Hello everyone,
This is Mayen.
Today I'm going to lead you through a conscious relaxing practice.
Now relaxing happens naturally as we bring a gentle awareness to the areas of tension in our body.
Let's explore this now and to begin our practice of conscious relaxing,
Settle into a comfortable posture,
Ideally sitting in a way that allows you to be alert and also at ease.
Gently close your eyes,
Allowing your intention and attention to go inward and set your intention right from the start for relaxed presence and as you calm into stillness let your attention rest in the breath.
Let's take a deep in breath now,
Filling the chest and the lungs with air and then slowly release,
Allowing your body to relax and let go.
And now as the breath resumes in a natural rhythm,
Sense that it can continue to relax with the inflow and the outflow of the breath.
Feel your body breathing,
Your body sitting here.
Notice the different contact points,
The pressure and warmth where your bottom contacts the chair,
The sensation of your feet on the ground and feel that secured connection,
That groundedness,
That gravity supporting you.
And now bring relaxed attention to your eyes and allow them to soften.
Let your brows be smooth and relaxed.
Allow your jaw to be relaxed and relax the root of your tongue.
Bring a slight smile at the lips and a smile inside the mouth.
Shift your attention to your shoulders and let any tension on your shoulders go.
You might imagine this like eyes dissolving in water and water to gas.
If you feel any tension in your shoulders,
You can also breathe into the area and feel the tension melting away.
Next,
Bring your awareness to your arms and your hands.
Are they tensed or relaxed?
Allow them to soften and as you soften,
See if you can feel your hands from the inside out,
Noticing any sensations,
Tingling,
Posing,
Numbness,
Maybe more.
Move your attention to your chest and let your chest be open,
Feeling the sensations in the heart area softening,
Letting go.
Moving on to the belly,
Allow the belly to be soft and relaxed.
You might see if you can receive your next breath in a softening belly.
Allow the entire pelvic region to relax,
Releasing any holding or tightness.
Allow the relaxation to move down the thigh,
The knees,
The curls and the feet.
And now,
Feel the body all at once as a feel of sensation.
Sense your own calm,
Open presence,
Feeling the gentle movement of the breath,
Witnessing the changing dance of aliveness.
If your attention becomes distracted,
That's okay,
It's normal.
Gently bring your attention back and come back to this feeling of aliveness in the body,
A relaxed,
Present attention.
Very often,
When our mind wanders,
Our body tenses up.
And as we will arrive back right here,
Allow yourself to re-relax.
You can start fresh in any moment,
Consciously relaxing again,
Letting go in the shoulders,
Softening the arms and hands,
Loosening the belly,
Relaxing your pelvic region all the way down the legs to your feet,
Arriving again in a calm presence,
Feeling the moment-to-moment experience of life living through you.
And now,
As we come to the end of the practice,
With your eyes still closed,
Bring your awareness back to the room.
You can wiggle your fingers,
Your toes,
Roll your shoulders up,
Back and down.
Move your neck in any way you feel comfortable.
You can stretch your arms up,
High or in front of you.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes and sense the possibility of starting your next activity with a relaxed,
Spacious presence.
Thank you for joining me for this practice.
See you next time.
