Deep Relaxation : Descent To Zero

This technique is used within the MPA meditation school to prepare for Deep Meditation. It's a powerful tool leading to states of deep silence and relaxation. It is suitable for both beginners and advanced practitioners.

Transcript

Start by getting into a comfortable position,

Either sitting down with your back straight,

Or lying down if more comfortable.

Now start by taking a few deep breaths,

Deeper than normal.

And with every exhale,

Start to let all the muscles in your body relax,

Gently and spontaneously.

And a couple more of these deeper breaths.

Now let your breath go back to normal,

To being spontaneous.

And bring all of your attention to the point in between the eyebrows,

Focusing solely on that point.

If you want,

You can gently point your eyes internally towards that point.

And simply notice the sensations in and around that point.

It would feel nice to relax the eyes.

Now relax the eyes completely,

Let them go back to their normal position,

And let all of this energy accumulated on your forehead flow down,

Fall down.

And bring this energy and your awareness inside of your right hand,

And feel it.

Feel it loose and relaxed.

Now gently bring this energy awareness up into your right forearm,

Elbow,

And upper arm,

And feel it.

Feel the physical sensations inside of your right arm,

As they are now.

And thoughts may come,

And that is fine,

But we focus on the physical sensations rather than any thoughts our mind may produce around them.

And relax the arm.

Now gently bring this energy awareness up into the right shoulder,

Feel it loose and relaxed,

Letting go of all of the tensions that are naturally pulling down on your shoulder.

Now gently bring your awareness up into the neck area,

And relax the area gently but deeply.

Now gently bring this awareness into the left area of the shoulder,

Noticing the physical sensations,

And letting it relax.

Now gently move your awareness into the left arm,

Elbow,

And forearm,

And feel it.

The bones,

The muscles,

The tendons,

The skin,

Everything completely relaxed.

Now gently bring your awareness down into the left hand,

And feel it.

Feel the sensation of contact with the air,

Or with your clothing,

Or the other hand,

And simply let the hand relax.

Now expand your awareness to the entire circle of relaxation you've been through,

And feel it as one,

At once,

And rest within it.

And notice how the relaxation expands to the rest of the body,

Inside and out.

Now take a deep in-breath and hold your breath mentally counting to five.

Then exhale slowly,

Mentally saying,

Body relaxation,

Body relaxation.

This is the first level of deep relaxation,

The physical one,

In which your body can remain completely relaxed,

From the top of your head to the tip of your toes,

Inside and out.

Feel like this all of your body.

To help you enter an even deeper state of inner relaxation and silence,

The emotional one,

Simply bring your awareness now to the breath,

And to the flow of air coming in and going out.

Without trying to control it,

Simply observe.

Maybe the breath is getting easier,

Maybe slower,

Simply observe.

And every time the breath leaves your body,

Simply let go of anything that is opposing your complete and deepest emotional tranquility at the moment.

Let it all out with the breath,

Let it go,

Let it be,

And simply be in your breath,

Your breath.

And any time any distractions come in the mind and you notice that you are off your breath,

That is perfectly fine and normal,

Simply as soon as you realize it,

Without opposing or engaging with the distraction,

Simply go back to the breath,

As many times as you need to.

Okay.

Now,

Take a deep in-breath and hold your breath mentally counting to five.

Then exhale slowly,

Mentally saying,

Feelings relaxation,

Emotions relaxation.

This is the second level of deep inner relaxation and peace,

The emotional one,

In which your feelings and emotions can remain in you clear,

Almost transparent,

Peaceful.

Be aware of your emotional field as it is now.

To help you enter an even deeper level of inner silence,

Relaxation and awareness,

The mental one,

I'll simply count down from ten to zero.

At every countdown,

Simply let your mind sink in a more and more relaxed and silent state.

When you reach zero,

Simply let your brain cells pulse with a slower rhythm to find yourself in a state of complete,

Physical,

Emotional and mental relaxation,

Yet aware and present.

Now,

Take a deep in-breath and hold your breath mentally counting to five.

Then exhale slowly,

Preparing yourself for the descent and letting the breath be spontaneous.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

Rest in the silence.

Rest in the silence.

Here,

You can choose if to simply rest or bring your awareness to the flow of the breath,

As we did previously.

Like this,

Until I will signal the end of the meditation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now,

To leave this state of relaxation,

Simply mentally count from one to five.

When you reach five,

You can start to move your fingers,

Your toes,

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes to find yourself completely awake and relaxed.

Reviews

I actually relaxed. 😄 This was lovely, thank you.

One of the best guided meditations for tuning into feeling the body. It truly allows you to relax the body and mind to reach the stillness which is helpful for integrating.

Having done this meditation with Ignacio for more than a year in VR, I highly recommend it!

I love Ignacio guidance. I was introduced to meditation 30 years ago by an amazing Gesuit who taught us the descent to zero among many other things. I use it with my students but how refreshing being guided by Ignacio. Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Thank you for sharing this with us.

What a wonderful meditation! I felt able to go very deep within. Can I do this one lying down or must the spine be erect for full benefit? With thanks and blessings 🙏

Deep consciousness.

Just what I needed :-)

Very peaceful, thank you 🙏🏽

Great mid afternoon!

Really good. Had neck pain causing stress and greatly assisted

Thank you for these peaceful, lingering moments.

The pace is perfect. It's a lovely meditation. Thank you.

Loved this! Thanku 😊

Wasn’t sure what to expect, but was expertly guidedinto a wonderful sense of total body relaxation while being vividly aware of my space,
Thank you 🙏

I loved this ! Thank you 🙏

This was extremely relaxing, even on a high stress day when nothing seemed to help. Thank you so much! 🙏🏻❤️

Exceptionally calming