Body scan.
For now.
All we're going to do is just be aware of where we are.
Just noticing where we are right now.
And perhaps taking three deep belly breaths to settle our body and mind.
Then becoming aware of the space behind the neck.
Feeling the length of the spine in our back.
And noticing the weight of our hips seated within our body.
Feeling the legs touch the ground,
Chair or bed.
And the arms hanging or placed wherever they are.
Bringing the attention to the texture of our clothes or blankets touching the skin.
Notice how the muscles feel,
Like they could just melt away into the face of the earth.
And sensing the space around the body,
The physical edges of ourselves,
The boundary of our being.
Where do we start?
And where do we end?
Just tuning into any feelings we might have in this moment.
Not needing to change or do anything about them,
Just being aware of how we feel right now.
And lastly,
In our own way,
Feeling the connection to the earth and the support we gain from it.
Activating affirmation.
Let's do an affirmation that activates our potential for astral projection now.
You don't need to do anything,
Just listen and feel my words.
Today I activate my innate ability to astral project.
I give myself permission to do this soul expanding practice.
I hear the call to elevate into wider dimensions of myself and the world.
I embrace this with courage and curiosity.
I am willing to explore new places.
Far beyond my physical body,
Far beyond the boundaries of my own mind,
Far beyond any concept of limitation.
I am ready for challenge and transformation.
In this moment,
I allow a door to open within me to new worlds and new possibilities.
And I welcome in the guidance of the highest truth to aid this new adventure.
I do this from a place of love and compassion.
For the benefit of all beings.
Let's set an intention here.
For the mind to be awake and aware and for the body to become completely relaxed.
And maybe we could bring our personal motivation to mind.
Our purpose.
Our reason why we are practicing astral projection.
We allow our intention and our motivation to drop into our awareness like a pebble sinking in water.
In a moment,
We are going to tense each part of our body using our muscles from feet to head.
Holding each limb for a few seconds.
We do not tense any place where we feel pain or have an injury.
Instead,
We might like to scan our awareness over this area.
Let's tense as strongly as we can for maximum relaxation effect.
So we're going to begin by squeezing our feet.
Now,
Curling the toes,
Squeezing the feet,
Squeezing the feet,
Using our muscles as much as we can and relax.
Great start.
It's as easy as that.
Now let's move on to the next limb.
Next we are going to the lower leg below the knee,
Our calf area.
So tensing the lower leg now.
Tensing,
Tensing,
Tensing and completely relax.
Allowing any remaining tension to dissolve away into the ether.
Next we are going to move to our upper leg,
Our thighs.
So flexing the upper leg as much as we can,
Flexing,
Flexing,
Flexing and release your thighs.
Letting the muscles melt into a soft goo.
Very good.
Now we are moving onto our hips and bottom,
Clenching our muscles here,
Drawing everything in,
Holding it,
Holding it,
Holding it,
And let go.
Allowing the hips and bottom to soften on the inside and out.
Next we are going to move to our chest and stomach.
Can we tense both of these together?
Give it a go.
Tensing here now.
Tensing.
Tensing.
Tensing.
And completely relax everything.
Letting the muscles lift away,
Floating softly where they are.
Now,
Let's move on to our arms.
Both the upper and lower arm at the same time.
Squeezing the muscles here as much as we can now.
Squeezing,
Squeezing them.
Yes,
That's it.
Little bit more and relax.
Let the arms fall limp at the sides or wherever they are.
Next,
We're moving to our hands and fingers,
Clenching the hand into a fist as though we are gripping onto something.
Clenching them here now,
Clenching,
Clenching,
Clenching and release.
Let the fingers uncurl and return to their natural position.
Now we're moving on to our shoulders.
Lifting the shoulders up to the ears and tensing here as much as we can.
Lifting,
Lifting,
Lifting up and dropping the shoulders back down,
Allowing them to return to their position.
Next,
We're going to move on to our face.
Keeping the eyes closed,
Let's see if we can lift our eyebrows as high as we can.
Lift in the eyebrows to wrinkle the forehead now.
Lifting,
Lifting,
Lifting and let them go.
Allowing them to drop back down but keeping their eyes closed.
Now,
We're moving to our eyes.
Keep them closed,
But scrunch them tight shut.
Holding them here,
Scrunching,
Scrunching,
Scrunching,
And release.
Let your eyes soften and float where they are,
In the sockets.
Next,
We're moving on to our lips,
Our cheeks and our jaw.
Let's tense these areas by pulling a grumpy face,
Like we're trying to reach our chin to our forehead.
Reaching,
Reaching,
Reaching and relax.
Relax all the facial muscles now,
Including the jaw.
We might like to let the jaw hang freely.
Open slightly and maybe even peel the tongue away from the roof of the mouth,
Encouraging this whole area to gently soften.
And finally,
After my count of three,
We're going to tense all the body parts,
Everything at once,
As best we can.
Ready?
One.
Too.
