These are some practices for calming the body and the mind that can be used at the start of a meditation practice to help you settle or at any time during a meditation period.
And you can also use them in your daily life.
Begin by letting your attention come into your body.
Feel your breath in the nostrils.
Feel the rising and falling of your chest and belly with the in-breath and out-breath.
Experience the contact with the surface beneath you.
Let yourself arrive and settle.
Sitting in a way that's relaxed and alert.
Deep,
Relaxed breathing.
Take some full,
Deep breaths,
Filling the lungs,
Filling the body with a breath.
Pause for a few seconds between the inhale and the exhale.
And slowly breathe out until all of the breath has been released.
Breathe in deeply again,
Filling the body with breath.
And slowly release.
And as you breathe out,
Imagine all of your stresses and cares are being released.
As you breathe in deeply again,
Invite a quality of calm to your body and mind.
You can silently say,
Calm as you breathe in and out.
Or you can say,
Breathing in,
Calming the body.
Breathing out,
Calming the mind.
Take another couple of deep,
Relaxing breaths in and out.
And then let the breath settle into its own natural rhythm.
Any time in a meditation period or session,
You can bring awareness to your body,
Your breathing,
Your feelings.
And if you notice you've become tight or tense,
Perhaps thinking about a difficult conversation or a full to-do list,
You can come back to your breath and take some full,
Deep breaths and invite the body and mind to re-relax.
You can do this in daily life too,
In a meeting or between phone calls.
Or if you feel tense driving or after a difficult conversation.
This next practice is a progressive relaxing of the body.
Bring your attention into your body and scan your body,
Beginning at the scalp,
Moving down through the face to the torso and the lower body,
Inviting any area where you're feeling tension or are clenching your muscles to relax.
Breathing in a relaxed way,
Move down your body,
Paying particular attention to the areas where we tend to hold tension.
Relaxing your eyes,
Your facial muscles,
Your tongue,
Your jaw.
Relaxing your shoulders,
The back of your neck,
The upper back.
Moving down to the chest and belly,
Where we often clench the muscles when we're tense or under stress.
Invite your belly to relax and soften and let your breath come into a relaxed,
Open belly.
Move your attention down through the abdomen and groin to the legs,
The thighs,
Calves and feet.
And invite a relaxing of each area in turn.
Move your attention up the body and if there's an area of holding or tension,
Pause there.
And breathing in a relaxed,
Easy way,
Invite a natural softening,
Letting go of any holding.
Now bring awareness to your whole body and be at ease,
Receptive,
Relaxed.
During a period of meditation,
It can be useful to do a scan of your body and notice if there's any area of tension,
Tightness or contraction.
And if you become aware of tightness or stress,
Invite that area to relax and soften,
Taking a deep breath or two and re-relaxing.
The practice of inviting a smile.
Sitting in a relaxed and comfortable way,
Invite a smile to your face,
Activating the muscles at the corners of your mouth and your eyes.
You don't need to be feeling particularly happy or joyful to relax and de-stress through smiling.
Inviting a smile sends a message of safety and relaxation to the brain and nervous system.
See how it feels to invite a relaxed smile to your face.
It may help to bring to mind someone who makes you feel happy or a place where you feel peaceful and at ease.
Allow yourself to sense any shifts in bodily feelings or emotions that come from your smile.
Now let the smile be an expression of how you wish to greet whatever experiences arise for you.
Smile into the bodily tension in your shoulders.
Smile to greet an anxious thought.
Smile at the joys and the sorrows that come up.
Welcome whatever you're experiencing.
And come back to the smile any time in meditation and in daily life.
You might take a couple of quiet moments to finish off this meditation.
See how it is to occasionally take a deeper breath to relax,
To do a scan of the body and relax any area of tightness,
Or invite a smile to your face.
Smile to greet an anxious thought.
Smile to greet an anxious thought.
Smile to greet an anxious thought.
Smile to greet an anxious thought.
