatter.
Emotions may actually get activated through relaxation often because we finally feel present and safe enough to release what we have been storing up inside from the experiences and thoughts we have each day.
So this is a gentle reminder for you to be aware that experiencing,
Processing,
Or feeling your emotions is completely natural,
Healthy,
And supportive to your entire being no matter what those emotions are.
For the next part of our practice to release physical and emotional tension,
We'll be lifting our arms and legs individually while squeezing all the muscles in those regions of the body,
Lifting the armor leg off the ground about two to six inches before releasing the contraction and lowering the limb down.
At the end,
We will squeeze all the muscles of the torso from our head down to the lower part of our spine before we completely dissolve into the earth for a silent meditation.
Now let's meet on the next exhale.
And at the bottom,
Starting with our left arm,
Inhale through the nose.
Connect all the muscles from your left shoulder down your arm to your fingertips,
Forming a fist with your left hand.
Raise the arm off the ground a few inches while holding the contractions of the muscles for a count of five,
Four,
Three,
Hold the arm lifted,
Two,
One,
And allow your arm to flap down as you exhale out your mouth.
Inhale here for one deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose.
Moving to the other side,
We inhale and squeeze all the muscles in the right arm from the shoulder down to the fingertips,
Forming a fist with the hand,
Lifting up the arm a few inches off the floor and holding the contraction along with our breath for a count of five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one,
Letting the right arm flop down with zero resistance as you exhale out the mouth.
One full breath cycle here,
In and out through the nose this time,
Feeling into the sensation in your arms,
Noticing any differences between the arms and noticing any differences compared to before you started this,
Such as heaviness,
Tingling,
Or deep release in your arms.
On the next inhale,
Squeeze all the muscles starting at the left glute down past the thigh,
Knee,
Ankle,
And foot.
Place the toes towards you and lift the leg up two to six inches off the floor.
Hold all the muscles contracted and your breath for a count of five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Let the leg drop to the floor and exhale out your mouth.
Take one breath in here through the nose and out through the nose,
Feeling into the heaviness of your body.
You're doing a wonderful job.
Switching over to the other side,
Draw your attention to the right leg,
Squeezing all the muscles from the right glute down through the quad and calf,
Flexing the toes back as you continue to inhale and lift the right leg,
Squeezing and holding for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Let the right leg drop as you exhale out your mouth and observe how you feel now.
Do you feel different than you did at the beginning of the practice?
Let whatever comes through be welcomed in with compassion without any prejudgments.
Take one more breath here in and out through the nose before we move our focus to the core of the body.
From here,
On your next inhale,
Visualize squeezing the muscles throughout your abdomen,
Chest,
Shoulders,
Back,
Neck,
Scalp,
And face,
Aiming for your edge and holding the breath while squeezing everything for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Exhale out your mouth,
Releasing the contractions and feeling yourself melting down deep into the ground beneath you.
One more breath here on your own time,
Inhaling through the nose deeply and exhaling through the nose,
Letting gravity do the work for you as you melt into a deeper state of relaxation with every fiber of your being.
From this place of deep presence and peace,
You'll move into the silent meditation portion of this practice.
You may choose to focus upon the sinking and melting sensations in your limbs,
Head,
And torso,
Pulling your body and mind down,
Feeling into the space all around you and within you.
Or you can place your attention on the rise and fall of your breath in and out your nose or the rhythmic beating of your heart.
Know that you are held and you are safe in this timeless sacred space.
You are free to let go fully and completely.
If you're practicing before bedtime,
Allow yourself to follow your drowsiness into a soothing night of sleep.
I will ring a singing bowl to start the 10 minutes of the silent portion of our meditation and at the end to gently guide you back from the sweet space of surrender.
Softly,
Begin to stir yourself if you plan to awaken and move into the rest of your evening with a deep sense of calm and inner alignment.
Take a few deep breaths in through your nose and out through your nose at your own pace.
Draw your arms above your head,
Point your toes downwards as you take a juicy stretch in opposite directions.
Feel into the heartbeat in your chest.
Notice once more any differences at all between how you felt at the start of this practice and now.
Place your left hand over your heart,
Then your right and send waves of gratitude and unconditional love to yourself for choosing you,
For co-creating a beautiful shared space of sacred recovery and surrender,
A place of true release and a wonderful way to wind down for the evening.
Thank you dear friends once again for joining me today.
You may begin to blink your eyes open when you are ready and welcome yourselves back into the present moment of your surroundings.
You're welcome to come back to this practice as many times as you feel called.
I send you lots of love and light,
Dear ones.
May you have a wonderful night wherever you may be and remember no matter who you are nor where you are,
You always have the choice to breathe and ground.
Take care.
