Building Awareness,
Deepening Appreciation,
And Reducing Stress Deep Relaxation and Gratitude Practice Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation.
My name is Robin Albertson-Wren.
This session is a deep relaxation practice to allow yourself the chance to build awareness,
Deepen gratitude,
And to reduce stress,
Allowing your body and mind a time to rest,
Revive,
And reset.
Get comfortable.
Allow yourself to find a relaxed position,
Laying down horizontally on the floor or on your bed or perhaps sitting up.
You may want to cover yourself with a blanket,
Allowing yourself to settle in here.
With your next in-breath,
Bring your attention to the bottoms of your feet.
As you exhale slowly through your mouth,
Allow your feet to flop out to the side or cross one leg over the other.
As you inhale again through your nose,
Bring your awareness to your heels.
Notice how they are grounding you to the surface beneath you.
On your next in-breath,
Bring your attention to your ankles.
No need to shift or move anything.
Just bringing your awareness there.
Breathing in and bringing awareness to your shins and calves.
Perhaps aware of the texture of the surface beneath you.
Noticing the slight bend in your knees.
Bringing your attention to your quadriceps and thighs.
Perhaps becoming aware of the fabric of your own clothing.
Noticing the heaviness of your legs.
Allowing your hip bones to relax,
To feel heavy.
Taking a moment here just to acknowledge the work of your legs and feet.
Their ability to carry you to this moment today.
To bring you upstairs and downstairs.
Fast and slow.
Gratitude for your legs and feet.
Settling into your hips.
If you'd like,
On your next inhale,
Tighten the muscles in your feet,
Straightening your legs out long,
And then as you breathe out,
Letting all the muscles in your legs and feet relax.
Breathing in and tightening.
Breathing out and relaxing.
Again,
Inhale and then let go.
Bringing your focus to your core,
To your belly.
Noticing the movement of your belly as you breathe.
Bringing your awareness to your chest and lungs.
Noticing the rise and fall of your ribcage as you breathe in and out.
A moment here just to acknowledge all the internal workings of your body.
Your heart and lungs.
Your kidneys and intestines.
All working to keep you alive and functioning from moment to moment.
Without you even having to think about it.
Relaxing your shoulders,
Your shoulder blades.
Taking a moment to notice your backbone beneath you or behind you.
Taking a moment to be grateful for the way it's carried you about your day.
Allowing you to get from place to place,
To be vertical when you've needed to be.
To be horizontal when you've wanted to be.
Gratitude perhaps for all the neurological connections that have taken place along it.
Noticing the weight of your arms.
Bringing your attention to the back of your hands.
And to the palms of your hands.
And to each of your fingers.
And then,
If you'd like,
On your next inhale,
Tightening all the muscles in your torso.
Clenching your hands,
Squeezing your elbows in tight,
Shrugging your shoulders to your ears.
And then as you exhale,
Letting it all go.
Again,
Breathing in and tightening,
Holding,
And then breathing out.
Relaxing.
On your next inhale,
Tightening all your muscles from your shoulders down to your toes.
Holding here.
And then breathing out and releasing.
Drawing your awareness up to your neck and throat.
Taking a moment to swallow.
Relaxing your jaw.
Allowing your teeth to separate slightly.
And your tongue to float to the top of your mouth.
Bringing your attention to your nose.
Breathing in any fragrances or aromas around you.
Noticing the heaviness of your eyelids.
Tuning into sound in your ears.
Noticing sounds in the environment.
Tuning into the loudest sound.
The quietest.
Maybe even the sound of your own quiet breathing.
Perhaps experiencing a moment of gratitude for your ability to sense things.
To touch,
To taste,
To smell,
To listen.
Relaxing your forehead.
Imagining that you are smoothing out the wrinkles in your forehead with the back of your hand.
Bringing your attention to the top of your head.
Your scalp or hair.
To the back of your head.
Noticing where it is resting.
And then if you'd like,
Breathing in and tightening all the muscles in your face.
Squeezing your eyes tight.
Wrinkling your nose.
Clenching your teeth.
And then breathing out and letting go.
Inhaling and tightening your face and torso.
Holding for a moment.
And then breathing out and releasing.
And then finally inhaling and tightening all the muscles in your body from the top of your head down to the soles of your feet.
Exhaling and relaxing into your space.
Taking a moment to appreciate all the workings of your body.
At whatever level of health or fitness you may be in.
At this point of your day or week or athletic season.
Taking a moment to be grateful for the way your body was able to move and to adjust and to experience this particular relaxation practice.
Gratitude for all your complications.
All your challenges.
All your celebrations.
For they make you who you are.
Gratitude for your life.
Unfolding from moment to moment.
Relaxing into this space.
And into the sounds around you.
Allowing it all to wash over you.
Gratitude for right here.
Right now.
You may want to bring some movement into your fingers or toes.
Slowly rolling over to one side if you're lying down.
Taking in a deep inhale as you come to a seated position wherever you may be.
Perhaps keeping your eyelids closed for a moment.
Setting an intention for yourself.
An intention being a word or phrase to guide you.
Whether it be,
May I be happy.
Breathe.
Or,
Hey,
You've got this.
Whatever it is,
Tucking it away in your heart and your mind to carry with you into the days and the week ahead.
Thank you.
Thank you.
