Stress Relief

A meditation to help you release any stress in the body with guided visualization and some silent time to slow the mind. Each phase of the meditation has been curated to bring you to a place of peace and contentment.

An easy, enjoyable, and effortless way to meditate to help you commit to a regular meditation practice.

With love, Vicki

Transcript

Hello my name is Vicki and I will be guiding you through a 30 minute visualization meditation sequence today.

If you haven't already disabled notifications and vibrations on your phone or any of your devices please do so now.

Getting nice and comfortable in your chair now,

Remembering you can adjust your position at any time during the meditation so that you are always remaining comfortable.

Making sure your back is supported and your head is unsupported as your head may want to move during your meditation.

Close your eyes now.

Take a nice big sigh out.

Allow yourself to arrive in your space and acknowledge what it has taken for you to be here today.

Noticing yourself drawing inwards and becoming aware of how you are feeling.

Noticing any emotions or thoughts that may be swirling around your body.

Just noticing them,

Allowing them to be there and accepting them as they are.

Letting go of any expectations you may have about this meditation.

Not trying to force or achieve any outcomes.

Trusting your body intuitively knows what it needs today.

Start by tuning into the natural rhythm of your breath.

Not trying to change it in any way,

Just noticing as it is.

Gently guiding your breath down into your belly,

Feeling your belly rising with each inhale and falling with each exhale.

And now starting to lengthen your exhale so that it becomes longer than the inhale.

Without the need to be precise,

Simply setting an intention to have your exhale longer,

Even just slightly.

You're not straining in any way,

You're not exhaling to the point of discomfort,

Just a slightly longer exhale than your inhale.

With each lengthened exhale,

Feeling your body softening,

Loosening and sinking into the chair.

You may wish to pause slightly in between each inhale and exhale.

Imagining any excess tension dissipating with each lengthened exhale.

Breathing this way engages our diaphragm,

Which is a powerful way of activating our parasympathetic nervous system,

Which naturally relaxes the body.

The aim of meditation is not to think of nothing.

We are not trying to have a still mind or stop our thoughts from arising.

Our goal is to allow the nervous system to de-excite all on its own,

In the way it knows how.

We do this by following the simple process of effortless meditation.

We rest our awareness very gently on our anchor,

Which right now is our breath,

But it will change throughout the meditation.

We allow our awareness to naturally drift away from our anchor,

As it will many,

Many times.

And then whenever we happen to realize where we are and what we're doing,

That's when we choose to very gently come back to our anchor.

Whenever you happen to realize that your awareness is no longer on your anchor,

That it's drifted off into a stream of thoughts,

Remembering this is a normal,

Natural,

Important part of the meditation process.

So not letting it concern you,

And then gently giving preference back to your anchor.

Remembering there is no good or bad meditation.

We only observe the effects of the meditation in our everyday life.

On your next exhale,

Allowing your breath to return to its natural rhythm.

Using your mind,

I invite you now to scan your body,

Noticing any built-up tension as you go along,

And releasing it in the process.

Starting at the top of your body,

Gently resting your awareness on the top of your head.

Relaxing the muscles in your scalp,

Relaxing the muscles in your forehead,

Relaxing all the muscles around your eyes,

Relaxing your cheeks,

Your lips,

And your jaw.

Feeling any tension releasing with your exhale,

Imagining it flowing out of your body.

Moving down to your neck,

Noticing any tightness or tension.

Feeling any tension releasing with your exhale,

Imagining it flowing out of your body.

Noticing the whole of your head,

Your face,

And your neck.

Feeling more relaxed.

Moving down to your shoulders,

Noticing any tension.

Imagining your shoulders dropping into your lap.

Imagining little bubbles of tension rising to the top of your shoulders and gently floating away.

Imagining a gentle flow of energy flowing down each arm and releasing through the tips of your fingers.

Moving your awareness down to your chest,

Noticing any tension in this area,

And as you are exhaling,

Imagining the tension leaving the body on the exhale.

Noticing your belly,

Noticing the rise and fall of your belly,

Releasing any tension held there with your exhale.

