Simple, Nourishing, Heartfelt Rest

If you are in need of a simply restful and nourishing practice, come with me on this guided meditation. You will leave feeling grounded in presence and relaxed in your body so that you are able to move on with your day of work or night of rest.

Transcript

Hi,

Dear one.

The only thing that you will be asked to do during this meditation or this time is to just rest.

That may be sounding a little easier than it actually is.

In reality,

It can be really hard for us to trust our bodies enough,

To trust ourselves enough that we can rest back and simply surrender without doing anything.

We live in a culture that is obsessed with doing and achieving.

Everyone wants the next greatest thing,

The next best thing,

Their next future thing,

And we are all living very much in our future.

And sometimes the scary thing about just simply resting is that you're called to live simply in the present.

And if you are someone who maybe has emotions or thoughts or feelings that can feel big or scary or overwhelming,

Being in the present isn't always pleasant.

So we're going to try for this very short practice to just drop into our bodies,

To rest in the present moment,

And to see what unfolds.

So I invite you to find a comfortable seated or lying position.

If you're lying down,

It might be helpful to cover up with a blanket.

And if you're seated,

You may want to lean against something,

Maybe the back of your couch,

If you're in your car,

Parked car,

Your seat is a great thing.

You can kind of adjust it so it feels comfortable.

You can even sit against a wall or you can just recline.

Find what works for you so that you will be able to eventually close your eyes and release your body's weight into something.

So once you've found your position,

I do invite you to close your eyes if that feels right to you.

And see if you can close them softly.

Notice any tension around the eye sockets.

From there,

Maybe just do a quick body scan with your eyes closed.

From the top of your head,

Notice any tension moving down into the neck.

Drop the shoulders away from the ears.

Relax the whole face.

Soften through the chest and the belly,

Your hips and your legs.

Just take a moment to notice any tension and see if you can bring some intentional softening into the body.

And now I invite you to move your awareness to the parts of your body that are touching the surface beneath you.

So if you're seated,

That might be your buttocks and if you're lying down,

That may also encompass your legs or your back.

I want you to bring your awareness almost in a microscopic fashion.

Get curious about all those places that are touching this surface that is holding you.

Notice maybe some feelings of pressure.

You can use your sense of touch to notice temperature changes along the body where you're touching the surface beneath you.

And finally,

Notice how at these places,

You are giving over some of your weight.

You're relaxing some part of you and you're trusting some part of the surface beneath you to hold you.

Trust is a very powerful concept.

Everything that you are being held can tend to create feelings of safety.

So see if you can cultivate this feeling of safety right now.

You can even maybe feel the steadiness of the surface beneath you that is holding you.

It's so steady.

You won't be dropped and it can hold your weight.

So as you cultivate these feelings of trust and safety,

See if at the same time you can give some of your weight over to the surface that's holding you.

You can give some of your heaviness and allow the parts of your body to become heavier.

You are held here.

You are held by gravity,

This force that holds us very close to the earth.

It doesn't let us fall away.

What would it feel like to be completely trusting and to completely surrender your body to this force?

What kind of softness could you find in this moment if you decided to just surrender?

Now I'd like to invite your awareness to come for a little walk with me along the body.

So as we visit different places in the body,

I'd like you to imagine just receiving nourishment in that place.

Just opening to receive the nourishment coming so readily toward you.

Through the breath you inhale,

Through the energy and air around you,

The blood rushing through your body to make sure you have enough oxygen.

Let's start with the crown of the head.

So bring your awareness to the crown.

Allow yourself to open here and just receive any nourishment that you are given.

You don't have to name it or know it,

But just this simple act of allowing yourself to open and welcome nourishment is a really important thing to do for your own self-care.

Dropping down into the space between the eyebrows and the forehead.

Allow yourself to just be open here,

An open reception,

Nourishment and softness,

Tenderness.

Move down through the jaw,

Softening there.

Bring your awareness down through the throat all the way to the base of the throat between the collar bones.

Soften here at the base of the throat and see how softening here creates this domino effect through the shoulders and the chest.

Move your awareness down through the arms all the way into the hands.

If your hands are open here,

Imagine you're receiving a beautiful light through the palms of your hands.

Allow this light and this gift that you are receiving to travel back up through the arms all the way to the shoulders and bring that light and pour it down into the chest.

Allow it to fall like a waterfall,

Filling the whole chest and the whole heart with the nourishment of this light that you are just welcoming in.

Can even imagine that your chest is expanding with this light.

Then allow this light to travel down into the belly,

Warming that whole abdomen,

Filling the belly and then traveling down into the pelvis.

Just receiving this light here,

This nourishment in the pelvis.

And then allow it to travel down through the legs,

Softly and tenderly down through the legs,

Making them feel even a bit more heavy as it pulls through the ankles,

The feet.

Maybe you can feel like a tingling sensation in the soles of the feet and the toes.

And expand your awareness from here through the feet up through the legs,

Through the whole abdomen,

The chest,

The arms and hands,

Into the head so you're taking up the entire body.

Allow yourself to take up your entire body with your being.

Just resting here,

Resting in this beautiful body held so closely to the earth,

Trusting that you are safe,

You are held.

And there is an eternal softness guiding you,

An eternal love coursing through you.

And you can feel it if you're right here in your body in this present moment.

And as you rest in this beautiful space,

This beautiful presence,

I invite you to notice the peace surrounding you.

Listen in and just be.

You can be here for as long as you need to be here.

Imagine you're soaking this presence in like a sponge.

This light,

This beauty,

This love.

Imagine that the animal of your body is soaking it all in just like a porous sponge.

On each inhale,

Just really soaking it all the way into your muscles,

Your bones,

Your very core of your being.

Just flooding your tissues and your organs and radiating from your skin.

And I invite you now very gently to bring your awareness to your heart.

And if you'd like,

You can bring both of your hands to your heart as well.

And take a moment here,

You don't necessarily have to feel anything in particular.

You may feel a contentment or gratitude or joy arising.

But we're not trying to attain these things.

We're not going for a certain state of mind.

All we're trying to do is bring our awareness to the heart to acknowledge this space.

I invite you in this space to take three more breaths.

Three more nice deep inhales expanding through the chest.

And as you exhale,

You can exhale through your mouth or your nose just releasing anything that you are ready to let go of.

And I invite you to sit here for as long as you'd like resting in whatever presence that you are finding right now.

And if you're ready to come back,

You can just begin to wiggle the fingers and the toes or make really gentle,

Luscious movements with your body.

And as you move,

Maybe bring to mind the nourishment you received,

This open reception you felt and see if you can just carry that into the motions you're making with your body right now as you come out of this meditation.

I invite you to move in whatever way feels nice for you.

Notice anything touching your skin,

Notice your senses enlivening,

Smell,

Taste.

And open your eyes and see the light coming in.

I want to take a moment to thank you so much for practicing with me today.

I hope this meditation brought you a few moments of mindfulness,

Relaxation,

Present moment awareness and maybe even a hint of joy.

I love you.

Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you for this beautiful meditation to help me reset and continue my day with love ❤️

Beautiful

Yes that was nourishing

Incredibly nourishing! Thank you