Welcome to this practice for restoring your energy and supporting burnout recovery.
I am your guide and I will shortly be taking you through a sequence that will deeply massage your mind body and soothe the nervous system so that your body can balance the energy channels which might be out of balance at the moment.
This practice has been specifically designed to rewire the neural pathways in your brain so that you have better access to this state of energetic balance within your waking life.
But before we start,
I would like to invite you to subscribe so that you get early access to my new yoga nidra and somatic rest practices.
Make yourself comfortable now and take a few moments to move into a position that feels restful and cosy.
Notice if there is any tension or discomfort that you are accepting and see if you can make a small movement to just make yourself more comfortable.
And whenever you're ready,
Close down the eyes,
Or if that feels uncomfortable,
Which it might,
You can take a soft gaze and focus your attention inwards.
Imagine your lungs are actually beautiful golden bellows,
And on your next inhale,
The bellows expand.
And then when you exhale,
Exhale out three powerful but comfortable parts,
Almost like you're making bubbles with a straw,
Or blowing air out of bellows.
As you exhale in three parts,
Imagine that the bellows are pushing any stagnant air particles that have been weighing you down.
Breathe this way one more time,
Imagining on the inhale that the bellows in your chest are opening.
And then make a three part exhale,
Exhaling all the stagnant energy,
Pushing the stagnant energy out with the air.
And now allow your breath to take whatever shape it needs to take,
And relax down,
Noticing how you feel after expelling this stagnant energy.
Take a moment to notice your face and any areas of expression that you're holding in your face.
Consciously relax down the face now.
Notice your tongue position and relax it back,
Allowing your jaw to part slightly.
And now expand your awareness out from your face and into the rest of your body.
Take a few moments to settle your awareness here,
Simply noticing the quality of the sensations within your body.
Allow your body to give you a guided tour of the sensations here.
You don't need to make any effort,
Just watch as your body reveals these sensations.
Identify these sensations with descriptive words.
You may feel tightening in one area,
Or spaciousness or restlessness in another.
Without trying to change anything,
Simply label these sensations,
But allow them to be just as they are.
The sensations you're feeling are simply messages for you to notice and to be aware of to help you build the picture of the nervous system state that you're in,
And how your body is responding to feeling burnt out.
So just notice these sensations that are drawing your attention without judgement and be open to hearing the messages your body is sending you.
And now drift your attention to where you feel the breath in your body.
Without changing anything,
Just notice.
It may be your chest,
Or your nostrils,
Or your stomach.
Rest here with the sensation of your body being breathed,
Allowing your natural breath and rhythm of breath to take its shape on its own.
With your attention still placed on the breath,
Count your breath down from 5.
In your own time,
Inhale 5,
Exhale 5,
Inhale 4,
Exhale 4.
And now drift your focus away from your breath and into your mind's eye.
And visualize placing whatever expectations you have for yourself or for your practice,
Putting them aside in whatever way feels intuitive for you.
You may see yourself gathering them all up,
Or simply watching the words move to the side as you bring your expectations to mind.
Whatever feels most intuitive for you.
And make a vow to your mind-body that for the duration of this practice,
You will release all expectation of how you should feel.
And vow to allow your mind-body to integrate in whatever way it needs to today.
No two practices are the same,
Some days you'll feel differently to other days,
And that is okay.
Whatever your mind and body need to integrate,
Today is okay.
You are simply providing that space as you rest here deeply in stillness.
So in whatever way that feels intuitive in your own words,
In your mind,
Think of your body,
Your mind,
Your body,
Your mind,
Words.
In your mind,
Think of your vow to your mind-body to release these expectations.
This could simply be,
I release the expectations for myself today,
And allow my mind-body to recharge in whatever way it needs to.
Now you have your vow,
Ask yourself the question,
What has led me to this practice today?
What has led me to this practice today?
What has led me to this practice today?
You may have received an answer of words,
Or even just a sense of what you need.
This is your sankalpa or intention for the practice.
Translate this now to a supportive I or I am statement,
For example,
I am regenerating and balancing my energy.
Repeat this in your mind's eye one more time,
Really feeling the energy behind your intention,
Allowing the words to represent the intention that is beyond language,
Beyond words.
