So just take a moment now.
To settle in.
To a lazy.
Easy relaxation.
Where you have nowhere to go.
And nothing to do except breathe.
Two.
.
.
Relax.
Taking a moment to make sure that you are warm.
Comfortable.
And undisturbed.
Giving yourself this gift of space.
This gift.
This gift of relaxation.
Time.
And when you are ready,
If it feels good for you today,
I'd like to invite you now to close your eyes.
And for a moment or two,
To do nothing.
Nothing at all.
And you may notice that you have little thoughts that travel across the mirror of your mind.
And you can let those thoughts go,
Just let them go.
As you settle deeper.
And deeper.
Into relaxation.
And release.
And I'd like to invite you now gently.
.
.
And lazily.
To place your focus on the 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.
Where 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.
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 this space.
A gentle space.
Before once again yielding to the in-breath.
Following the path of the in-breath all the way.
To the space at the top of the breath.
Before releasing once more onto the out-breath.
And noticing with a lazy,
Easy curiosity.
That the out-breath can become longer than the in-breath.
And that maybe this feels right.
And this feels good.
And as the out breath lengthens away lazily.
You may find that you feel more and more relaxed.
More and more relaxed.
And now,
From this lazy,
Easy,
Relaxed place.
I'd like you to really slowly.
.
.
Place your focus at the top of your head.
And begin to imagine the muscles of your scalp.
Releasing.
Relaxing.
Letting go.
And it's like a wave of relaxation that starts to flow.
All the way down.
Down your skull.
Down your forehead.
Softening and releasing.
Melting.
Like butter.
Releasing in the eyes,
Around the eye sockets.
Down across your cheeks.
Across the back of your head and down your neck.
Letting go.
Softening and melting.
Feeling the wave of relaxation spread now.
Down your neck,
Letting go,
Softening and melting.
Down into your body,
Down into your shoulders.
Across your chest and down your arms,
All the way to the ends of your fingers,
Releasing,
Softening and melting down your spine,
Vertebra by vertebra.
Down.
Through your ribcage and into your belly.
Down into your pelvis,
Into your pelvic floor,
Letting go,
Softening and releasing.
Into your hips and down,
Down.
Down your leg.
Through your thigh muscles,
Releasing,
Melting,
And letting go in your knees,
Your shins,
And your calves.
Down.
Down.
Through your ankles,
Into your heels.
Through the arches of your feet.
Through the balls of your feet.
And all the way into the very tips of your toes.
The whole of your body now.
Lazy,
Easy and relaxed.
With this beautiful melting sensation.
This beautiful melting sensation.
And as your body settles now.
Into deeper and even deeper levels of relaxation.
You find.
That your mind is able to drift freely.
And easily.
A beautiful,
Calm and peaceful feeling.
Following the path of the breath.
All the way.
All the way.
As you continue to explore.
Freely.
Happily,
Easily and confidently.
Drifting And as you drift.
.
.
You become aware very gradually.
Of a scent.
Something green and soft.
And faintly sweet.
Folding around you before you've even decided to notice it.
And slowly.
Gently.
You become aware of where you are.
And you find yourself in the garden again.
And you let yourself simply be here for a while.
Present.
And still.
In this beautiful place.
And the hedgerow rises all around you,
Full.
Fragrant.
Alive with everything you have grown.
And you breathe it all in,
Slowly.
The scent of leaf and flower,
Warm earth.
Something sweet drifting from somewhere you can't quite place.
And you feel the safety of it.
The particular calm that only comes from being in this place.
Entirely on your own.
And this place is yours.
It is always available to you,
Whether you are standing inside it,
Like now,
Or far away,
Going about your day,
Barely thinking about it at all.
Sometimes it will fade into the background of your attention,
Quiet.
Unremarkable.
Simply there.
And sometimes it will be vivid,
Palpable.
Close enough to feel against your skin and in your senses,
The way it is tonight.
Either way,
It is alive and thriving,
Whether you are watching it or not.
And you let your eyes travel along the shapes you know so well.
The curve of the gate.
The place is thick and lush.
The small familiar sounds of birds singing,
Settling.
And there,
Low near the roots.
You finally see what's been rustling there all along.
A bunny fat little hedgehog.
Going about her business.
Entirely unbothered by your presence.
Entirely at home.
Nothing here is asking anything of you.
And there is nowhere else to be.
And you could stay like this a long while.
