Hello and welcome to this guided meditation.
And we'll be focusing today on feel rest,
An experience of tranquility and deep relaxation in the body.
So as you settle in into a comfortable position,
Allow your body to relax.
Close your eyes.
Take notice where you might hold some tension in the body.
Relax your jaw,
Your eyes,
Your forehead.
And just take a deep breath in.
Hold it.
Maybe take a little bit more air in and let it go.
Let's do another breath like that.
Take a breath in.
Hold it.
Take a little bit more air in.
And let it go.
Just settle in and pay attention to where you might meet yourself today.
Every day is different and that's okay.
So feel rest is an experience of tranquility and deep relaxation in the body.
We can notice it in the body but we can also evoke it.
So we're just going to pay attention to where we can maybe naturally find it in the body.
So with each exhale,
Feel the tension releasing from your body,
Inviting a sense of restfulness to settle in.
Can you notice and appreciate the relaxation and emotional peace that's available to you in this moment?
When we talk about rest,
We're referring to the tranquility you can notice in your body,
The relative absence of sensory activity.
This can be found not just in physical relaxation but also in the quiet spaces of your mind and emotions.
Can you detect an area where there is relaxation or the absence of tension?
This could be the softness in your hands,
The stillness in your feet,
Or the peaceful rise and fall of your breath.
The breath is something that's always available to you.
So if it's hard to spot the relaxation,
The rest in your hands or feet,
Maybe at your exhale pay attention to what your body does.
You're exhaling,
Your body relaxes naturally.
Can you notice these restful sensations and maybe allow them to grow?
If there is any tension or discomfort,
Consciously release it by relaxing the muscles in that area.
Rest is available in all sense categories but today we want to focus on feel rest.
So I'm inviting you to label feel rest whenever you detect a restful state in your body or emotionally,
The absence of any feelings,
Emotions,
Physical experiences.
So when we focus on restful states,
You're placing your attention where you notice less sensory activation.
So we can find relaxation,
We can go back to our hands,
If we pay attention to that there is no activity happening,
We can label it feel rest.
Or we can create relaxation if we notice our shoulders being a little tense,
We can tense up our shoulders and let go and feel how this tension is letting go and label it with feel rest.
There's also always emotional peace available if there is the absence of any emotions and that's also feel rest.
It's almost like a body scan where we're scanning for restful places in our body.
Can you detect emotional peace?
Emotional peace is the absence of sensations we recognize as emotional stress or discomfort but also excitement.
It's a state where your mind and heart are at ease,
Not much is going on.
If you detect any emotional tension,
Allow it to dissolve with each exhale.
As you continue to focus on feel rest,
Can you detect an even more profound level of rest in your body?
Maybe you can notice how your body becomes heavier,
More supported by the chair or floor beneath you.
Still noting feel rest.
And if your mind wanders,
Gently bring it back to the sensation of rest in your body.
By bringing it back without judgment,
We allow it to dissolve.
Strengthening our equanimity and coolness with the situation.
Developing a calm mind.
Most people are drawn to meditation to experience more tranquility.
Rest is a reward state.
By focusing on body rest,
You elevate fulfillment.
Because you're able to notice it more often,
You get more fulfillment from the rest you notice.
You encourage rest to grow.
And it creates a positive feedback loop for us.
If it's hard for you to contact rest in your body,
That's okay.
The more you practice that approach,
The easier it will become for you to notice the little rest for spaces in the body.
Remember,
You can intentionally create it by relaxing muscles.
And sometimes a good way for you to really feel the muscle relaxing is to tense it up and then let go.
Really feel that area of relaxation.
And then let go.
Really feel that area relaxing,
Softening.
Or you might discover relaxation anywhere in the body.
You might notice that you're at peace emotionally.
That's also feel rest.
You can always come back to exhale.
Focusing on the exhale and really feeling the body relaxing with each exhale is always available for you.
It's always available to you.
Or you can notice areas of neutrality like the feet or hands.
So we're freely floating between locations in the body where you might find rest.
Strengthening our sensory clarity.
We're strengthening our concentration by staying with the exercise.
And we're strengthening our equanimity and calmness by bringing our attention back to the exercise if we get lost in thought.
With an even tone,
We just bring it back without judgment.
With an even tone,
We just bring it back without judgment.
And we're also strengthening equanimity by being okay if it might be maybe a little harder to find relaxed spots in the body.
Gently bring your awareness back to your physical body.
Gently bring your awareness back to the space.
Notice the feeling of rest that still lingers in your muscles and the sense of emotional peace that remains.
Take a few deep breaths in.
Wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Take a moment to appreciate your work you just did.
And whenever you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
