Hello and welcome to this breathwork and meditation practice to unwind and relax.
If you've had a particularly long day,
If you're struggling to sleep or you find yourself stressed or anxious,
Let this be your tonic to come back to presence,
To find some spaciousness in your mind and body and to guide yourself towards relaxation.
So find yourself a comfortable space to be.
You can be sat down somewhere,
You can be walking,
You can relax laying down at home.
Either way see if you can bring some symmetry into your body.
If you're sat on a chair,
Uncross your legs so your feet are flat on the floor and rest your hands wherever they feel comfortable.
Bring some length to the back of your neck and if your shoulders or your neck are feeling particularly tight at this moment,
Take a moment to breathe into that.
Move intuitively,
Roll your shoulders,
Take a few stretches of your neck,
Bring space,
Unwind and then either partially close your eyelids or fully close your eyes depending on what you're comfortable with or where you are.
We'll begin with some breath work.
We're going to do two different exercises.
The first,
I just want you to sigh.
Sighing actually releases tension within the nervous system.
So we'll take three sighs,
Take a big inhale through your nose,
Exhale out through your mouth.
You can be louder than that if you like depending on where you are.
Inhale through your nose,
Exhale out through your mouth.
Really releasing your jaw as you exhale.
Last one,
Inhale through your nose and out through your mouth.
At the end of that exhale,
Feel as how soft your face feels,
How settled your body may feel,
Even if it's 1% more.
And whenever you're ready,
Just return to a natural rhythm of breathing in and out through your nose if that's possible for you today.
Our next exercise will involve counting the length of your inhale,
The length of the exhale.
We're going to inhale for a count of four,
Hold the breath for a count of two,
And then exhale for a count of eight.
So I'll count you through the first one,
After that we'll do four more on your own.
So on your next inhale,
Inhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold for two,
And then exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
And eight.
Take four more rounds in your own time,
Inhaling for a count of four,
Holding the breath for a count of two,
And then exhaling a slow smooth count of eight.
In your own time now.
At the end of your next exhale,
Return back to a natural rhythm of breathing.
No count,
No control,
No perfection.
Allow your body to breathe itself.
From here we'll move through a body scan type meditation,
Where I'll ask you to bring your attention and consciously relax different parts of your body.
If you struggle with the mind body connection,
Don't worry.
Just repeat the name of the body part I say in your mind.
For example,
If I say shoulders,
Say shoulders in your mind.
Begin by bringing your attention into the muscles of your face.
Notice expression,
Notice holding,
And see if you could just offer up relaxation.
Offer up the option to release.
Journey with your attention now down through your neck and shoulders,
Almost as if you're observing this space from the inside out,
And once again offer up the option of relaxation.
If you find that your shoulders are up by your ear somewhere,
And it's not with the intention of fixing by the way,
It's an invitation.
Inviting this body to relax when it's ready to.
Drop into the space of your chest,
Connecting to sensations around this part of the body,
And also maybe observing the area of the heart space from the inside out.
Softening tension,
Offering connection.
Journey downward through the torso into this space of the abdomen.
So noticing the muscles of the abdomen,
Noticing your belly,
Maybe also checking in with that space from the inside out.
Invite relaxation to this space where a lot of us store our anxiety or hold feelings and emotions.
Offer up some relaxation.
Disconnecting to parts of the body in this way is a very simple tonic for anxiety.
Bringing your mind away from future and into the presence of the body,
Building this connection.
Journey downward from here into the place of the hips.
If you're sat down,
Maybe checking with the feeling of support between your hips and your chair,
And scan your attention down through your legs,
One at a time or both together.
Noticing points of connection,
Noticing tension,
Noticing relaxation.
Arrive at your ankles and then notice your feet.
Bringing your attention to the tops of the feet,
Scanning your attention around the soles of each foot and noticing the connection between your feet and the floor.
And then scan your attention through all ten toes.
Also noticing any sensations within your feet.
Feel your whole body together,
Supported by whatever you're supported by,
Your chair,
The bed,
The floor and the earth beneath that.
Allow your body to be held here.
Allow yourself to sink just 1% more.
Allow the ground to take the weight of your day,
The weight of whatever's stressing you out at the moment.
And with that weight lifted,
You can just be here,
Even just for a moment.
Come back into your breathing.
Notice the natural rise and fall of the breath in your body.
Maybe noticing the rise and fall of your belly.
You might sense the breath more around your ribcage or chest.
Take some conscious,
Deep breaths.
And if you feel like you still need to let go of something,
Come back to that sigh we started with.
Take a few exhales out through your mouth and slowly start to bring some attention back to your body,
Maybe wriggling your fingers or your toes,
Maybe rolling your shoulders once again.
And if you are ready to move on with your day,
Gently start to open your eyes.
Thank you so much for taking this time to unwind and relax with me today.
I hope you found this practice helpful.
Enjoy the rest of your day and take care.
