As you begin to release and let go into the ground,
The support of whatever is beneath you.
Take tension to slowly unravel.
No need to force it.
Rather than an active letting go.
This letting go is more of an invitation.
You can imagine the body beginning to sink.
The mobilizers of the body,
The arms and legs getting heavy and sinking into stillness.
The stabilizers of the body,
Your core,
Your abdominal muscles softening,
Melting into ease.
Exploding and moving easily with breath.
Let the eyes which we use all day sink down and back.
Slowly leaving consciousness.
The eyelids like two soft blankets over the eyes.
As this body releases down,
Let the ground envelop you and hold you so that you need to do nothing but rest with it.
Now please begin to shape the breath.
Slowly inhaling and lengthening out the exhale.
The action is very quiet,
Filled with ease.
But there is slight effort in smoothing out the inhale and lengthening the exhale.
If you inhale for a count of four,
You might exhale for six or eight.
Take a few rounds on your own,
The inhale followed by the exhale,
Followed by the inhale,
Followed by a longer exhale,
Slower,
Longer and quieter.
Then begin to shift into natural breathing,
Letting go of any effort with the breath.
Realizing now that the rhythm will be smooth,
That the exhale will be slow and as long as it needs to be,
All on its own.
As you let the body take over breathing as it knows just how to do.
Begin to move your attention outwards and notice sounds.
Sounds directly in the room you're in.
Sounds a bit further in the distance,
Not reaching for the sounds,
Simply receiving them.
And if there aren't sounds,
Then receiving the silence,
The space between sounds.
Now imagining the background sounds beginning to dim,
The volume being turned down.
The sounds in the room you're in dimming,
The volume being turned down.
And then only the sound of my voice in the background of your consciousness.
Receiving the sound of my voice without reaching for it.
Feeling the sound of my voice will now begin a sensory journey of the body.
As I name different parts of the body,
Just bring your attention there without moving those parts.
Notice yourself from the inside out,
The effortlessness and the life,
The aliveness,
The sensations of this body.
Feeling at the center of the heart space,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Both sides of the chest relaxed.
The right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Sensing both shoulders.
The right elbow,
Left elbow,
Both elbows.
The right wrist,
Left wrist,
Both wrists relaxed.
Tip of the right thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
And fifth finger.
Tip of the left finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
And fifth finger.
All 10 fingers relaxed and vibrant with sensation.
Feeling the center of the heart space open and at ease.
The center of the upper belly,
The navel center,
The center of the lowest part of your belly,
The center of the bottom of your pelvis,
The right hip,
Left hip,
Both hips effortless.
The right knee,
Left knee,
Both knees relaxed.
The right ankle,
Left ankle,
Both ankles relaxed.
Tip of the right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
Tip of the left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
All 10 toes relaxed and effortless.
Feeling the back of the body,
The right side of your seat,
Left side of your seat,
Both sides of your seat,
The center of the lower back,
The length of the spine from bottom to top relaxed and awake.
The right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Both shoulder blades effortless.
The crown of the head,
The soft space between the eyebrows relaxed.
The right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Both eyebrows effortless.
The right ear,
Left ear,
Both ears relaxed and awake.
The right eye and lid,
The left eye and lid,
Both eyes and lids relaxed.
The bridge of the nose,
The tip of the nose,
The right cheek,
Left cheek,
Both cheeks,
The right nostril,
Left nostril,
Both nostrils,
The upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips full of sensation effortless.
The chin,
The notch at the base of the throat,
The center of the heart space.
Now sensing the entire front body,
Open,
Awake and relaxed.
The entire back of the body relaxed and effortless.
Sensing the whole body completely at ease,
Quiet,
Effortless.
Now sensing the space around the body,
The space around filled with air,
This air that feeds this body life.
The air surrounding your body made of healing energy,
Of energy that gives your body life.
Sensing this space around the body,
In your mind begin to see the space a couple of inches away from the forehead,
Right in front of the closed eyes.
Imagine this space to be like a giant blank screen,
A movie screen of the mind.
And on this screen,
See what you were doing right before you began this practice.
Just see it without analyzing.
A remembering of a past moment.
Now in your mind,
Go back in time to the middle of the day.
Remember comes up in your mind as the middle of the day,
See yourself,
What you were doing,
Feeling and thinking.
See this moment,
This past moment on the movie screen of the mind.
Now go back to the beginning of the day,
The moment right before waking up.
Seeing yourself resting,
Asleep and at ease.
A past moment from your subconscious.
See it on the movie screen of the mind,
The moment right before you woke up this morning.
Now allow this image,
The past to fade.
The screen of the mind becoming blank,
Like a starless night sky.
And then begin to fill this screen of the mind with the image of a place where you feel safe.
A place where you can be completely yourself,
Relaxed and at ease.
A healing space.
It might be somewhere in nature.
It might be a particular room.
It might be filled with certain people or one person.
See the colors of this space,
This healing space where you can relax,
Where you are effortlessly yourself.
In your mind,
In this movie screen of the mind,
You might notice what this place smells like,
Sounds like,
Tastes like.
Let the images of this place come about on their own without reaching.
No need to look for specifics.
Remember is flooding the mind of this healing space.
For a few moments,
Rest there.
Being held by this healing space within the movie screen of your own mind.
Now imagine this place beginning to dissolve.
Turning into bright white light.
The mind now filled with bright white light.
And the body filled with bright white light.
Rest as this light.
Effortless.
Simply at ease.
And begin to sense the ground beneath you,
The support of whatever you're resting against without moving.
Just sense it.
The solidity,
The support of what is beneath you.
And into the back,
Into the back of the body,
Into the support beneath you,
Very gently.
Begin to deepen the breath.
Gently begin to turn the hands down to the ground and bend the knees so that the feet are flat against the ground.
Fall completely over to one side and pause.
And then make your way up to a comfortable seat with your eyes closed,
Your palms at your heart.
Take your time,
The head is the last thing to come up.
Nod your chin to your heart.
Namaste.
Thank you for practicing with me.
