Welcome to the letting go exercise.
Go ahead and get your body into a comfortable position,
Whatever that is for you.
Closing your eyes or gazing down gently.
And now take a moment to recognize the sensation of your body breathing.
You can put your hand on your belly and you can feel the rise and fall as you breathe in and breathe out.
Noticing your ribcage expanding and contracting.
Feeling the air move in through your nose and back out again.
And we can use words like breathe in and breathe out to anchor our attention on the breath.
And we can check in with our body sensations and notice any tension that we can soften and ease.
We can unclench our jaw,
Softening our face,
Moving our shoulders away from our ears,
Letting them drop towards the ground.
Using our out breath to let go of any tension in our stomach encouraging a full exhale,
Letting go of the belly,
Tension in the chest,
And softening the muscles of our back.
Take a moment to notice the sensations in your hands.
Touching in with whatever is supporting your hands,
Whether it's your lap or the arms of a chair or the floor.
And feeling the sensations between that surface and your hands.
And then switching from your hands to your feet.
Where are your feet touching?
Is it the soles of your feet against the floor?
Perhaps just the heel if you're lying down.
If you're wearing socks or shoes,
Feel the sensation of that encircling your foot.
And returning your attention to your breath.
Noticing if your breath has changed at all.
And if not,
That's okay.
But let's take a moment to take a nice full in-breath,
Breathing in,
Holding at the top for a moment.
And then releasing the breath all the way down.
And just holding at the end just for a little bit longer.
Letting the stomach and the diaphragm release completely.
We'll use the out-breath to let go of the tension in our face,
Our chest,
Our stomach.
Breathing out to soften the muscles of the back and the hips,
Arms and legs,
And the spine.
Arms and legs,
Hands and feet.
Continue to focus your attention on the out-breath.
And with each out-breath,
Feel your body relaxing and softening.
You can make note of what it is that you're thinking.
Label it as worrying,
Planning,
Remembering,
Or even just thinking.
And when you become aware of that thought,
It is easier to then release it.
Right now,
All you need to do is just be.
And we'll prepare to gently transition back to our awakened state.
First,
Starting to notice our hands and feet and moving them gently.
Opening your eyes if they were closed,
But begin to gaze about the room you're in.
And with that last bell,
You can return to your day.
