And so to begin with,
I invite you to become aware of your breathing.
Notice your inhale and notice your exhale.
And there's no need to direct the breath to force the breath.
Don't purposefully breathe deeply,
Just notice how the body's naturally breathing.
It's common for many of us to inhale for longer than we exhale.
So just notice if that's the case when you're breathing.
Is the inhale longer than the exhale or is the exhale longer than the inhale?
Now for the next minute or so,
Making sure that your exhalation is longer than your inhalation.
And a good way of doing that is to do a little count and making sure that the exhale is about twice as long as your inhale.
So for instance,
If I was to do it,
I'd be breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Breathing out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Breathing out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
It's up to you what you count to and there's no need to be precise,
Just making sure that the out-breath is longer,
About twice as long as the in-breath.
So let me be quiet for a few moments and you can do this by yourself.
And making sure that we're keeping the body relaxed as we breathe.
Sometimes when we take deep breaths,
We can actually cause tension in the body,
Especially when we're breathing in.
So if we find that we're tense in the body on the in-breath,
Then maybe don't breathe so deeply,
Just relax the in-breath by maybe 10 or 20 percent.
And already we might be beginning to notice changes as we engage the parasympathetic wing of our nervous system,
The rest and digest nervous system.
And we do this through the relaxing practice of lengthening the out-breath.
If you like,
You can continue to do your long exhalations or you can allow your breathing to return to its natural rhythm.
It's up to you.
And we're now going to shift to a second way of relaxing the body,
Which is progressive relaxation of parts of your body.
So please follow my instructions.
Relax your left foot.
By the way,
You might change the instructions in your own mind or,
You know,
In your own words if it works better for you.
So you might say locate a space in your left foot or let go in your left foot or left foot,
Let go,
Whatever works best for you.
Relaxing your right foot.
Relaxing your left ankle.
Relaxing the right ankle.
Relaxing the left lower leg,
The calf,
The shin.
Relaxing the right lower leg.
Relaxing the left knee.
Relaxing the right knee.
Relaxing the left upper leg.
You might be noticing some feelings of warmth or tingles or pulses in the areas that we're relaxing.
Relaxing the right upper leg.
Relaxing your left hip.
Relaxing your right hip.
Keeping the breathing relaxed.
Relaxing your lower back.
Relaxing the middle of your back.
Relaxing the upper back,
The shoulder blades.
Moving around to the front of the body and relaxing the stomach.
Maybe feeling the relaxation on the out-breath.
Relaxing the chest.
Relaxing your left shoulder.
Relaxing your right shoulder.
Relaxing your left arm.
Relaxing the arm,
The elbow,
The wrist.
Relaxing your right arm.
Relaxing your left hand.
Relaxing your right hand.
Relaxing your neck,
The throat.
Relaxing the back of the head.
Relaxing the face,
The jaw,
The cheeks,
The eyes,
The forehead.
Relaxing the top of the head.
Noticing the whole body now becoming increasingly peaceful and tranquil,
The breath slowing down.
Maybe the heart rate is slowing down as well.
We're resting,
We're letting go of tension and we're allowing our body to find its equilibrium,
Its balance.
And at the same time we're remaining alert,
We're remaining awake and present as the body and the mind become increasingly relaxed and peaceful.
And as this practice comes to an end,
Knowing that you can come back here again,
This place of relaxation.
Notice what the body feels like.
Noticing what the mind feels like.
And hopefully the mind and body are feeling a little bit more relaxed.
Keeping your eyes closed,
I invite you to bring your awareness to sounds.
There's sounds inside the room,
There's sounds outside the room.
You can wiggle your fingers and toes,
Maybe have a little stretch if you need to.
And when you're ready you can crack open the eyes and come back to the room.
