G'day,
My name is Rachel Grace.
Thanks for joining me for this practice.
I invite you to take a moment now to prepare for this practice by finding a posture that supports you to be both alert and relaxed.
Allowing your eyes to gently close or softening your gaze down to the floor in front of you if that feels right for you.
We'll start the practice with the ring of a gong.
As you settle in,
Let your attention rest on the breath.
Breathing in,
Know you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know you're breathing out.
In this session,
We practice de-stressing mindfully by consciously relaxing the body from head to toe.
To begin,
I invite you to bring a relaxed attention to your eyes and forehead,
Noticing the sensations there.
Consciously softening and relaxing any tension in the eyes and forehead.
Shifting attention to the jaw and tongue,
Noticing if there's any tension there.
Unclenching the jaw,
Relaxing the root of the tongue.
Shifting attention to the neck and shoulders,
Consciously relaxing the neck and shoulders.
Scanning down the arms to the hands,
Relaxing them as you go.
Bringing awareness to the chest,
Noticing how it softens on the out-breath,
Letting the chest relax a little more with each out-breath.
Taking your attention to the belly,
Not judging,
Just noticing the sensations there.
Noticing the sensations in the belly.
Now scanning all through your back,
Letting the light of your awareness melt away any tension being held in your back as you breathe in and out.
Relaxing attention through the entire pelvic region,
Releasing any holding or tightness you find there,
Relaxing and letting go.
Sending down to the upper legs and the lower legs,
Letting them rest and be at ease.
Bringing awareness to your ankles and then to your feet.
Feeling the feet on the floor,
Letting them relax into the pull of gravity.
Notice how the ground beneath you supports you where you are.
Relaxing your feet and ankles.
Now allowing your awareness to fill your whole body,
Noticing the entire field of changing sensations throughout the body and holding it all with a gentle and relaxed awareness.
Feeling the warmth of your awareness,
Create the space for your whole body to soften and relax.
Sending down to the upper legs and the lower legs.
As we come to the end of our practice,
I invite you to take a deep breath in,
Filling your lungs right up and then relaxing on a long and slow gentle exhalation.
We'll finish the practice with the ringing of the gong.
Bringing your eyes to open,
Gently bringing your attention back up into the environment around you.
Take a moment now to appreciate yourself for the dedication to your own well-being that you've just demonstrated.
Each time you practice you are changing your brain for the better and you're building your capacity to handle life more skillfully so well done.
May mindfulness positively impact you,
What you do and all of those around you.
Thank you for practicing with me,
I hope you will join me again.
