Welcome to this guided relaxation and breathing practice.
Begin by bringing your body into a comfortable position.
You might like to be seated with your spine upright,
Resting long and tall,
Or you might like to lie down and rest on your back.
As you're shifting,
Make sure that you're making yourself as comfortable as possible here.
If there are any little adjustments that you could make to the position of your body,
Or your clothing,
Or any of the items in the space around you to enhance your comfort and sense of ease,
Please do so.
Begin to let your body rest into stillness.
Make any final little adjustments and refinements here,
And then let your body rest.
Now begin by noticing where you feel support,
Where your body is in contact with something that holds you in place.
If you're seated,
You might feel this around the area of your pelvis,
Your legs,
Your feet.
If you're lying on your back,
You might feel this in lots of places along the back of your body,
From your head all the way to your feet.
And so just do a quick scan of your body here,
And find those places where you sense support contact with something that represents the earth.
Great.
Then say hello to your breath,
Welcome your breathing into your awareness,
And in particular focus on your exhales.
Each time you breathe out,
Invite your body to rest,
To relax into the support that you feel beneath you,
And all these places that you feel contact between your body and the earth.
Let your body release any tension that you might still be holding here with each exhale.
And then shift your attention to your inhales,
And as you breathe in,
Notice the spaciousness of your inhale.
The space is created within you to bring in the new air,
And your body expands and opens into the space around you.
Now let your awareness drift to a place in your body where you feel movement.
Amidst this apparent stillness,
Your body moves as you breathe.
Each inhale,
There's an expansion,
That spaciousness as your body opens,
And notice where that is,
Where you feel that,
Where you can physically connect with that sensation of expansion as you inhale.
And in that same place,
You feel some softening,
Some release as you exhale.
If you feel the movement of your breath in a few different places in your body,
Choose one to stay focused on.
And if this place is within comfortable reach,
You might like to place one or both of your hands on this part of your body.
With your hands resting on your body,
It helps your mind focus a little more clearly,
And gives you the tactile feedback of what's happening in this part of your body as you breathe.
Let your attention drift inward.
If your hands are on your body to give you that tactile feedback,
Let your attention move deeper into your body now.
And if your hands are resting not in this place that you feel movement,
Let your attention flow deeper into this area of your body,
And explore what happens here.
Start by focusing on your exhales again,
And notice as you breathe out what the experience of exhale is like in this place in your body.
What sensations can you connect with here?
What does exhale feel like from the inside?
Let your attention rest with your exhales here another few moments,
Seeing what sensations arise,
Or any thoughts or emotions that come up as you focus on exhaling and releasing tension in this area of your body,
And then shift your attention to your inhales.
With each breath in,
Notice what happens in this place in your body now.
How does it feel to breathe in to expand?
And what does that feel like from the inside?
What physical sensations can you connect with here as you breathe in?
As you do this,
Continue to let your breath flow at its natural pace,
Smooth and relaxed,
Without trying to force or overexert the effort of the inhale.
And take a few more breaths here,
Just focusing on the sensations of breathing in,
How this feels in this one place in your body,
And then if you have your hands resting on your body to connect with your breath,
Shift them gently to rest along your sides or in your lap.
And now,
Feel your breath from the inside again,
Noticing the alternating experience of inhale and exhale,
And what happens within your body,
How that feels with each breath in and out.
Great.
Now,
Gently deepen your breath,
Breathe in a little longer and slower through your nose,
Breathe out a little longer and slower through your nose or mouth,
And do this just a couple times,
Maybe two or three total,
Just a few deeper breaths in and out,
And see how that shifts your experience of feeling your breath from the inside.
After a couple of these deeper breaths,
Let your breathing go back to its natural rhythm and pace,
And slowly start to draw your attention outward.
Begin by wiggling your fingers,
Your toes,
Move your ankles,
Your wrists,
You might rock your head,
Just start to wake your body back up here,
Stretch through your arms,
Your legs.
And then bring your hands together in front of your heart,
Your palms can press together in prayer,
Or rest open right on your chest.
We'll pause here to close our practice with gratitude,
Grateful that we chose to engage in this practice today,
To connect with our body,
Connect with our breath,
Invite a sense of ease and inner awareness into our day.
Then check in and see how warm your palms are,
If they're a little chilly,
Rub them together a few times to create some warmth.
When your palms are warm,
Bring them over your eyes,
Just gently cup your hands in front of your eyes,
Slowly open your eyes into the darkness of your hands,
Gradually spread your fingers,
Let the light in,
And bring yourself back into the space around you.
Thank you so much for joining me for this practice today,
I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.