And now rest your attention at your third eye centre,
At your third eye centre,
Between your eyebrows,
And feel your sankalpa absorbing here,
Moving through from your third eye centre into your whole body,
Saturating your whole being.
Your intention is like a pebble being dropped into a calm lake,
Floating to the bottom,
Being accepted by the lake.
Your body is the lake and is holding space for this pebble of intention,
Surrounded by all the other pebbles and calm waters.
So really feel your whole being accepting this pebble of intention,
And carrying it through to realisation.
Release that now and rotate your consciousness around each body part that I name,
Placing attention on the different sensations and energy moving through each part.
So focus your attention first on the crown of the head,
Noticing the crown of your head and all the sensations and vibrations you feel here.
Now drift to the forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Space between the eyebrows,
Left eyebrow,
Your right eye,
Feeling it relax back and now your left eye and eyelids together,
Your right ear,
The space between your ears,
The left ear,
Your right ear,
Feel the air moving through your right nostril and sense into the quality of the air as you breathe in and out through your right nostril and now your left nostril,
Your left nostril,
Breathing in and out,
Really noticing the temperature of the air moving through your nostril,
Both cheeks,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Space between the lips,
The chin,
Inside of the mouth,
The middle of the throat,
The base of the throat,
Noticing the middle of the chest,
And feeling the rhythmic sensation of your heart here at the middle of your chest.
Drifting now to the right collarbone,
The shoulder on your right arm,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
The palm of your hand,
Feel each finger on the palm of your right hand,
And now drift your attention over to your right waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
The calf,
Your right ankle,
Your right foot,
Top of your right foot and the bottom of your right foot,
And each toe extending from your right foot,
Feeling any sensations here.
Now imagine that you could send your next inhale from the bottom of your right foot all the way up the right side of your body,
Saturating the right side of your body with an inhale of energy,
And on your exhale feel the energy exhaling all the way down your right side of your body and back out through the sole of your foot.
Inhale from the bottom of your right foot one more time,
All the way up to the top of your head on the right side of your body,
Feel it exhaling all the way back down again.
Feel as your body becomes alive with sensation on the right side.
Now notice your ankle,
Your right knee,
Right hip,
Waist,
Each finger extending from the palm of your right hand.
Notice the palm of your right hand,
Forearm,
Elbow,
The upper arm,
Shoulder,
Right collarbone,
The middle of your chest now,
And over to the left collarbone,
Left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Forearm,
Wrist,
The palm of your hand,
And each finger extending from the palm of your left hand,
Feeling each finger together as one.
Drift your attention now to the left side of your waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Your left foot top and bottom,
And each toe extending from the left foot.
Imagine now you could send your next inhale from the bottom of your left foot,
All the way up the left side of your body,
Saturating the left body with an inhale of energy,
And then on the exhale,
Feel the exhale moving back down the left side of your body and out your left foot.
Repeat this once more,
Inhaling through the sole of your left foot,
All the way up through the left body,
And then exhale the energy back down and out the sole of your foot.