Moving to your spine,

Your shoulder blades,

And lower back.

Noticing any tension held in your back.

Feeling any tension releasing with your exhale,

Imagining it flowing out of your body.

Moving to your thighs,

Your knees,

Your calves,

Your shins,

And your ankles.

Noticing any tension held in your legs.

Feeling any tension releasing with your exhale,

Imagining it flowing out of your body.

Moving your awareness now to the soles of your feet and your toes,

Resting them on the floor,

Imagining any tension flowing out through the toes and gently floating away.

Resting your awareness now on the whole of your body once more,

Starting at the top of your head to the tips of your toes.

Noticing any differences in how you are feeling.

Feeling any tension releasing with your breath and perhaps with an audible sigh on the exhale.

I invite you now to visualize a scene where you are floating on a soft,

Fluffy cloud,

High in the sky,

And imagining the sensations of drifting in the breeze.

Sensing the air around you while you are floating,

Drifting along,

Feeling at ease.

Noticing the air as it lightly brushes against the skin on your face and body and feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin.

Observing any tension you may be holding on to and noticing it easily and lazily drifting away with the breeze,

Feeling relaxed and at ease.

Observing the landscape as you are floating high above the ground,

Noticing the colors and the shapes on the horizon.

Becoming aware of any sounds around you,

Resting your awareness on these sounds.

Are they birds or wind or perhaps something else?

Noticing the sounds near you,

Noticing the sounds far away in the distance.

Observing any sensations as the whole of your body is gently sinking into the softness of the cloud,

Drifting easily and effortlessly,

Slowly and gently moving through the sky.

Guiding your cloud now effortlessly and easily,

Beginning your descent,

Down,

Down.

Observing your cloud gently landing on the ground,

Perhaps recognizing your landing place as your favorite place in the world.

Allowing yourself some time to enjoy this special place and allowing any feelings of peace and joy to come bubbling up as you are remembering happy times or maybe enjoying the peace you are feeling in this moment.

I invite you now to rest your awareness on a mantra as an anchor.

A mantra is an inner sound that you gently repeat inside your mind.

You might like to use the sound SO HUM,

SO HUM or you might prefer the sound SO MA,

SO MA.

You might have a different sound you have been given or chosen for yourself previously.

You're just sinking the sound in your mind in an easy,

Gentle,

Effortless way.

Repeating your sound in the same easy,

Effortless way that you sink any other thought.

Thoughts may naturally and spontaneously enter your mind using no effort whatsoever.

That's the same way you sink your mantra,

Almost allowing it to generate itself.

Allowing the repetition of your mantra to take up its own rhythm and its own speed.

It might get faster or slower,

Longer or shorter,

Louder or softer.

The pronunciation might change altogether.

You're not controlling or interfering with it in any way,

Just allowing it to morph and change as it pleases.

Allowing your thoughts and emotions to come and go are an integral part of effortless meditation.

Resting your awareness back on your anchor whenever you realise it is not there.

It's a simple process you are allowing to unfold in its own time,

At its own pace.

Easily,

Lazily,

Gently drifting back to your anchor again.

There's nowhere you're trying to get to,

There's no state you're trying to achieve.

I invite you now to let go of your anchor,

Releasing your breath and allowing yourself to rest for the next two minutes.

Allowing this meditation to seep into your being.

You may want to change your position or stay as you are.

Allowing the thoughts and emotions to pass through you,

Allowing yourself to simply be in this moment.

Nothing to do but rest.

I will keep the time and let you know when it's time to come back.

Gradually beginning to deepen your breath,

Becoming aware of your body,

Becoming aware of the chair beneath you.

Taking your time,

Bringing yourself back to an awareness of your surroundings.

Keeping your eyes closed for a little while longer and in your own time,

Moving your fingers and your toes.

Gently moving the whole of your body,

Stretching it out in whatever way feels good.

And so,

Noticing how you are feeling and maybe setting an intention to carry those feelings with you for the rest of your day.

Very gently,

Taking your time,

Opening your eyes and giving yourself thanks for the time you spent in meditation today.