Three,
Squeezing the feet,
Legs,
Hips,
Belly,
Chest,
Arm,
Hands,
Shoulders,
Face all together now.
One last time,
As much as we can.
Hold it here,
We're doing great.
Tensing,
Tensing,
Tensing,
And completely relax.
Relax every fibre in our being,
Which becomes lighter and lighter.
Muscles dissolve away like they are melting into the face of the earth.
Four,
Seven,
Eight,
Breath.
Leaving the awareness of the body now.
Let's shift our attention to our breath.
The inhale and the exhale.
Becoming aware of how the air passes through the nose or mouth and the rise and fall of the chest.
In a moment we will do a breathing exercise called the 478 breath.
Is a breathing pattern developed by Dr.
Andrew Weil which is based on an ancient yogic technique called Pranayama.
Is scientifically proven to deeply relax and replenish the body,
Switching on our parasympathetic nervous system,
Helping us to rest and digest.
This method involves breathing in for four through the nose.
Holding for seven and releasing out for eight through the mouth.
I will guide this for a few minutes.
Don't worry too much about reaching these numbers,
Just do what you can.
Okay,
Let's begin after our next exhale.
Exhaling now.
And breathing in for 1,
2,
3,
4.
Holding here.
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Slowly reach out.
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Deep breath in.
2,
3,
Four,
Holding if we can.
Two.
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Releasing the breath.
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
A big breath in,
Filling the breath into all the bones.
3,
4,
Holding.
1,
2,
Two,
3.
Boo.
5.
Six,
Seven,
Squeezing out all the drops of air if we can.
2.
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Big belly breath in.
3,
4 and holding.
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
Slowly release out,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
Breathing in,
3,
4,
Holding here,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
Slowly release out,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
Last time now,
3,
4,
Holding here,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Squeezing out all the air.
Let's see if we can go past 8 now.
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Pushing out the remaining bits of the breath.
And allow your breath to return to its natural pace.
Circle of Allies Let's now call on our Circle of Allies,
An exercise in which we invite a gathering of fearless and loving protectors to join our journey.
Who might our allies be?
Anyone or anything that offers us a feeling of love.
Safety,
Allegiance and protection.
Our protectors can be living or dead,
Real or unreal,
Known or unknown,
Such as friends,
Family,
Ancestors,
Animals,
Deities or spirit guides.
We can decide on and invite in which ones we're going to call on.
Now.
Imagine that your allies are surrounding you.
You might like to imagine four principal allies standing to the north,
South,
East and west of you.
Feel free to fill in the gaps with as many others as you like so that you're surrounded by love and protection.
Knowing that your circle of allies will remain with you and that you can call on them whenever you wish,
Let's release the visualisation of them now.
Hypnagogic Mindfulness.
Nowhere to go now,
Nothing to do,
Just wrath.
Drifting in our own time into the hypnagogic state.
With each out breath,
We relax deeper and deeper into a wider awareness.
Leaving any remaining bodily sensations behind for now.
Remembering,
You can come back to the body at any time.
But for now,
Letting it go.
Completely relaxed,
Completely supported and completely safe.
Notice how relaxed you feel and how good it is to be this relaxed.
Your mind aware,
Your body weightless,
Falling fast asleep.
Staying mindfully aware whilst your body lies in space.
Maintaining that soft awareness,
Allow your focus now to dissolve away any sensations with the physical body.
Completely relaxed.
Completely supported.
Completely safe.
Dropping deeper and deeper into a relaxed state.
Like you're floating on a perfect cloud made just for you.
Although you're deeply relaxed and maybe quite drowsy,
I invite you to stay fully aware,
Letting go of the body but staying mindfully aware and awake.
Remembering you can come back at any time.
But for now.
.
.
Let your mind settle on a sense of mindful awareness.
Maintaining that soft awareness,
Focus on dissolving away any remaining sensations linked with the body.
We might like to let this go on the out breath.
With this out breath,
We drop deeper and deeper into a relaxed state.
And if we think we're fully relaxed,
Let's encourage ourselves to let go even more.
Tell yourself it's time to let go.
It's safe to let go.
If your mind drifts off,
You can just anchor it back to the black or greyness behind your eyes,
Or anything you can see or sense in your awareness.
And pay attention to any imagery that might appear,
Sounds we might hear or feelings we might have.
Not needing to judge or interpret what happens,
Just noticing.
And if we notice nothing,
That's okay too.
We're like a calm observer being aware of where we are.
If your thoughts are drifting to the past or the future or getting distracted by outside sounds or anything else,
That's okay.
Just bring it back to whatever you can see or sense in your awareness.
For the next couple of minutes,
Allow yourself to drop deeply into the hypnagogic state.
As you drift into a deep altered state,
You might like to ask yourself,
What can I see Notice what you see.
What can I hear?
Notice what you hear.
What can I feel?
Notice what you feel.
Do this as many times as you wish,
Or simply notice what's happening in your awareness.
I'll see you when you get back.
