Hi,
Hello and welcome to Take 20.
My name is Julie and I'll take you through a relaxation exercise in just a moment.
Today's exercise is the last one in our sleep series and it's a bit of an unusual one.
We'll be taking a nap together.
We'll start off by relaxing our bodies and then I'll tell you a story.
You can just let me babble on in the background while you sleep or you can see this story as a type of guided relaxation.
To start off,
Make yourself as comfortable as possible.
For a nap,
I recommend lying down and covering up and then start the relaxation.
Let your body become still and let your mind become still.
Bring your attention inward while you focus on the relaxation of your body.
Allow your muscles to relax from your head down to your toes.
Imagine how this relaxation feels.
It could be warm,
It could feel heavy or light,
Maybe a tingling or a loose sensation.
Relaxation is a pleasant,
Calm feeling and it feels very comfortable.
Allow your muscles to relax.
Notice if there's any places where your muscles are tense and let this feeling of relaxation spread there.
Notice the soft rise and fall of your chest and your belly with every breath.
It is so calming,
So relaxing.
Every time you breathe out,
Your chest will softly fall and relax you just a little bit more.
As if all the tension leaves your body while you breathe out and you relax more while you breathe in.
Notice how you're starting to feel more relaxed and slowly drift off into relief.
Any tension that remains in your body can leave your body while you breathe in and you become more and more relaxed while time passes.
All sleep is good,
Even this little bit of sleep.
Even if it's short,
It's worthwhile.
Taking a nap is a time just for you to relax,
To rest and to sleep.
And even if we just relax for a while without sleeping,
You'll feel fresh and new afterwards.
It's not so important whether you really sleep in this moment or not.
It's enough just to relax.
You'll wake up when you need to,
So now you have some time.
Just let yourself relax,
Rest and take this time for yourself.
I'll tell you a story.
If you want,
You can use this as a guided visualization to leave the rest of your day behind.
But feel free to let your mind drift without focusing on anything and let me chat on in the background while you relax and sleep if you like.
You're the main character in this story.
You're walking in the mountains,
Near the coast of a warm,
Quiet land.
You're climbing a mountain.
You're climbing and walking past all sorts of plants,
Grasses and trees.
You're carrying a heavy bag on your shoulder.
In this bag,
You have worries.
Your worries and those of others.
They're heavy and maybe a bit dark and you're bringing them to a place where you can make them smaller,
Where you can let go of them.
You're walking along leisurely and you're admiring the landscape,
The colours of the vegetation around you,
The sea you might be able to see in the distance.
Bit by bit,
You reach the top of the mountain.
The peak is rocky and you're above the tree line.
You can see all the way around you.
In front of you,
You can see the ocean.
It's vast and blue and it reaches to the horizon.
At the foot of this mountain,
You can see a beach where the water reaches the coast.
The air around you feels pure.
You can see the waves and the water,
Just thin foam lines from where you're standing.
At the top of your mountain,
You look around and you're in awe of what you can see.
The bag you're carrying is pretty heavy and it slows you down.
You feel as though you can barely carry it.
You put the bag down and you take a worry out of it.
It looks like a rock,
A dark,
Heavy stone.
You look around your mountain top.
You're looking for a specific place between the rocks and then you find it.
A small hole,
Precisely the size of the stone you're holding.
You place this heavy worry between the rocks and it fits perfectly.
Your bag is a bit lighter now and you put it back on your shoulder.
The air around you is nice and cool.
And you start following the path that leads to the bottom of the mountain in the direction of the water.
You walk your path by the rocks where it's steep.
And then again by the trees where the slope is lighter.
The sun begins to shine and it moves higher up in the sky while you walk.
The slope becomes less steep as you near the foot of the mountain.
The bag you're carrying still feels pretty heavy.
You emerge from the trees and you walk to the coast.
It's become pretty hot at this point.
You take your shoes off and you wade into the surf.
The waves cool your toes.
You can sit down for a bit on a smooth rock with your feet in the water.
You look over it,
Over this water.
Maybe you look back to the mountain where you came from.
The heavy bag sits next to you.
There's quite a few worries still left in there.
You take one.
This one is heavy and angular and it shines like coal.
You hold the stone out in front of you and you bend over to the water that's washing over your feet.
You place the stone in the water and the waves start to wash over it.
The stone begins to dissolve like a cube of sugar.
It falls apart into black dust that the waves carry away.
The stone becomes smaller and smaller and much lighter in your hands.
Until there's nothing left.
Just the cooling water washing over your hands.
You take another worry,
Another stone out of the bag.
It's a heavy,
Round stone.
Maybe it has a color.
You hold it up in front of you and if you pay attention you can feel the wind eroding it.
The stone blows away with the wind and your hand is left empty.
You take the next worry out of the bag.
You bring it into the water and you scrub it.
Until it's only the size of a walnut.
You put the smaller stone back into your bag.
The stones,
The worries that you have left are smaller and more manageable.
Today you can't make all your worries disappear.
But those that remain are not nearly as heavy.
You lift the bag again just to check the weight and you see that it'll be easier to carry.
You put the bag back on the rocks and you take a moment to relax.
You let the water cool you down.
You close your eyes for a bit and you allow yourself to relax.
You let the sound of the waves calm you down.
The rhythm of the water is pleasant.
The waves wash towards you and then they wash away.
Back and forth,
Back and forth in a slow easy rhythm.
Allow yourself to relax for a bit.
Let your body be heavy and comfortable and let yourself sink.
So sleepy.
So relaxed.
You're safe.
You're calm and serene.
You drift off into sleep.
Peaceful and dreamy.
