Hello and welcome to this short five-minute practice.
A chance to press pause,
To slow down,
Maybe drop out of the busy thinking mind and connect to the relaxation that's there.
So I'm going to invite you to gently close down your eyes,
If that feels okay.
To bring your awareness to your feet and your seat.
And to breathe in a comfortable way in through the nose and out through the nose.
In through the nose and out through the nose.
And as you continue to breathe in through the nose and out through the nose,
See if you can find a little more length in your spine as you inhale.
And as you exhale,
Notice some gentleness or softness in the chest area.
So breathing in,
Finding a bit of length in the spine.
Exhaling like a wave of softness and gentleness from the chest down through the belly,
Right down to the pelvis.
And so the inhale,
We're finding length in the spine.
Exhale,
A lovely wave of relaxation and softness down the front of the body.
And on your next exhale,
Inviting you to relax your shoulders,
Let them fall away from the ears.
Breathing in,
Continuing to find that little bit more length in the spine.
Exhaling,
Melting through the shoulders and feeling that melting going down through the arms,
Spreading.
Inhaling,
Exhaling softness down the shoulders,
The arms,
Right down into the hands and fingers.
And now as you continue to breathe in a comfortable way,
Just really feel the relaxation through the chest and the belly,
The shoulders and the arms.
You don't need to go looking for anything,
Just notice what's already there.
And now in your next couple of breaths,
With each exhale,
Just leaning toward the relaxation that's already there in the lower body,
The legs,
Heavy,
Resting.
Notice where in the lower body feels the most relaxed.
And with each exhale,
Allow the relaxation to spread from that area throughout the whole lower body,
Softening the jaw,
Maybe feeling some of this relaxation in the face.
For these last couple of breaths together,
With every exhale,
Feel this relaxation throughout your whole body,
From the jaw,
The face,
The head,
Down through the chest and belly,
The shoulders,
Arms and hands,
The legs,
Right down to the feet.
Three more nice full breaths,
Breathing in,
Exhaling,
Feeling that relaxation.
Breathing in,
Exhaling.
And one more time,
And exhaling.
And as you continue with your day,
I invite you to recognize how at any time you can find some of this relaxation in the body,
Even when there's tensions in the body or there's chaos in the mind,
We can invite the breath to nourish us and allow our exhale to soften us.
When you feel ready,
Gently opening the eyes,
If the eyes were closed,
And wishing you a lovely day.
