Welcome.
Before we begin today's practice.
I'd like to share a gentle reminder.
This time is entirely yours and you are the highest authority in the room.
Traditional meditation often asks for strict stillness or deep focus,
But today we prioritise your comfort and your nervous system's safety above all else.
As we move through this session,
Please know that you have full permission to adapt anything I say If a prompt doesn't feel right for you today,
You can choose to ignore it.
If closing your eyes feels uncomfortable.
Feel free to keep them open or with a soft gaze.
You are always welcome to stretch.
Fidget.
Change your position or your posture or pause this recording whenever your body asks you to.
You are safe.
You are in control.
And you get to decide exactly how you want to rest today.
Let's begin.
Whenever you are ready.
So find a comfortable,
Warm space to rest.
As we begin,
Remember that you are in total control.
You can keep your eyes open.
Change your posture at any time.
Listen to what your body needs.
Take a few moments now.
To feel the solid support of the surface beneath you,
Feeling your shoulders.
Your pelvis and your heels resting heavily,
Held safely by the ground.
And I'd like to invite you now,
Gently.
And lazily.
To place your focus on your breath.
And specifically on your out-breath.
Following the path of the out-breath all the way.
All the way.
All the way to the end of the breath.
And at the end of the breath,
You will find that there is a space,
A pause.
Time to stop.
And then you will notice that the in-breath starts to ask you to take notice.
And so you yield to the in-breath.
And follow the path of the in-breath all the way.
All the way to the top of the breath.
To the space at the top of the in-breath.
Before the out-breath releases once more.
And you follow the path of the out-breath,
The lazy,
Gentle out-breath.
All the way to the end of the breath,
To the space,
The gentle space,
Before once again yielding to the in-breath.
Following the path of the in-breath all the way to the top.
To that space at the top of the in-breath.
Before releasing once more onto the out-breath.
And you will be breathing differently to me.
So you just take the time you need.
To explore your own breath pattern,
Finding those spaces.
At the end of the out breath.
And at the top of the in-breath and really.
Tuning in to the way your body wants to breathe today.
Which will be different to the way it breathed yesterday.
And different to the way it will breathe tomorrow.
And noticing with a lazy,
Easy curiosity.
That the out-breath can become longer than the in-breath.
And that when it happens.
.
.
This feels right and it feels good.
And as the out-breath lengthens away,
Lazily.
You might find that you feel more and more relaxed.
More and more relaxed.
And from that relaxed place if it feels available to you now.
See if you can invite your mind.
And your imagination.
All the way down into the soles of your feet.
Choosing to think.
About relaxing your toes.
Big toe.
Your second toe.
Your third toe.
Your fourth toe,
Your little toe.
The balls of your feet.
The arches of your feet.
Your heels.
All the way down the outside of your feet,
From your little toes all the way down the edge of the outside.
Down to your heels.
Inviting a sense of softening,
Releasing and letting go.
And then in your mind's eye,
In your imagination if you wish.
Imagining traveling up.
Towards your ankles.
Softening in your ankle joints.
Perhaps imagining that your ankles are full of warm air.
So that your ankles soften and your feet,
Your toes can just release and soften away from your ankles,
Supported completely by the ground beneath you.
Notice how that feels in your body.
And moving up in your imagination,
Softening in your calf muscles.
It's almost like the flesh and the skin and the muscle.
Almost dissolving away from the shin bones.
Softening,
Releasing,
Melting.
Imagining your shin bones spreading,
Lengthening,
Releasing.
All of that tension that's introduced just through walking,
Daily living,
Moving up and down stairs.
Giving yourself permission now to let it go.
Softening,
Settling,
Spreading.
Imagining your knee joints opening up.
Perhaps again,
That sense of warm air,
Allowing your thigh muscles to find relaxation so that the flesh,
The skin.
The muscle softens and spreads,
Melting,
Lengthening in the thigh bones.
So that anything that's been compressed in there anything that's tightened up.
Has the space now to spiral and lengthen.
Imagining your hips now,
Your hip joints.
Where they meet the top of your thigh bone.
That's space.
Perhaps imagining the warm air once more.
So that your legs feel incredibly light,
Spacious.
Completely supported by the surface underneath you.
It's a real sense of release and length and opening.
Moving up now.
Into your buttock muscles and towards the lower belly and pelvic area and as we bring awareness to this part of the body remember you can choose to stay here.
Or you can keep your attention gently anchored in your feet.
Or the solid ground beneath you.
And if you choose now to explore this space with me.
Let's really allow some time now.
To invite ease in this place.
And if you notice those little pockets of tension.
Or little tiny places of holding.
Just notice them with kindness.
Changing your posture or your focus whenever you need to.
And noticing if you can feel the weight of the pelvis.
The back of the pelvis resting.
On the floor or on your bed or wherever you are.
The sacrum.
And then the iliac crest,
The top.
Of the pelvis at the back opening like wings.
Opening like wings.
And notice if that image allows the sacrum to settle a little deeper into the support beneath you.
A sense of space and air and softening.
And at the back of the pelvis.
A sense of opening,
Allowing everything to release at its own pace.
Moving up now,
Becoming aware of your spine,
Feeling how the whole of the spine is held by gravity from the tailbone all the way up to the base of the skull.
And the length of the spine.
The curves of the spine,
The natural curve at the waist and at the neck.
So letting the back of your waist relax and soften,
But also.
Realising that there is a natural curve there.
No need to flatten it out.
Just letting it be exactly as it is.
And then inviting the whole of your belly to.
.
.
Soften to release.
To relax and let go,
You might find that it gurgles as it softens.
And if it does we can welcome that sound,
It's just a gentle sign of your digestive system shifting into rest.
Moving up the spine vertebra by vertebra.
Imagining space between those bones,
Perhaps imagining those spaces are filled with warm,
Soft air.
Feeling a sense of lengthening,
Softening,
Releasing.
So imagining now the area between your shoulder blades spreading away,
Spreading away from your spine to either side and again.
Those shoulder blades opening like wings.
You're letting your wings out.
Letting your wings out,
Letting them stretch.
Moving around to the front now,
Imagining your rib bones.
And imagining those bones being almost as soft as the belly.
Giving in to the pull of gravity and releasing into the natural rhythm of your breath.
Following the path of the out-breath all the way to the end of the breath,
To that now familiar space.
Resting in that space.
And just being ready for the in-breath noticing.
When does the in-breath start to appear?
What happens in your body?
And then yielding to the in-breath.
Following the path of the in-breath all the way to the top of the breath.
The space.
Before the out-breath releases away once more.
Imagining your torso now lengthening and softening.
Safely held by the ground beneath you.
Visualising your shoulder sockets.
See them also filled with warm air.
So that your arms feel incredibly light.
Long and relaxed,
Being aware also of the weight of your arms and your hands,
Heavy and released on the floor.
Bringing your awareness to your thumbs now,
Your four fingers.
First finger,
Second finger.
Third,
And little.
The palms of your hands,
Imagine the palms of your hands softening and spreading,
Your wrists releasing in the wrist bones,
Softening in your forearms,
Your elbows,
Your upper arms.
And coming back to the shoulders now,
Feeling the weight.
Of your whole shoulder girdle.
Resting on the floor.
Moving your imagination into the base of your neck now.
Letting your spine,
Your neck spine,
Soften into support again.
There's a natural curve there in the neck.
There's no need to flatten it.
Just feeling that curve of those top seven vertebrae.
And next,
As we move around towards the throat,
If focusing here feels uncomfortable at all,
Feel free to keep your attention on the weight of your hands.
And if it feels okay,
Sensing a softness in the throat,
Allowing a sense of opening in the front of the throat.
Just take a moment.
Notice if there is anywhere that wants to soften right now.
And if your body wants to hold on to tension,
Letting that be okay too.
Feeling the weight of your head.
Feel the weight of your head on the floor or your bed or wherever you are.
And just spend some time here.
Letting the surface beneath you fully take the weight of your head.
Let gravity hold you.
Resting exactly as you are.
Softening.
Letting your imagination travel to the jaw,
The jaw muscles,
Right next to the ears,
Softening there.
Letting the jaw soften as much as it wants to.
It may even open just a little bit.
Spend some time with the jaw.
Spend some time in this place,
Inviting a sense of release without any pressure to change how it feels.
And if you notice a feeling of release,
Welcoming that feeling.
Moving awareness now to your tongue.
Letting your tongue soften and relax inside the mouth,
From the base of the tongue all the way through the middle,
Through the tip and the sides of the tongue.
Bringing your awareness to the muscles of your face,
Forehead,
Eye sockets,
Eyes,
Cheekbones.
Letting the skin of your face soften and release across the bones of your face.
A gentle sense of melting,
Softening,
Opening,
Releasing and smoothing.
Cheeks,
Lips,
Forehead,
Eyelids.
Let your eyes come to stillness inside their sockets.
Let your imagination guide you now,
All the way up to the scalp.
All the way.
Let the muscles relax all the way around your hairline.
All the way to the top of the crown of the head.
The back of the head.
Visualise it all softening.
And then,
If you like.
Let your attention sweep back down through your whole body now.
Take your time,
Softened,
Released,
Resting heavily and safely on the floor or on your bed or wherever you are.
Take some time now.
To really let this feeling,
This sensation move through you.
Enjoying this moment of complete rest.
Where there is nothing for you to do.
And nowhere else you need to be.
And now.
With a lazy,
Easy curiosity.
Just bring your attention back to the natural.
Unhurried rhythm of your breath.
Noticing the quiet rise and fall of your chest or your belly exactly as it is.
Noticing the air coming into your nostrils,
Cool.
And noticing the air as it leaves your nostrils.
Warm.
Noticing that familiar space at the end of the out-breath.
Where nothing much seems to happen.
Until you feel that desire to breathe in once more.
And now very slowly begin to expand your awareness outward.
Noticing the feeling of the air on your skin.
Listening to the ambient sounds in the room around you or the distant world outside beyond.
Feeling the solid,
Unchanging support of the floor or your bed beneath your body or wherever you are.
Anchoring you right here in this present moment.
And when you feel ready,
There is no rush at all.
You might begin to introduce some tiny gentle movements,
Wriggling your toes,
A gentle stretch of your feet,
Gently wriggling or stretching your fingers.
And then maybe allowing that physical movement to ripple through you like a wave.
Until you are aware of your whole physical body.
And perhaps taking a slightly deeper,
Refreshing breath now.
And if your eyes have been closed,
You can slowly invite the light back in.
Letting your surroundings slowly come back into focus.
And take a moment now to thank yourself for giving your body and mind this time to rest and restore today.
Carrying this feeling of support with you as you transition back into your day.
Thank you for practicing with me.
