Hello and welcome.
To this practice for total body relaxation and recovery.
My name is Shanti and I will be your guide today.
This practice is perfect for anybody who wants to get their mind,
Their thoughts.
And their body,
Their sensations synchronized and back into the same present moment.
It's a perfect practice to guide you into a restful sleep.
So you can do this practice from anywhere where you can find a comfortable position lying down.
Be it your yoga mat,
The floor,
A carpet,
The couch.
Or if you're lucky,
The comfort of your own bed.
So whenever you're ready.
Find a comfortable position.
Get all the wiggles and the kinks out,
All the eagles and the giggles.
All the itches and the stitches.
All the edges and the stretches.
And then just start to.
.
.
Think into where you are.
If you feel comfortable closing your eyes,
Then close your eyes now.
Or let your gaze soften towards the ceiling above you.
Trying not to specifically notice anything.
Or look at anything specifically with their eyes if they're open.
But just allowing your awareness to.
.
.
Take notice.
But letting it focus inward.
Start by just noticing the breath.
The sensation of the inflow.
And the outflow.
The sensation along the nose as we inhale.
And the change as we exhale.
Just continuing breathing naturally.
I invite you to.
.
.
Gently bring the chin a little bit closer to the chest,
Finding an extension through the cervical spine.
So through the neck.
Maybe allowing the shoulders to release down towards the ground.
Crawling the shoulders underneath the back body and down towards the hips,
Opening the chest.
And then releasing.
Feeling the back sink into the surface beneath you.
Moving with the awareness through the hips,
Feeling the weight.
Of the sits bones.
Extending down through the legs,
Noticing the back of the thighs.
Touch and connect to the surface beneath you.
Allowing the legs to fall left and right.
Naturally as the bones want to from the hips.
No need to hold any tension,
No need to correct anything right now,
Just notice it.
The space beneath you solid.
Stable.
Secure.
And the space in front of you,
Above you,
Free and open.
And spacious.
Breathing into this openness.
And exhaling to ground into stability.
And calm.
Our practice today includes a progressive muscle relaxation.
So we'll start off by just bringing the awareness in through the left leg.
Noticing the toes,
Noticing the heel of the foot.
Noticing the position of the leg as it hangs from the hip.
And then we begin to extend through the left leg,
Engaging all of the muscles.
Along the foot,
So pulling the toes in towards the face,
Flexing through the heel of the foot.
Extending,
Extending,
Extending,
Feeling the thigh engage,
Feeling the calve lengthen.
Maybe the leg.
Floats above the ground and we hold it.
We extend,
We inhale deeply.
And with the exhale we let the leg release.
Letting it land.
Breathing naturally.
The left leg relaxes fully.
The left leg is fully relaxed.
We move with our awareness into the right leg.
Noticing it,
Feeling it.
Standing all the way down through the right leg,
Through the right foot,
Through the right toes.
Pulling the toes towards the face,
Extending the heel forward,
Engaging the thigh muscles.
Engaging the calf muscles,
Extending,
Extending,
Extending,
Feeling all the muscles in the right leg activate.
Extending so much so that the right leg hovers above the ground.
If it shakes,
Great.
We just hold,
We inhale.
And with the exhale we release,
Letting the leg drop.
Release onto the surface beneath you.
The right leg can now fully relax.
The right leg is fully relaxed.
Wandering now with our awareness to the pelvis.
To the hips,
To the thighs,
To the low belly.
The center space that carries so much potential.
Carries so much life.
We breathe into the space allowing the belly to grow.
And we exhale,
Allowing the hips to just gently broaden out.
And then we start to engage through the sits bones,
Through the hip muscles,
Squeezing the glutes together,
Squeezing.
Drawing the pubic bone in and up.
Feeling the tension in the low belly.
As we truly engage through the entire hip and pelvis area.
Maybe the hips hover two millimeters off the ground.
We're so fully engaged.
Inhale deeply here And with the exhale,
Release.
Landing on your mat.
Noticing the percussion of relaxation extending down from the hips into the legs,
Into the feet.
A rippling sensation of relaxation.
We start to draw the low belly in,
Starting to firm up through the.
.
.
Stomach area,
Through the torso,
Pulling the ribs in towards the centre.
Finding the stability through the chest,
Engaging the back body.
Squeezing the shoulders together and drawing them down.
Making the core muscles firm.
Inhaling and exhaling deeply here still.
It's noticing the muscles tense,
The strength that you carry in you.
And we inhale here deeply.
With the exhale,
We release.
Deep inhales allow expansion.
And deep slow exhales allow for relaxation.
And we wander with our attention down the left arm,
Into the left hand.
And we start to form a fist with the left hand,
Enclosing the left thumb inside the other fingers.
Pressing firmly into the left hand,
Making a fist.
Feeling the fist engage the lower arm.
Feeling the tension to extend up into the upper arm,
Into the bicep.
Feeling the power and the strength through the entire left arm,
Left hand,
Left shoulder now.
Letting it shake a little bit.
Breathing in.
With an exhale,
Release,
Opening the hand,
Letting the arm relax.
Letting the tension subside.
Letting the blood flow.
Letting tension go.
Wandering from the left shoulder across the chest to the right shoulder.
Down the right arm,
Right forearm,
Right hand.
And then we start to enclose the right thumb inside the right fingers,
Forming a fist with the right hand.
Finding some squeeze.
Compression through the right hand engages the forearm.
Engaging the right upper arm,
The bicep,
The tricep.
Tension builds into the shoulder.
Progressively.
Becoming more active through the right arm.
Letting it shake a little bit,
Feeling the tension,
The activation.
We inhale.
And with an exhale,
Release.
Letting the arm land.
Letting the tension dissipate.
Into the openness.
Moving along.
Over the chest,
Up the neck.
Over the face.
Taking the awareness to the highest point,
To the tip of the nose.
And we slowly start to pull.
All of our boundaries towards the tip of the nose.
Pulling the lips together,
Drawing the eyes together.
Frowning the face.
Frowning the eyes,
Frowning the cheeks.
Even trying to pull the ears up towards the nose.
Squeezing the face together Like you ate something very sour.
Inhale here.
With an exhale,
Let the face melt.
Let the tension release.
Let it drain out of your eyes.
That it's smoothing across your forehead.
One more time we will engage the entire body.
Starting with the hands,
Forming them to fist.
Then extending long through the legs,
Through the heels,
Pulling the toes towards the face.
We extend long through the left foot.
Long through the right leg.
So much so through the legs that the heels press into the ground.
Got the arms and the hands and fists and the arms activated.
And from these extremities we move towards the centre.
Drawing the face together,
Squeezing all of the facial muscles to the tip of the nose.
The arms are strong,
Squeezing the shoulders together on the back body,
Pressing with the elbows against the floor,
Lifting the chest.
Letting the ribs sink to center,
Engaging the stomach muscles.
Squeezing the glutes,
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze the glutes so tight that they hover off the ground,
Full body engagement.
We inhale here.
And with the exhale,
We release.
Letting the body land.
Drop for drop.
Allowing the tension.
To ooze out of your system.
To release.
And to trust the ground beneath you as it grows up to meet you.
And hold you.
Notice the inhales as they allow your body to expand.
And the exhales as they allow you to relax.
And sink just a little bit deeper.
Continue breathing fully and wholly.
And with each inhale,
We feel the openness,
We feel the space.
With every exhale,
Release more of the tension.
Allowing the body to come into a full experience of relaxation.
Stay here for as long as you need.
If you're using this practice to go to sleep.
And continue breathing deeply.
Until you naturally drift off.
Be well,
My friend.
