Light Stream Relaxation

Listeners walk through a quick body scan at beginning of the meditation, picture a light stream or mist and uses this light stream/mist and breath to invite relatation to the body from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet. Listeners are invited to practice a moment of gratitude for their body at the end.

Transcript

This exercise is an adaptation of the Lightstream exercise often used in EMDR.

For this guided meditation is to help people relax their bodies and release tension.

Find a comfortable position for your body.

That might include lying down,

Sitting with the feet on the ground,

Sitting cross-legged,

Laying on your side,

Or any other body position that feels most comfortable for you today.

Once you find a comfortable body position,

Begin to check in with your body.

We're just going to begin noticing without judgment how our body is feeling today.

We might do this by starting from the top of our head and moving slowly down to the bottom of our feet and noticing if there's any tension or irritation,

Pain,

Etc.

In particular body parts or in body regions.

As we start to notice from the top of our head down to our toes,

Any pain,

Heat,

Send curiosity to those body parts instead of judgment,

Instead of irritation.

It might also send compassion.

But for right now,

We're just checking in.

We're just noticing.

We're both noticing how our body is feeling,

But we're also noticing our feelings toward.

Once you've checked in with your body,

By just scanning from the top of your head down to the bottom of your feet,

Take our attention to our breath.

What we mean by taking our attention to our breath is just intentionally noticing our breath.

So we might notice where we're breathing in our body.

Maybe we notice we're breathing in our belly or in our chest or somewhere in between.

We might notice how long or short our breath is.

We might notice how deep or shallow our breath is.

And again here,

We're not changing anything.

We're just noticing.

And we're noticing how we feel towards our breath.

If we notice that we're feeling agitated towards our breath or judgmental towards our breath,

The invitation here is to turn towards compassion and curiosity towards our breath.

So maybe you notice your breath for three to five,

Maybe even seven or eight breaths.

And once you've noticed your body and once you've noticed your breath in its fullness,

The invitation to shift or change your body position to include more comfort and more relaxation as well as increase,

Decrease,

Expand,

Contract your breath for more comfort and more relaxation is available to you.

So take a moment to see if you can find a body posture that's even more relaxing than the one you chose at the beginning and a breathing pattern that's even more relaxing than the beginning breath that you were taking.

And once you find an even more relaxing posture and an even more relaxing breathing rhythm,

The image that I'd like to pull into your mind's eye is the image of a light stream.

And people can view this in many ways.

Some people view it as actual light.

Some people view it as a mist,

Whatever feels right today,

But the mist or the light would be hovering above your head.

You can choose whatever color this mist or light is,

And you can also choose whether this is going to go through your body or feels most comfortable to you.

I will use those words interchangeably,

But you can picture whatever you'd like to picture in your head.

Notice this light or mist above your head and feel its warmth radiating.

Notice what color it is and notice its healing properties that it wants to be here to help you heal,

To help you relax,

And to help you increase your feelings of calm.

So as we begin,

We're going to start at the top of the head to either cascade over your body,

Over your head,

Or through of your skull.

We're going to picture this light stream or this mist coming in to our head or around our head and touching any parts of our head that feel a little off today or feel a little painful,

Feel a little.

.

.

We're going to allow the light stream and the mist to heal those parts of our head this morning.

Some people picture this light stream kind of sucking out the pain or sucking out the discomfort and removing it from the body.

Others picture it as a stream that kind of allows the pain to become a part of it without letting it touch the body anymore.

So whatever way feels most healing,

And maybe there's another way that feels best for you today,

We're going to allow the healing sensation of this light or this stream enter our head.

And maybe you need to take some time here this morning to allow it to do its work.

Maybe it takes longer than you're wanting it to.

The invitation here is to take your time and even pause this recording if you need more time before I move on.

Sometimes I get the question,

How will I know whether I need to move on or to stay?

And the answer is really simple.

Check in with your body.

Does your body need more time?

With this mist or this light stream in or around your head,

Does it feel like that's complete and it can move on?

If it feels like it needs more time,

Give it more time.

If it feels ready to move on,

Give it more time.

So the light stream then moves from your head to the base of your neck and into your upper shoulders.

And again,

Checking in here,

Seeing the light stream in your mind's eye or this mist enveloping your neck and into the tops of your shoulders,

Allowing this light stream to heal any parts of your neck or your shoulders that feel tense,

Agitated,

Spending some time letting the light or the mist heal these parts,

Areas that feel stuck.

Again,

Taking as much time as you need here to feel your body relax,

To feel your neck and your shoulders relax,

Move on.

Checking in to see if you need more time,

Move on and allow the light stream to enter the torso,

To envelop from the outside,

The section of your body or go through the inside and fill up the chest,

Torso and belly.

Light or the mist to touch any places that feel irritated today or in pain,

Allowing the healing that it provides.

Taking your time to allow the mist to do its healing work.

When you're ready to move on,

You're going to inhale intentionally here and exhale when it feels right.

With each inhalation,

Each exhalation,

Inviting more relaxation and more calm.

When you're ready,

We'll move to the lower hips and the sit bones.

Again,

Allowing that light or that mist to either go through the body or around,

Really paying attention to any places here that feel like they're in pain,

Feel irritated today,

Tense and allow this healing light to draw away the tension,

To invite calm.

Continuing your breathing,

Allowing your breathing to continue to invite calm and relaxation.

Again,

Checking in with your body before you move on,

Noticing if you need more time here for your breath or more time here to picture this healing light and only moving on when your body feels like it can or that it's right to do so.

Move that healing light now down to our thighs.

Notice if our thighs are tense and if they are,

Using that healing light and your breath to relax.

Sometimes people even flex their thighs and then relax them.

Continuing to breathe here as we take the healing light or mist down outside the legs and the thighs or through the body to the thighs.

Allowing your breath to move to the thighs and with each inhalation and exhalation,

Release any tension.

Then we'll move the healing light,

Once you're ready,

Down to the calf muscles,

Into the ankles,

And then to the feet,

Allowing this mist or this light to heal in or through the body any tension,

Any pain.

When you've reached the bottom of your feet,

Allow the mist or the light to exit the bottom of your feet,

Taking with it any pain,

Tension,

Any judgment you had towards your body during this practice.

With each breath,

Allow that to go.

As we wrap up our practice today,

Send a word of gratitude to your body for the ways in which it has served you,

Supported you in your journey.