A Warm Bath: Guided Visualisation Relaxation Practice

Sink into a warm bath, and allow the music and the water to ease your mind and body. Guided visualisations connect deeply with our parasympathetic nervous system, telling the whole Self that it is safe to rest, release tension and let go of any need to hold on. Enjoy some precious time out with this deeply calming practice.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided visualization practice.

This practice will allow you to rest your body and your mind.

And all you need to do is follow the sound of my voice.

So let's begin.

Lie down on the floor on your back.

Spread your body across the surface of the earth,

Taking up all the space that you need.

Bring your awareness down into your legs and feet.

And as you breathe in,

Raise your right foot slightly off the floor.

Push the heel away,

Stretching from the hip all the way down to the heel.

And as you breathe out,

Replace the heel to the floor.

Allow the ankle to relax and the right foot to roll out to the side.

Relaxing all the way through the right leg,

Foot and ankle.

Take your awareness to your left leg and again as you breathe in,

Raising the heel off the floor.

Pushing the heel away from the body,

Stretching through from the hip all the way down the left leg.

And then with the out breath,

Replace the heel back to the floor.

Let the ankle soften and the foot rotate out to the side.

Allow the whole of your left leg,

Ankle and foot to relax.

Bring your awareness now to your right arm.

And take the hand away from the body.

Lifting the hand up from the floor,

Pushing the heel of the hand away,

Clenching the fist.

And as you breathe out,

Release the arm back down to the floor.

Let the palm face upwards,

Arm away from the body.

Take your awareness to your left arm.

Again,

Raising the left hand away from the floor a little.

Pushing the heel of the hand away and then clenching the fingers into a fist.

On your out breath,

Release the arm and the hand back down to the floor.

Again,

Turning the palm upwards if that's comfortable for you.

Take your awareness now down to your pelvis.

And perhaps just rock the pelvis from side to side a little,

Releasing and relieving any tension in the lower back.

Bring your awareness to your shoulder blades.

And widen the shoulder blades by drawing the front of the shoulders towards each other.

And then release the shoulders all the way down away from the ears,

Letting them relax down onto the floor.

Bring your awareness now to your head and neck.

And gently move the head from side to side a few times,

Rolling it across the floor.

Feeling any remaining tension in the neck,

Release now.

Bringing the head back to centre,

Tucking the chin in very slightly,

Feeling the lengthening in the back of your neck.

Bring your awareness now to the front of your body.

And as you breathe in,

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in,

Filling the abdomen,

The side ribs,

The front of the ribs,

The back of the ribs.

Feeling the chest expand.

And then sigh the breath out.

And again,

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in,

Filling the lungs.

And a slow,

Steady,

Full breath out,

Sighing the breath out.

Take one more long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

And as you sigh the breath out,

Feeling any remaining tension,

Leaving the body with the breath.

Scan your mind through your body now.

And if you need to,

Make any tiny adjustments to your position in order that you can be as comfortable as possible.

Bring your awareness to your face,

Release any tension in the jaw.

Be aware of the little muscles around the eyes and soften those little muscles.

Let the eyes sink back into the head.

Feel your forehead cool and free of any wrinkles.

Cheeks soft.

Eyes soft.

The whole of your face soft and relaxed.

Now watching the breath as it flows in its own natural rhythm.

No need for you to guide your breath.

Just let the body breathe itself.

Breathing in through the nose and out through the nose and feeling the weight of your body sinking further down into the floor.

Soft.

Heavy.

Calm.

Relaxed.

Allowing any remaining tension to drain away now as your body rests heavy on the floor.

And your body breathes rhythmically and deeply.

You become aware that you're standing in front of a door.

Picture this door now in your mind.

Noticing the colour of the door.

The shape of the door.

And the size of the door.

Picturing this door as clearly as you can in your mind's eye.

You notice on the door there's a handle.

And you place your hand on the handle now and open the door.

As the door swings open you step through the doorway.

Closing the door behind you.

And you notice that you've moved into a room.

And as you walk in you immediately feel a sense of calm and peace descend upon you.

Looking around the room you discover it's a bathroom.

Picture this bathroom in your mind now.

The shape of the room.

The size of the room.

The colour and covering of the walls.

The floor.

And the ceiling.

And placing anything you want into this bathroom.

You may like to place candles.

Ornaments.

Whatever you want to place in your bathroom you can do that now.

The light inside the bathroom is warm and cosy.

And as you look over at the bath you notice that water is flowing into the bath.

Noticing the size and the shape of your bath.

You move over towards the bath.

And then slowly take off your clothes.

And stand in the warm slightly steamy air.

You notice there are several bottles of perfumed bath oil standing next to the bath.

And you look at each of them before deciding which fragrance to choose.

You unstuck the bottle and pour some of the beautiful smelling oil into the bath.

The smell wafts up to you as it mingles with the warm water.

Replacing the stopper on the bottle you place it back where you found it.

And then you turn off the taps stopping the flow of water.

As you step into the bath you notice that the temperature is exactly right for you.

And then you lower yourself down into the water.

Feeling your body beginning to relax as you melt down into the warmth and comfort of the oily fragranced water.

Lying down now you lay your head back against the bath and discover that it feels perfectly comfortable.

As you settle now into the water you feel your body becoming still and weightless.

The water warms and covers your body.

You feel safe and protected.

Glancing to one side you notice a number of bottles alongside you.

They contain liquids of differing colours red,

Orange,

Yellow,

Green,

Pale blue,

Dark blue and violet.

You choose one of the bottles now and pour some of the contents into the water.

Watching as the colour swells and mixes into the water.

And then as you place the bottle back you settle down into the water.

Feeling it lap around your body and feeling the energy of the colour all around you.

Absorbing into your body giving you all that you need.

Lying here now in complete peace and comfort.

Feeling safe and warm,

Relaxed and happy,

Suspended in time,

Completely free.

Muscles softening until they feel liquid.

Body floating,

Mind floating,

Breath calmed relaxed.

You gradually become aware that it's time to leave this bath.

And as you lie in the warm water you wriggle your toes a little and wriggle the fingers a little and feel the water swirl around your hands and feet.

Opening the eyes you slowly come up into sitting and step out of the bath.

Beside the bath is a warm fluffy towel and you wrap the towel around you feeling its softness against your skin.

Drying yourself.

And when your body is dry putting your clothes back on.

And then turning to face the doorway and making your way across the bathroom back to the door.

Taking one last look around this beautiful peaceful place and knowing you can return here whenever you want to.

And then placing your hand on the handle and opening the door and stepping back through into the here and now.

As you close the door behind you becoming aware once more of your body lying on the floor.

Feeling the sensation of the earth beneath you.

Noticing the contact between your body and the floor.

And taking a long slow deep breath in filling the lungs and a long full deep breath out drawing the abdomen back towards the spine.

Becoming aware of any sounds around you.

Bringing your awareness back into the here and now.

Taking the awareness down into your hands and feet.

Wiggling the fingers and toes.

Circling the ankles and wrists.

And then bringing your arms up and overhead behind you having a long stretch stretching the fingers away from the toes.

Replacing the hands back down beside you and bringing your knees up into your chest placing the hands just below the knees on the shins and rocking from side to side.

Feeling your back massaged by the floor.

And rolling over onto one side,

Placing one hand under your cheek as a cushion.

Opening the eyes when you're ready.

And in your own time bringing yourself back up into sitting.

Preparing now to continue with your day.

Thank you for joining me in this practice.

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