Hello.
Let's take a few deep breaths together.
In and out.
And in again.
And out.
Now on this third breath,
When you take a deep breath in,
Make it as long of an in-breath as you can.
Inhaling up until you can't anymore.
And in.
And hold.
And hold as long as you can.
And when you release it out,
All out,
You can just let your eyes close down.
Relaxing down.
That's right.
Just settling in.
Just keep breathing out and relaxing down and down.
And as you're starting to completely and fully relax in,
Drifting down and settling in,
I'm going to count from five down to one.
And as I do,
You'll find yourself sinking deeper and deeper down and becoming more and more relaxed.
Number five.
Just noticing my voice as it carries you along,
Slowing down,
Deepening down,
Just feeling so relaxed and calm with the sound of my voice.
Just letting any sounds that you might hear just fade into the background.
Deeper down.
Number four.
Just allow yourself to sink into the experience,
Letting go of any of the events of the day.
Everything can just wait for you while you're here.
And when you return to your day,
You'll have a renewed energy and enthusiasm.
So you can enjoy being away for now.
A chance to refresh,
Refocus and relax down and down and letting go in your mind of any knowledge of the room that you're in.
Just letting go,
Letting it fade away down and down.
And number three,
It doesn't matter if you're most relaxed down during an even number or an odd or if it's in between the numbers when I'm speaking or when I'm quiet.
It doesn't matter if you notice it or not.
It doesn't matter if you notice it more physically or mentally or if different parts of you are more or less relaxed than others or if you are relaxed more or less.
You just let yourself sink down.
Just deeper down all into yourself.
Inner down.
Number two,
Even deeper now.
Just practice letting your whole body feel loose,
Limp and relaxed.
And with the next number you will be there deeply relaxed.
Number one,
All the way down now.
And you're doing just great.
Now for many of us we feel ourselves and our thoughts are one and the same.
I think therefore I am.
However,
From both a neuroscience and a spiritual perspective,
We know that this is actually not the case.
In fact,
The part of our brain that has meta awareness,
Who thinks about and understands ourselves as something is a specialized part of our brain.
And because we can think about our thoughts,
We know we are not them.
And you can also think about this as a soul or a spirit,
Whatever works and feels right for you.
And so this knowledge gives us a tremendous amount of power over our thoughts.
When we see them as something that happens,
Not something that is us.
We have more authority over them,
Because we can affect them and control them.
We're going to do a powerful process now that helps our subconscious to understand this on a deeper level.
And as a result,
We will strengthen our sense of self and reduce the power that our thoughts have over us.
I'd like you to imagine,
Pretend,
Feel or sense a fire.
Just take a moment to bring that to your mind in whatever way makes sense for you.
Maybe it's in a fireplace.
Maybe it's in a campfire in the woods,
By the water.
Maybe it's in a fire pit or maybe not.
Maybe it's in a place that's familiar to you.
Or maybe it's in a place that's completely unknown for you.
Or maybe this fire isn't even a campfire or a fireplace.
Maybe it's a candle,
A large burning flame of a candle.
Wherever it is,
Just take a moment to notice it.
Is it crackling and burning?
Just take a moment to notice where the fire is,
That it's completely safe and controlled.
Just make a note of anything that might be around,
Safely containing it so that it can't escape or cause any damage.
And as you notice it,
Just feel the warmth.
You might imagine,
Pretend or just sense it.
Maybe you might hear some sounds coming from the sparks and the flames of the fire crackling.
That soothing sound of fire.
And now bring your attention to the flames and notice what color they are.
Are they big and tall?
Or are they burning in numbers?
Are they blue or red or orange?
Take a moment to notice the sense of fire,
Wood burning,
Candle wax,
Anything that you might notice being in the air.
And just take a moment to notice how safe and calm and connected you feel to the fire.
This fire represents the essence of you,
Your inner self,
Burning bright.
Just spend a moment just imagining or sensing,
Pretending or feeling the flames.
Maybe you do something to stoke the fire,
Add some more wood.
You notice how it gets bigger and stronger.
Just feel how it feels to be around this fire of your own brightness,
Your own light,
Your own inner self.
There's no need to reflect on it except to notice its warmth and the light it gives off,
Its own light,
How it feels to be in the presence of it,
To feel safe,
Warm and calm.
Take a moment to notice that perimeter around the fire,
The way that the warmth and the light goes to a certain point beyond the fire,
Creating a wide perimeter of warmth and protection.
Just get a sense of yourself being within that wide perimeter,
Close to the fire but still safe.
And just note how it feels to be in the company of that warmth,
Of the light before it fades off into the darkness around you.
And as you experience that buffer,
That band of protection,
Just notice how any thoughts that you might be having just stay out of the way of this perimeter.
Just notice that they stay off in the darkness,
Just out of sight,
Out of reach of the fire's warmth and brightness.
You may not be consciously aware of what those thoughts are,
But just aware that you can feel those thoughts just staying outside the perimeter.
They're just there.
And if there's anything that comes forward,
Any thoughts that are kind of moving through as they get to the point of the warmth and the light,
They just kind of stay there.
Maybe they fade away.
Maybe they just hang out.
And you know that at some point if you need to return to those thoughts,
They'll be available to you.
But for now,
Allow them to just sit in the darkness as you bathe in the light and the warmth of the fire.
And if any thoughts do wander through,
You notice that they do so just like the smoke that's drifting.
They're drifting by,
Not anything to be too concerned about.
Perhaps you don't even know the contents of them.
You just allow them to pass and fade away.
Just take another moment to enjoy this feeling of being by the fire,
Letting any thoughts either stay just quietly in the darkness or float,
Float along by,
Float through,
Just allowing them.
And you'll find going forward that you're easily able to return to the image of the fire in your day-to-day life.
You'll notice more and more over time that you're able to let thoughts just drift like smoke.
And more and more of the time you find yourself connecting into the fire as your true self,
To seek calmness when you need to connect to your own inner wisdom.
You're easily able to recall the fire.
And it will be easy for you to connect back to this feeling of peace and calm as you recall this image of the fire in your mind.
And I wonder how powerful it will feel to be present with your thoughts instead of being overwhelmed by them,
To be able to notice them as separate,
Created by your mind,
To be considered but only as a small part of your thinking brain,
Something that you can let drift away or stay in the darkness when you want to connect with that bright warm burning flame of your inner self.
These thoughts are not the essence of you.
The fire and its brightness and its warmth are your essence.
And you carry this feeling with you and access it whenever you need.
As I count from one up to three,
Number one becoming more aware,
Getting a sense of the room that you're in in your mind.
Number two,
Just shifting in your chair or moving your fingers,
Just slowly coming back and becoming more alert.
And on three,
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes wide awake and alert,
Feeling better than before.
