Hi,
I'm Nami.
Welcome to this guided meditation for deep relaxation.
Please sit in an upright but relaxed position.
Drop your gaze or close your eyes and just check in with yourself.
Just ask yourself how you feel right now.
You're not trying to change anything.
You're just checking in and acknowledging,
Just noting how you feel right now.
So we'll start our practice by taking some deep in-breaths into our lower belly and then some long slow out-breaths as though we're blowing out through a straw.
So let's take a deep in-breath to the count of three and then a long slow out-breath as if blowing out through a straw to the count of six.
So in two three,
Out two three four five six.
In two three and out two three four five six.
You do that a couple of times yourself.
Now when we lengthen the out-breath in that way,
We activate the parasympathetic nervous system which just allows us to rest and reset.
So it's a breathing technique that you can use whenever you feel like you need to relax.
And now just let the breath settle into its natural rhythm.
You don't need to do anything at all.
The body knows how to breathe.
Just notice.
In this practice we'll have extended periods of silence for you to simply sit and breathe.
And when we do this we activate the body's calming response.
When we sit and breathe we allow the brain to display the calm smooth harmonious waves called alpha brainwaves.
They're like the waves of the ocean coming in and then rolling back out.
Coming in and then rolling back out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
In,
Out,
In,
Out,
Relax.
In,
Out,
In,
Out.
As you simply sit and breathe,
Drop your shoulders,
Relax your jaw,
Relax your brow.
Allow your mind to float freely until it settles down.
Let thoughts come and go as they please.
If you find yourself attaching to thoughts or going down any rabbit holes,
The moment you recognize this is a moment of magic in the practice.
And you can gently just bring yourself back to the breath.
But you don't need to exert yourself trying to block out your thoughts.
Just remain passive,
Calm and remind yourself that we're sitting now,
We're breathing now,
We're relaxing now.
So let's sit quietly for a minute.
You stay with your breath like the waves of the ocean.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Let thoughts fade into the background,
Relax.
And when you notice your attention drifting,
When you notice yourself becoming attached to thoughts,
Just gently tell yourself,
We're sitting now,
We're breathing now,
We're relaxing now.
Be gentle,
Be kind.
Don't exert yourself,
Relax.
To be still,
To be quiet,
To be at ease.
This is the gift of relaxation and congratulations on giving yourself this gift today.
So as we prepare to end the practice,
Just repeat after me,
Either out loud or quietly to yourself,
May I live with ease.
May I live with ease.
May I live with ease.
Now slowly,
When you're ready,
Just become aware of the space around you and in your own time.
You gently open your eyes.
Thank you so much for sitting with me today.