Now sense the left ankle,
Knee,
Hip,
Waist,
Each finger on your left hand,
The palm of your hand,
The palm of your left hand,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
The left collarbone,
The middle of the chest,
And now imagine on your inhale,
Inhaling from the sole of your left foot,
All the way up to the top of your body,
And exhale back down the right side of your body and out through the sole of your right foot,
Allowing the energy to balance through both sides as you inhale through your left foot,
Up to the top of your head,
And exhale back down the right side of your body,
Saturated with energy,
And out through the sole of your right foot,
And now inhale through the right foot,
All the way up to the top of your head,
And exhale down the left side,
All the way down to the sole of your left foot,
And exhale down the right side,
All the way down to the sole of your left foot,
Repeat this one more time,
Inhaling through the sole of your right foot,
All the way up to the top of your head,
And when the breath reaches the top,
Exhale back down through the left side of your body,
All the way through,
Right down and out of your left foot,
Now notice the sensations in the middle of your throat,
Centre of the throat,
The inside of the mouth,
Both lips,
Right cheek,
Your left cheek,
Both nostrils together,
Feeling the sensations in both nostrils,
Your right ear,
The space between the ears,
Your left ear,
Both eyes together,
Feeling them relaxed in their sockets,
Both eyebrows,
The eyebrow centre,
Forehead,
And now the top of your head,
Place your awareness now on your third eye centre in the centre of your brows,
Tuning into any sensation or experience this space is offering as you rest deeply here in complete stillness,
Allow any thoughts that drift into your frame of consciousness to drift by as you notice them,
Imagine each thought is like beautiful fish drifting past you in the sea,
They've got your attention but you simply watch with curiosity as they drift on by,
As you gently drift your attention back to the beautiful sea of consciousness that is deep rest,
Allow yourself to focus back into your third eye centre,
Now bring to your frame of consciousness a feeling of weightlessness,
Like you're floating in a cool calm lake,
Allowing the water element to neutralise any heat in your body,
Allowing this to cleanse your being,
You're floating weightless,
Imagine you're looking up at the twinkling stars in the night sky,
Becoming aware of the vastness of space between you and the solar system,
Feel your body being supported by your breath as you breathe in and out feeling weightless and light,
Imagine feeling so light and free that you could float all the way up to the stars like a feather,
Allow the air element to lift you up as you're supported by the breath,
To feel the interconnectedness that you have with the entire solar system,
Allow your breath to support your body as light as a feather,
Feel into a sense of freedom as you bring in this lightness,
And now bring your awareness back to the grounding earth element,
Allow the feeling of heaviness to support your whole body,
Allow the earth element beneath you to cradle your heavy body as you rest here so deeply,
Allowing your body to become heavier,
You are supported by the grounding energy of the earth beneath you,
Allow yourself to rest deeper in stillness as you're supported by the earth,
As you feel this sense of grounding and heaviness,
Bring in a sense of lightness and weightlessness so that you're holding both grounded heaviness and the freedom of lightness together,
Just imagining that you could hold these states together,
Release that now and feel into the restful experience that you have created for yourself as you rest here deeply,
Allow any sensations to come and go as you rest here deeply,
Basking in the ease of deep rest,
As you allow yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment,
Your true self connected with the grounding energy of the earth,
And now bring back your sankalpa,
Your reason for practicing today,
Your intention,
And allow it to float in your frame of consciousness as you remember the phrase or the reason that you're here,
And feel into the gratitude to yourself for taking your intention and creating this experience of deep rest for yourself,
Whisper in your mind's eye thank you to yourself,
Allow yourself to feel the gratitude within your body,
You may feel it in your heart space,
You may feel it as just an openness in your entire body as your body receives the thanks that you're providing it,
And in your mind's eye,
With your eyes still closed,
Begin to imagine the room around you,
Trace your environment within your mind's eye,
And now build a sense of where you are in relation to other elements in your environment,
And focus back in on the sounds around you,
Take a deep breath through your nose,
With the purpose of seeing what smells you can pick up as you take this deep breath in through your nose,
Now bring one of your fingers to your thumb and gently but rhythmically tap your finger and thumb together,
As you're doing this become aware of this relaxed state that you have created for yourself,
This tapping is an anchor that rewires your brain to bring back a sense of relaxation whenever you tap your finger and thumb together,
So you can have access to this state whenever you need to take a break and recover from burnout,
May require a few sessions to fully rewire the neurons in your brain to associate the tapping with your relaxed regulated nervous system state,
Gently make some more movements now,
Releasing the tapping,
Moving in whichever way feels most wakeful for you,
Slowly take your time to adjust back into your day,
And whenever you're ready open your eyes and allow yourself to be awake and present,
I hope that you have enjoyed this practice today,
And if you'd like to connect with me in the comments I would love to know where you're practicing from today and how you found this practice,
So drop a comment with a thank you from your country and I'm looking forward to seeing where everyone is practicing from today,
And if you haven't already I'd like to invite you to subscribe,
As each subscriber moves me closer to my goal of sharing these life-changing practices with people who need them all over the world,
Deep rest and somatic rest is really transformational and it's a skill that once you've practiced and honed you can have this for the rest of your life,
And I really enjoy sharing this with everyone and allowing people the opportunity to become more connected to themselves and their bodies,
Thank you for practicing with me today and I hope you come back soon to practice here on the wellness words.
