Welcome and thank you for joining me here today.
I'm Marianne DeCleer.
Start by taking a moment to get comfortable,
And you can do this sitting on a chair or lying down,
Your choice.
Welcome any feelings,
Sensations,
Or thoughts that may come up with kindness,
Openness,
And non-judgment.
And take this time for yourself to connect within.
Let's settle in and prepare.
So get into your position in which you feel no tension.
Close your eyes and let your body begin to relax.
Take a deep breath in through the nose,
Filling the chest and the belly with air.
And then exhale through the mouth,
Allowing the chest and the belly to fall.
And then you can take a normal breath here.
Become aware of your body comfortably settled in your seat or lying down.
And feel all the points of contact between your body and your support.
The back of your head if you're lying down or you have a headrest.
Your arms.
Your hands.
You're back.
Your buttocks.
Your legs.
And your feet.
Feel your body begin to naturally stretch out and relax even more.
And become aware of the calm settling into your body.
Bring attention to your head and face.
Feel your scalp releasing,
Relaxing.
Soften your forehead.
Relax your eyebrows.
Try to increase the space between your eyebrows.
Feel your eyelids getting heavy.
And relax all the muscles around your eyes.
Relax your temples.
Your cheekbones.
Your nose.
Notice the cool air around your nostrils on each inhale.
And the warm air around your nostrils on each exhale.
Relax your cheeks.
And your jaws.
Leaving some space between your teeth and perhaps slightly opening your mouth.
Let your tongue rest naturally in your mouth.
And feel your throat relax,
And feel free to swallow if you need to.
And become aware that your face is completely relaxed.
And now let the release continue down into the nape of your neck.
Through your traps and your shoulders.
Feel your shoulders naturally relaxing downwards as if gravity is pulling them down to the earth.
And let this feeling of relaxation continue into your upper arms.
Your elbows.
Your forearms.
Your wrists.
And your hands down to the fingertips.
And become aware that your upper limbs are completely relaxed.
And now bring your attention to your back.
Imagine it stretching out bit by bit with each breath.
Relax all the muscles along your spine from your upper back.
Down through your shoulder blades,
Mid-back,
Down to your lower back.
And become aware that your back is completely relaxed.
And now bring your attention around to your chest.
Observe the movements of your ribcage.
Feel your ribs opening with each inhale and closing with each exhale very gently.
Notice how your heartbeat is calm and regular.
Feel your belly relaxing and letting go.
Observe the movements of your ribcage.
Observe the movements of your belly.
And feel your belly rise with each inhale and lower with each exhale.
Notice these calm and regular movements.
And now,
Let this feeling of relaxation diffuse into your pelvis.
Relaxing your hips,
Your buttocks.
Your perineum.
Become aware that your upper body is completely relaxed.
And now allow the feeling of relaxation to go into your legs.
Relax your thighs,
All around your thighs.
Your knees.
Your calves.
Your ankles.
And your feet down to the tips of your toes.
Become aware of your lower limbs completely relaxed.
Become aware of your whole body completely relaxed.
I'm now going to guide you to let go of any residual physical,
Mental,
Or emotional tensions.
Here's a little explanation before we begin.
So in a moment,
When I give you the signal,
You're going to expand your belly as you breathe in through your nose.
And then you'll lightly contract your whole body as you hold your breath.
And then you can relax everything as you exhale loudly through your mouth.
So here we go.
Inhale and the belly expands.
Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your body from your head and face down to your feet.
Hold a little longer,
And then exhale loudly as you get rid of any residual tensions.
Relax.
Take a normal breath.
And bring your awareness to the calm sensation in your whole body.
I now invite you to imagine yourself in a meadow or field.
This may or may not be a place you know.
Observe this vast space.
Notice the colors of the vegetation.
The colors in the sky.
The calm that this place inspires in you.
The weather is nice and the temperature is ideal.
It's neither too cold nor too hot in this field.
You can feel the warmth of the sun on your skin and a gentle breeze in the air.
You see a hot air balloon right in the middle of the field,
Fully inflated and ready to take flight.
It's beautiful,
Colorful,
And impressive.
You walk towards this hot air balloon,
And it seems to be waiting for you.
So you enter the hot air balloon,
And you check out the space.
And inside you find some bags.
These bags are very heavy.
And on each of them you see words.
Read these words carefully.
And you understand that each of these bags represents one of your concerns or worries that you've been carrying around with you lately.
Take a moment to read the words on the bags.
You understand that to make the hot air balloon move upwards,
For it to rise,
You will have to part with these bags.
They are the things that prevent the hot air balloon from accomplishing its mission.
So in order for the hot air balloon to gain altitude,
You will have to let go.
You will need to drop these bags overboard because they are weighing you down.
And even though they're heavy,
You're kind of used to seeing them there.
But you also know that you can let go of them.
And that nothing will change until you let go of them.
So you choose one and pick it up.
And then throw it overboard as you exhale.
And then the next one.
They are heavy and bulky,
But you're able to throw them away.
And one by one you throw them away.
Even though it's uncomfortable.
Maybe even a little scary.
But as you continue,
You find that it becomes easier and easier.
And slowly,
The hot air balloon lifts off the ground and begins to rise.
Feel the balloon becoming lighter and more buoyant with each release.
And as you let go of these worries,
Notice the sense of freedom and peace that begins to fill your being.
With each breath,
Continue to release your worries,
Allowing the hot air balloon to ascend higher into the sky.
And as it rises,
You rise with it,
Ascending above the cares and concerns of everyday life.
Your mind becomes clearer.
Your heart feels lighter.
And now you are floating in the hot air balloon above the field.
And you have the pleasure of being able to observe this landscape from another point of view.
This landscape that you thought you knew so well seems to be very different from above.
You contemplate this landscape with a whole new perspective.
As you float higher and higher,
You can see the world below,
And it all appears smaller and less significant.
From this perspective,
You realize that you have the power to choose which worries and concerns to hold on to.
And which to release.
Look way down at the bags you threw away at the bottom.
They're so small,
So tiny,
Seen from above.
Notice the feeling of release and serenity within you.
You feel relieved.
That you were able to get rid of it.
You've proven to yourself that you can let go and take a new perspective.
And slowly you descend safely back down to the ground.
And as you do so,
You feel this relaxation and calmness deep within you.
In fact,
You don't even see the bags anymore.
The field is empty and just full of beautiful vegetation.
You feel lighter.
Liberated and peaceful.
Take a few moments to bask in this feeling of weightlessness,
Serenity and clarity.
And know that you can return to this place of release and peace whenever you need to.
Remember that you have the power to rise above your worries and concerns just like the hot air balloon.
And by letting go,
You can experience a greater sense of peace and joy in your life.
Integrate these feelings.
Remember that these sensations are always in you.
And think about activating them in your everyday life.
And now coming back to the points of contact of your body with the support beneath you.
Feel the back of your head,
Your arms.
Your hands.
You're back.
Your buttocks.
Your legs.
And your feet.
Imagine the space that you're in.
And open your ears to the sounds around you.
The sounds outside.
Take a deep energizing breath through your nose.
And exhale through your mouth.
Take a normal breath.
And start to slowly move your body,
Your hands and feet.
You can do some stretches,
Yawn,
Sigh.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
And as you come back,
I invite you to simply reflect back on this experience and perhaps think about any takeaways or things that you want to remember from this experience.
And know that this recording is here any time that you want to gain a little more perspective and release what's been weighing you down.
Thanks once again for joining me.