The beauty of it alone is enough,
A kind of quiet,
Complete contentment.
The kind that comes after something has been tended lovingly.
For a very long time.
And after a while,
Resting easily in all of this.
Small details begin to catch your attention.
Here,
A part that was once close and dense.
Now sits a little looser,
A little more open than you remember growing it.
And you do not reach to close it.
Instead,
You notice simply.
What it's like to find this.
A part of your own boundary,
Softer than it used to be.
And nothing in you rushes to fix it.
You remember faintly what this part was for.
Something that needed holding back once that doesn't press here anymore.
Whatever once pushed against it has simply.
.
.
Stopped coming.
Further along,
Something else has arrived that you did not plant.
A small bright shoot.
Winding up through the base of the hedge.
And you lean in to look more closely,
It's delicate,
New.
Nothing like the rest of the hedge around it.
And you find yourself curious.
Gardens do this.
They surprise you.
And you watch a while this small bright thing.
And you notice it isn't still.
Even as you watch it leans,
Searching.
The way new growth always searches until it finds the faintest thread.
Of something to climb.
And begins slowly.
To wind its own way upward,
Choosing its own path through the hedge,
Without any help from you at all.
You don't guide it,
You don't decide its shape,
The way you once decided the gate,
The thorn,
The height of what grew in the bare places.
This one is simply its own,
Arriving in its own time,
Finding its own way.
And you understand something as you watch it climb.
That this is what a living boundary does.
It doesn't stay fixed,
Finished,
The same forever.
It's shift.
It makes room.
Here and there for whatever still wants to begin.
And whatever wants to be let go.
And you stand back and take in all of it together all at once.
This place.
Full and alive.
The place that has loosened quiet now.
Asking nothing of you.
The small green thing climbing its own way towards the light.
And somewhere low near the roots.
The Hedgehog,
Softly rustling.
Still going about her business entirely unbothered.
And entirely at home.
And nothing needs doing here tonight.
You can simply stay as long as you like.
Inside all of it.
The old.
And the new.
And the quietly unfinished.
All at once.
All exactly as it should be.
And as you prepare now to continue on your journey.
You know that you can move forward.
Refreshed.
And with a lightness of step.
Travelling along your path.
Calm.
Peaceful.
Peaceful in your mind,
Centered in the knowledge that you are in control.
You are in control of your emotions.
In control of your feelings and in control of the thoughts to which you choose.
To give your precious attention.
Now.
And into the future.
So gently now.
Bringing your focus lazily back to the breath.
And specifically to the out-breath.
Following the path of the out-breath all the way.
To the end of the breath.
To the space.
The pause.
Time to reflect.
Before the easy in-breath comes in.
Yielding to the in-breath now.
Following the path of the in-breath.
All the way to the top of the breath.
To the space before the out-breath releases once more.
This lazy gentle breath pattern.
Which happens all by itself.
And then placing your focus lazily at the top of your head.
And finding that melting sensation once more,
Sweeping down through the body,
Softening,
Melting,
Releasing.
Letting go of all that you want to let go of.
Finding in its place calm,
Peaceful,
Settled space.
And then finding your awareness in the very tips of your toes.
Bringing physical sensation back to the body.
So finding a wiggle and a stretch,
A wiggle and a stretch that moves through your feet and up your shins and your calves.
Through your knees and your thighs,
Stretching and wiggling in your legs.
And into the base of your spine now,
On your pelvis,
Up the spine,
Through your belly,
Through your ribcage,
Up to your shoulders,
Wiggling and stretching,
Letting that movement travel down your arms all the way.
All the way down your arms to the very tips of your fingers and the tips of your thumbs.
And the wiggle and the stretch moving up your neck and around the back of the skull.
And down to your face.
So the whole of your body now physically present.
And should you choose now to go to sleep?
Then you sleep deep and peaceful,
Feeling calm.
Feeling subtle.
And should you choose now to wait?
Then gently,
Lazily.
Beginning to deepen the breath.
Letting each in-breath bring you a little more presence.
A little more aware.
Feeling the breath fill you with a quiet,
Settled awareness.
A quiet,
Settled aliveness.
And with each out breath,
Releasing the last of this deep relaxation,
Softly.
Easily.
In your own time.
Becoming aware now of the sounds around you.
The feeling of where you are,
Your body warm and present and completely your own.
And when you are ready.
In your own time.
Gently open your eyes.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
