Deep Relaxation

A guided relaxation designed to help you relax deeply or ease you into sleep. The practice is ideally done laying down either on the floor or in bed. If you are not trying to sleep then use the floor or sit in a comfortable chair with your legs supported. This recording does not have a closing statement so that you can stay deeply relaxed or asleep for as long as you need.

Transcript

Welcome.

This guided relaxation is intended for you to be able to fall asleep,

For you to be able to relax deeper.

And so if you are using this to fall asleep,

I recommend that you actually get in bed.

Get in bed,

Pull the covers up,

Lay down so that you would be in whatever position you normally are to fall asleep.

And allow this recording to just play.

And then it will stop when it does.

And you may be asleep,

You may still be awake,

But just allow it to play without worrying about it.

And if you're using this for relaxation,

And it's not time for sleeping,

I would recommend either laying on the floor so that you're not so comfortable that you fall asleep,

Or you don't fall asleep deeply.

Or even in a comfortable chair with your legs up on,

You know,

A footstool,

Maybe a blanket to make sure you're warm.

And so hopefully by now you are ready.

And so we're simply going to begin by noticing our bodies.

Notice your body.

Notice how your physical body feels right now.

And just take a minute,

Take a minute and notice.

Notice how your legs feel,

Your arms,

Your torso,

Your back,

Your belly,

Your chest.

How does your head and your neck feel?

Just scan your body.

And doing so without judgment,

Just simply noticing where is your starting point?

Where are we starting from?

And as you notice your body,

Then also now notice and become aware of how relaxed do you feel?

And if you are uncomfortable,

You're physically uncomfortable,

Feel free,

Take a moment to get comfortable.

There is no sense in doing a relaxation or a guided meditation to help you fall asleep if you're uncomfortable.

So take that time that you need.

You can pause this if you need.

And so you've taken inventory of how our body feels.

And now just check in with your emotions.

How are you feeling emotionally?

And again,

Without any judgment,

Just simply knowing where are you right now?

And where is your mind?

Did your mind begin to wander off into story?

And if it did,

Just bring it back into this moment,

Back to right now.

And let's begin by just noticing the breath.

We'll focus first on the inhalation.

Notice how your inhalation feels.

Is it smooth and steady?

Does it feel tight or constricted in any way?

Do you have a deep and full inhalation?

Or does it feel like the breath gets stuck or that it's shallow?

Just noticing that.

And now take your attention to your exhalation.

Does it feel different in the qualities than your inhalation?

Is it smooth?

Does it feel like you're sort of just letting all the breath out at once?

Or is it a slow,

Steady exhale?

Is it smooth?

Does it feel like you can completely empty the lungs or that there's always more in the lungs?

Again,

With no judgment.

And now what we're going to do is at whatever capacity you have right now,

We are going to slow the breath down.

So purposefully breathing in a little slower.

Breathing out slower.

And see,

Can you smooth out your breath?

Can you lengthen the breath?

And sometimes when we focus on the breath,

It can feel challenging to smooth it out,

To slow it down.

And so just let go and try not to worry.

Try not to struggle and just allow the breath to be easy at whatever capacity you have.

And then we're going to take our attention from our breath to our feet.

And now noticing your feet,

Taking all of your awareness to your left foot and your right foot.

And now your attention just to your left foot,

To your left foot and toes.

Notice how relaxed does your left foot feel?

And as you exhale,

Can you relax your foot,

Your left foot even more?

And then move your attention to your right foot,

To your right foot and toes.

How relaxed is your right foot and toes?

And as you exhale,

Allow that relaxation to deepen.

And both feet and all of your toes relaxing even further.

And now to your left ankle,

Left shin and calf,

Your left knee,

Left thigh,

Your entire left leg,

Foot,

Toes.

As you notice and become aware,

Can you relax your left leg and foot even more?

And then to your right ankle,

The right shin and calf,

Your right knee,

To your right thigh,

Your entire right leg,

Your right leg,

Your right foot,

Your toes,

Relaxing even more through your right leg and foot.

And now both legs,

Both legs,

Both feet,

Even more relaxed.

Both legs and both feet.

And to the hips and pelvis,

Front of the pelvis,

The back of the pelvis,

The left hip and right hip,

Relaxing to your low belly,

Navel,

Upper abdomen,

The whole belly relaxed and soft.

To your low back,

Relaxing,

Releasing any tension,

The mid-back and your upper back relaxed behind your left shoulder blade and your right shoulder blade.

To your chest,

Front of the shoulders,

To your left shoulder,

Your left arm,

Hand and fingers,

Completely relaxed,

Your right shoulder,

Your right arm,

Hand and fingers,

All relaxed.

Both arms,

Your entire torso,

Hips,

Legs,

Hands and feet,

All relaxed.

Releasing the back of your neck and softening your throat,

Letting your head feel light and resting gently.

Soften your face,

Relaxing your jaw,

Your mouth,

Your nose,

Your eyes,

Your eyebrows,

Your forehead.

Relax your ears,

The sides of your head,

The top of your head,

So that your whole body is now completely relaxed.

There's a gentle heaviness.

You can feel the gentle pull of gravity.

You can feel the subtle energy of the earth giving you stability,

Giving you sanctuary.

And as you notice your whole body and you exhale,

Can you relax even further?

Could you let go even deeper so that you can feel the back of your body just relaxing,

Releasing toward the earth,

Completely supported.

And you can feel the front of your body relaxing and releasing into the back of your body,

Also completely supported.

Your left side and your right side,

Upper body and lower body.

Your entire body at once with your next exhalation even more relaxed.

With your body,

With your breath so relaxed,

Peaceful,

Gentle.

Begin to feel your breath as it moves like a wave through your body.

And imagine your inhalation like a wave washing up the body and the exhalation like the wave flowing down the body.

So this slow moving gentle wave rises up as you inhale from your feet to your head.

And as you exhale,

It moves back down from your head to your feet.

Just a slow,

Steady,

Even wave of breath,

A gentle rocking as though you were floating on the ocean.

Calm,

Quiet body of water that has just the most subtle of motion,

The tiniest about emotion,

Gently rocking you.

Feeling the gentle rocking,

Feeling that just easing away any leftover tension,

Any kind of energy.

So that you're fully relaxed,

Allowing the feeling of that wave of breath,

Slow,

Gentle rocking to just even out so that you can feel your body settling into stillness,

Resting gently on the earth now,

Allowing the breath just to be as it is.

Your body is heavy now,

Heavy with relaxation.

Simply allow yourself to be here just like this for as long as you need.

And if you're drifting off to sleep,

May you have the sweetest of dreams.

If you'll be coming out of relaxation soon,

Take your time.

There's never any hurry.

There's always plenty of time.

So remaining relaxed,

Your body heavy,

Feeling the stillness,

The quiet takeover.