Hello,
In today's meditation,
We are going to do a classical type of meditation focusing on feeling rest in our body.
I love this practice and I do it regularly when I feel uncomfortable or unrested.
This technique is also great to use in those moments that you feel you can't fall asleep.
Your mind is wondering and you're just moving.
It's a great technique to just relax you and put you to sleep.
Or if you find yourself for no reason you're waking up at night and your mind is chasing you and you start thinking and feeling awake,
It's nice to do this technique then and put yourself back to sleep.
We are trying to find a connection in our body that is giving us that rest and we're going to focus on that.
For this technique,
There are many ways to explore it.
We're going to go through some of the main ones that can generate that feel rest.
Let's settle in and find that posture that you can maintain comfortably without needing to change it or to make too many adjustments.
If you are seated on a chair,
Try to have your feet flat on the floor and relax your feet.
Let's find that posture first and make sure we are comfortable.
Let's begin with the breath,
Lengthening the spine as you're sitting comfortably in whatever position you're sitting.
We're going to use first our breath to see if we can find that feel rest.
As you're breathing in,
Relax the shoulder and the neck.
Breathe out slowly.
Take all your time.
Again,
Breathe in,
Lengthening the spine,
Relaxing the shoulder and breathe out slowly and relaxing to your best that you can.
Let's continue doing this.
Inhaling,
Stretching,
Lengthening and exhaling slowly,
Relaxing just a few more.
Let's continue with having our eyes open or closed,
Whatever speaks to you,
That you're feeling that relaxation as you slowly exhale.
Try not to think of your breath,
Just let it happen.
Now try your awareness now to your exhale without changing it or thinking if you are doing it right.
Just bringing awareness to your exhale.
Noticing how your shoulders relaxes on every exhale,
Kind of drop down.
That moment of shoulders lowering,
Relaxing,
That is your feel rest.
This little moment of relaxation,
This little moment of sensation in your shoulder that is just coming down,
It's feel rest.
See if it is subtle,
That beautiful subtle rest.
When you contact with that rest,
With that relaxing,
Go ahead and give it a mental or even vocal label rest.
You can mentally say rest in your mind that you're feeling it or you can say it.
Rest.
You may also notice a pause at the end of exhalation naturally happening.
That also is rest.
Just notice that.
That little pause,
A moment of silence,
A moment of quietness at the end of exhale before your natural inhale that you take in.
Keep noticing and keep labeling rest if you find that tiny bit of rest there.
You might even notice with that exhale just like a little massage inward.
Your organs,
Everything else is kind of relaxing.
That is also rest.
There are many ways.
We already discovered three ways of experiencing this feel rest.
One was finding rest as you exhale your shoulder relaxing.
That little rest and stillness there.
Or the moment of pause your exhale before inhaling your inhale began.
And the wave of massage that exhale that feels inward into the body when you exhale it.
That also feels rest.
They all should bring some feeling of relaxing and calmness.
Just noticing the breath as it moves in and out,
Focusing on the sensation.
Were you feeling it?
Where is that rest?
And contact with that rest and label it feel rest.
So you are welcome to stay with the breath in whatever region whether it's in your shoulder or the end of exhalations or the wave that you feel inward relaxations.
Or you can wish to do another way to find rest in your body.
You are welcome to do that as well.
We can intentionally relax any tension in our muscle.
For many of us we carry lots of tension around the neck and shoulders.
So you can go ahead and check and see if that is the case for you and you feeling your shoulders and neck are a little bit tense.
If it is,
I invite you to find those muscles,
To connect with them and to relax them.
Even if it's happening just for one second,
Just focus on that tension on your muscles.
And if you find that one second just a little bit of relaxation in your shoulders or neck,
Go ahead,
Label it rest.
Even if it's a subtle sensation but it's not a sharp pain,
You can label it rest.
So notice that you are tense there and we are deliberately focusing on it so we can relax it.
Even if it comes right back the tension or even if it's very subtle,
We just want to relax it whatever way we can with our breath,
With our focus.
Just keep concentrating,
Focusing on that particular tension.
We're going to use our equanimity and concentration to relax it.
So we are telling the body it's okay to have this tension,
This uncomfortable sensation.
It's okay.
So this way we are applying our equanimity to this region,
Just our shoulders,
Our neck and then relax.
You can continue working with this area or you are welcome to explore any other areas in your body that feel tense.
Or if there is a part in your body that need that extra attention today or if there is pain there,
You can just work with that particular area.
Applying equanimity and keep saying it's okay to have this pain and just try to relax it even more.
If you find this discomfort pain is way too much for you to find or feel rest,
That's okay.
Then you can go gently back to your breath and focus on that exhale and that pause on that exhale and just stay there.
Maybe you can invite the area where the pain is,
The edges of that pain,
Not the center of that pain.
Maybe you want to focus there and see if you can just hang around and relax around that pain.
I like to use some visualization.
You may imagine a nice warm towel placed on that center of that area of pain as you are focusing around the edges of that pain.
Or maybe someone is massaging that area softly,
Gently,
With care,
Bringing so much comfort.
You are feeling rest and even if it's subtle,
Even if it's for a few seconds,
If you find it,
Label it,
Rest.
Again,
If this is too much for you to focus today,
Stay with your breath and relax the body.
You are welcome to change,
To move to any part of your body that brings you comfort and feel rest.
Just notice where you are holding your attention in your body,
Invited to relax.
Relax the muscles and feeling that letting go.
The feeling of that beautiful sensation and connecting with relaxation.
And if you feel that little tiny rest,
Label it,
Rest.
And then you can continue repeating this with different part of your body that's feeling uncomfortable and bringing that beautiful relaxation.
And the easy part to do to feel rest is sometimes to direct our attention to a neutral part in our body.
Not the pain,
Not the tension,
Just where it is natural.
You might have some part that does not have any tension or pain that are available for you to find rest.
It could be your feet,
Your toes,
It could be the palm in your hands or fingers,
It could be the loop in your ears,
Behind your ears,
Or even the tip of your nose.
Anywhere where there is no activation of feeling of discomfort or pain.
So for a few minutes in silence,
Go ahead and explore your options.
You can relax your breath,
Relax the muscles,
Or you can stay with your neutral spine in your body.
I believe,
Rest.
Go ahead,
Relax,
Take a deep breath,
And let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Now go ahead and open your eyes if your eyes were halfway open or closed.
Just open them and just relax even a little more.
Maybe a gentle move in your body,
Soft movement,
Enjoying the relaxation in your body,
Feeling just the gravity pulling you even more down,
Feeling heavy,
Feeling rest in your body.
Feeling so comfortable and calm,
Maybe the quieting the mind as we're focusing on all those beautiful areas in our body,
Finding rest.
So see if you can apply a little bit of this technique if you rest in your day from moment to moment to discover this beautiful treasure of calmness and relaxation that is so available to you at any moment.
Even in that middle of night when you wake up and you can't go to sleep,
Explore and use this technique to just relax you even more and enjoy the part that already are peaceful,
Restful in your body.
This brings us to our end to our meditation today.
I want to thank you for your practice and have an amazing day with rest.
Namaste.
