Begin your meditation practice either sitting or lying down.
Make any adjustments so that you are as comfortable as you can be.
Now give yourself the permission to rest.
Focus your attention on letting go.
We start with a tension release exercise.
So let go of your breath and just exhale out and then take a long deep breath in.
Squeeze up the whole of your body as tight as you can.
Hold the breath in at the top and then exhale out.
A sigh,
Relax and let it all go.
Let's repeat.
A long deep breath in,
Closing the eyes,
Squeezing the face,
Fingers into palms,
Toes and feet tight.
Hold it and let it go.
And one final time.
Inhale and imagine you're squeezing right inside to your internal organs.
Breathing tight,
Tight,
Tighter and let it go.
Now be still.
Allow your eyes to gently close and your whole awareness to draw inwards.
The body breathes itself.
Perhaps just bring the lips together and breathe through the nose.
Don't try to control it.
Just let every breath happen naturally and just the way it should.
In a moment we will take a mindful journey around the body.
As we do,
Scan for any tightness,
Pain,
Tension or stress.
If you find anything uncomfortable in the body,
See if you can let that area soften,
Relax and bring it to a place of ease.
The attention right down the body to the toes and feet.
Relax and soften the toes and feet.
Next the ankles,
Lower legs,
Knees,
Upper legs and hips.
The legs release and are heavy in space.
Relax through the lower back and pelvis.
The mid back,
Waist and stomach.
The upper back,
Rib cage,
Chest and heart all let go and become soft.
Let the shoulders sink.
Bring the attention to the hands,
The fingers,
Thumbs,
Fingernails and thumbnails.
The wrists,
The lower arms,
Elbows,
Upper arms.
Back to the shoulders,
The blades sliding down each side of the spine.
Bring to the neck,
The throat,
Swallow once and relax the throat.
Relax the chin,
The jaw,
Inside the mouth,
The teeth,
A small gap between your upper and lower teeth,
The gums.
Let the tongue rest lightly in the roof of the mouth.
Lips stay soft.
The ears,
The cheeks,
The nose,
Eyeballs heavy in their sockets,
Lids and lashes rest.
Relax the temples.
Feel the eyebrows slide away.
The scalp,
The brain,
Soften and relax the brain.
Bring your attention to the wonderful little things around you right now.
The calm energy that you just created in this practice,
The private space of your home.
Think of loved ones and feel a smile lightly appear across your face.
Imagine flowers blossoming,
That sunlight trickling through the window,
A beautiful bright blue sky.
The beauty of nature.
Let all your thoughts slow down and rest on simple things.
As you sit here and spend a few moments breathing,
Just have a sense of letting go.
See if you can take this practice of letting go into the rest of your day.
