Welcome to this guided breathwork practice for deep rest.
Ideally this practice can be done at the end of the day when you are preparing for sleep.
However you can also use it throughout your day anytime you need a moment to relax and rest the body and mind.
We'll begin by doing a short breath practice and then moving into a full body scan.
So beginning by making sure that you are comfortable lying down perhaps in bed and maybe getting ready for sleep and just making some space for any adjustments asking yourself can I just be even 5% more comfortable and allowing yourself movement just making sure you get that sweet spot of comfort right as we begin to slow the body down.
Closing down the eyes whenever you are ready and just taking a moment to drop into the body.
You might be arriving here with a lot of mental chatter maybe there's some resistance to slowing down.
Whatever is here with you can we just be present with it without trying to fix or change just observing what is here in this moment as we come into a place of stillness.
So allowing maybe any mental chatter maybe any resistance just bringing that awareness to the bed beneath you the surface beneath you just feeling the weight of your body being supported and can you even give your body permission to just release and relax into that support.
Maybe relaxing the forehead,
Dropping the shoulders unclenching the jaw and as you breathe out just allowing yourself to sink a little bit deeper into the support of your bed.
We are going to use a little mantra for the first half of this practice which is I release the day.
I release the day.
So I want to invite you to begin with before we move into the breath work for you to just visualize the day that you have had from the moment you woke up to the moment that has brought you here.
Just fast-forwarding through the day in your mind's eye seeing how your morning started.
We're just fast-forwarding like a movie scanning through observing maybe getting to the end of your day and whenever that is complete it's coming back into this moment and just take a nice deep breath in through the nose and sighing out I release the day.
Switching off that movie the day is done and we are putting it to bed there is nothing more to do but welcome rest welcome sleep.
Let's begin by taking five deep slow belly breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
One of the most effective and simple ways to slow our mind down is through slowing down our breath.
So just exhaling all the air out from your lungs starting with that first deep breath in through the nose expanding the belly expanding the chest and releasing letting go out through the mouth.
Really slowing down that exhale.
Beautiful.
Bringing in another breath into the belly really allowing a sense of spaciousness in through that inhale and exhaling slowly out through the mouth letting that belly fall back towards the spine emptying those lungs taking that third deep slow breath in and releasing letting it go letting it all go.
I release the day.
Great going for that fourth breath slow deep in bringing that breath up through the spine and letting it go blowing it out or sighing it out whatever feels good.
I release the day and releasing the day on that exhale.
Take one last deep slow breath in see if you can breathe in just a little bit deeper on this last one and exhaling letting go.
I release the day.
Coming into our breath practice now we will be breathing in through the nose for a count of four,
Out through the mouth for a count of eight and then holding the breath for a count of six.
I will be counting,
Guiding and breathing along with you.
Getting ready let's begin breathing in two three four out two three four five six seven eight hold two three four six in two three four out two three four five six seven eight hold two three four five six in two three four out two three four five six seven eight hold two three four five six in out hold in hold in out hold returning to your natural breath now and observing the body observing the body as a whole,
Whole body awareness.
Bringing in our second mantra for this practice I am ready for rest.
I am ready.
Can you give your body permission to move into the energy of rest?
I'll now guide you through a body scan awareness and with each body part I name just bringing your awareness to that part,
Bringing your full attention and awareness to each body part that I name.
Beginning with right hand thumb,
Bringing all your awareness to your right hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side of waist,
Hip,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Sole of the foot,
Entire right side of the body,
Moving your awareness to the left hand side of your body.
Beginning with left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the waist,
Hip,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Sole of the foot,
Entire left side of body,
Moving your awareness to the back body.
Beginning with back of right heel,
Left heel,
Right calf,
Left calf,
Back of right knee,
Back of left knee,
Back of right thigh,
Back of left thigh,
Right glute,
Left glute,
Lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Entire length of the spine,
Back of neck,
Back of head,
Crown of head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Right eye,
Right temple,
Left eyebrow,
Left eye,
Left temple,
Nose,
Right cheek,
Right jaw,
Left cheek,
Left jaw,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Front of neck,
Throat,
Right side of chest,
Left side of chest,
Heart centre,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Pelvis,
Pelvic floor,
Bringing into your awareness your entire right side of the body,
Entire left side of the body,
Awareness of lower body,
Awareness of upper body,
Entire back side of body,
Entire front side of body,
Whole of body,
Bringing your awareness to the whole of your body.
I am ready for rest.
I am ready for rest.
