The Art Of Relaxation (Part 1 Introduction)

This is an introduction to the art of relaxation, a mini-series for grounding and coming into your body. These sessions will provide you with the embodiment tools needed for you to create a living practice that bridges your awareness to your body as nature.

Transcript

Begin by getting into a comfortable seated position. You can choose to sit on a chair or on the floor. You can start by keeping your eyes open but a soft gaze. Relaxing your eyes and your forehead. Maybe opening up your jaw slightly so you're not holding any tension on your face. Slowly bringing the shoulders down away and your ears. Trapping them down towards the ground. And notice how you're breathing. There's no need to apply any sort of breathing technique just yet. Just only noticing it. Becoming aware of what you're already doing. And what's currently happening in your body. And with your eyes still open, Starting to bring more of your attention and your awareness back in closer towards your body. So picking a point in front of you, Maybe on the floor or on the wall in front of you. Just softly gazing. And yet keeping this anchor point of your awareness coming from your body. So we're beginning to tune in into this specific anchor point. We'll call this the seat of your awareness. And we're bringing it closer towards our own self, This body. So even if you aren't sure if you're doing anything right or you're not sure about the directions, Just follow the words. And allow the process to engage with your own system, Even if it's just at a subconscious level. So as you're gazing at the point in front of you, Again using the anchor of your own awareness. Relaxing your face, Relaxing your body. Just notice any points of tension, Any points of strain or holding that you might be experiencing in any area of your body. And we're just going to start to engage with these points of tension and constriction just by breathing into them. So wherever you're holding tension, Maybe you're feeling a bit of constriction on the top of the head or perhaps somewhere in your abdomen or your legs or your hands. So wherever that is for you, Maybe it's a lot of points simultaneously. Just beginning to breathe into this, Into these points. And on the exhale, Feel it dropping down and easing off of any of those muscular tensions. Just taking a few more breaths as we create more space in our bodies. On your next exhale, You're going to start by closing your eyes, Relaxing your forehead, Letting your eyes drop back towards the back of your head. And coming back to the breath, Just begin to notice how you're breathing. We're not applying any sort of techniques to our breath just yet. This is a process of coming acquainted with your body and with whatever is coming into your experience in this moment. The intention for this session is to experience our innate sense of grounding that is always available to us. So we're going through this whole process together and this is a method that you can take and apply it on your day to day life and experience whenever you feel that you are out of your body and into the trance of your mind. So whatever story or whatever narrative you are falling into, This is a great method to just easefully come back into the present moment, Into your body and into the actual experience of what is happening around you. We'll just begin again by coming back to what we're aware of, What's currently arising in your body in this moment. And each time this will be completely unique to each experience. But the important thing to remember is to always be honest about what is arising and to just meet it exactly where you are with your presence and your awareness in your body. So before we get into the method, I'd like to give you a little bit of background on this process of what takes us out of our bodies into the trance of the mind and how if we're aware of how our mind functions, How our body functions as well, How we can be better equipped in every situation to remain true and open to each moment. So this process isn't about going out of our experience, Going out of our bodies and transcending into some place of non-attachment. This process is about coming fully into our experience, Fully embodying our bodies, Our own self. It's a coming in and an awakening to our humanity. So the next time that you are engaging with life, You can approach it with a deeper vulnerability and more openness and freedom to your own authentic expression. And it all begins by being grounded and centered in your own being, In your own body because your body is a channel for grounding. So this process I'm going to start taking you through now is about meeting life as it's showing up as it is and when you notice any of these places where you are struggling with life or coming against life, That's typically when we become most ungrounded, When we come out of our experience and into the narrative of the mind. So whenever you experience any tension, That tension might arise in your body or it might arise as conflicting thoughts or emotions. Open up to it as an invitation to experiment with this process of grounding and being true and intentional to the moment of what you want to create and how you want to engage with life. So if you're wanting to engage with life from a place of openness, Freedom and vulnerability, Then these will be your next steps.