Lie down in a position most comfortable to you.
Close your eyes or cover the eyes if that feels okay.
And feel your whole body being supported by the surface beneath you.
Bring your awareness to all of those points where your body meets the bed or the floor or the ground.
And feel the heaviness in all of those points.
Feel any covers that may be over your body and any textures or temperatures against your skin.
Release your tongue and swallow to release your throat.
Let go of any tension in your jaw.
Begin to relax your arms and feel them become heavier.
Let go of any tension in your hips and feel the whole pelvis become heavier.
Relax your legs and feel them become heavier.
And once again bring all of your awareness to all of the points where your body meets the surface beneath it.
And feel all of those points sink a little bit deeper.
Just start to connect to your breath and I'll make a few longer exhalations.
So extend your exhale.
And each time you let go of the breath,
Feel all of those points of your body sink down deeper.
Now allow your breath to flow effortlessly and naturally.
You may now like to make a sankalpa or set an intention.
If you don't have one,
You could use this time to see if a sankalpa arises or you could work with one that you've been using.
Or you may like to use,
I'm filled with energy and life force with every breath that I breathe.
Whatever your choices,
Repeat it three times.
We'll now take a little journey around the body.
You want to name a part of your body,
Just repeat the name to yourself and feel that place from the inside out.
Holding your awareness there for a moment.
And we'll quickly move on to the next part of your body so if you got lost at any point,
Just rejoin when your awareness comes back to my voice.
Draw your attention to the center of the chest and into the heart.
Left collarbone.
Left shoulder.
Left upper arm.
Left lower arm.
Base of the thumb.
The whole thumb.
All four fingers.
The whole left arm.
Back to the heart center.
Right collarbone.
Right shoulder.
Right upper arm.
Right lower arm.
Base of the thumb.
The whole thumb.
All four fingers.
The whole right arm.
Back to the heart center.
Left chest.
Left waist.
Left hip.
Thigh.
Left knee.
Back of the knee.
Chin.
Calf.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the left foot.
Top of the foot.
All five toes.
The whole left leg.
Back to the heart center.
The right chest.
The waist.
Right hip.
Thigh.
Right knee.
Back of the knee.
The shin.
Calf.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the right foot.
Top of the foot.
All five toes.
The whole right leg.
Back to the heart center.
To the back of the heart.
Left shoulder blade.
Right shoulder blade.
Back of the neck.
Upper spine.
Lower spine.
The whole spine together.
Left back.
Right back.
The whole back.
Left buttock.
Right buttock.
Left heel.
Right heel.
Back to the heart.
Right lung.
Left lung.
Base of the throat.
Back of the throat.
Root of the tongue.
The tongue.
Roof of the mouth.
Inside left cheek.
Inside right cheek.
The top lip.
Bottom lip.
Both lips together.
The nose.
Tip of the nose.
Inside and left nostril.
Inside right nostril.
Both nostrils together.
Left ear.
Right ear.
Both ears together.
Left eye.
Right eye.
Both eyes together.
The point between the eyebrows.
The midpoint at the very centre of the brain.
The top of the head.
Back of the head.
The whole head.
The whole left arm.
The whole right arm.
The whole left leg.
The whole right leg.
The whole of the left side of the body.
The whole of the right side of the body.
The whole body.
Feel into the whole of your body.
The whole of your being resting.
And now we'll come through a phase of breath awareness.
Just breathing naturally without control.
Notice how your belly and chest gently rise and inhale.
And soften as you exhale.
And we're going to begin to count the breaths back starting at 33.
On each exhale counting back towards zero from 33.
If you lose count or reach zero then start again at 33.
The aim is not to reach zero but to be able to keep count and keep focused on your breath.
Continue to count down.
Coming back to 33 if you need to.
And let's let go of this breath awareness.
Going to come through a phase of visualising images.
Imagine you're walking in a beautiful forest.
Within a deep array of green.
Picture the variety of trees,
Plants and maybe flowers all around you.
What does your forest look like?
Is it dense or sparse?
Can you see sunlight sparkling through the leaves of the trees?
Or maybe you're walking in moonlight.
Is the air cool or warm?
Dry or moist?
What does the earth feel like beneath your feet as you walk?
What do your footsteps sound like?
As you walk on the earth.
Each step you take allow your vision to become clearer.
Welcoming any images coming into your mind's eye.
What other sounds can you hear?
Maybe birds or insects?
A rustling of leaves in the wind?
Or maybe a trickling stream in the distance?
Allow any sounds to come to you.
And what kind of smells are in your forest?
Can you smell the air?
Pines?
Or the freshness and aliveness of the air all around you?
Breathe in this fresh,
Clean air of the forest.
Feel its purity enter your lungs and body.
Feel the aliveness of the forest in every breath of air it gives you.
Be in the forest,
See and feel its embrace all around you.
Let go of this visualisation now.
We come into a more free flow of images.
Allow your thoughts to drift.
Lose focus of them.
Keep drifting mind and body totally relaxed and calm.
And start to notice the dark space behind your closed eyes.
Maybe there's just darkness there.
Or perhaps you can see colours,
Light,
Symbols or shapes.
Maybe even people or places.
Stay with whatever is there.
Watching this space with total detachment.
Prepare without becoming involved as if you were watching a film.
Allow any images to arise and dissolve.
Or simply stay with the darkness.
Trying to observe without judging any images as good or bad.
Whether you like or dislike them.
Remembering that anything you see here is not real.
They're just imagined images.
And now let go of watching this free flow.
And if you made a sankalpa or set an intention at the start,
Return to that now and repeat it three times.
If not,
Stay with the silence or you could repeat.
I fill myself with energy and life force with every breath that I breathe.
Repeat it three times.
And let's start to come back.
Listen to any sounds around you.
Feel your body within the space of the room you're in.
And gently begin to move your fingers and toes.
Taking some deeper inhalation.
So making your breath in longer and stronger than your exhale.
Maybe rolling the ears to the floor right and left.
Take any movement that you need to,
Any stretch as you come out.
And gently begin to open your eyes.
And come back.
