A guided meditation for stress relief.
Find a quiet place.
Get your lie in a comfortable position.
If you choose to lie in Shavasana,
Ensure that your lower back is relaxed and that your spine is straight.
Extend your legs out,
Feet about a foot apart.
Hands extended out to the sides,
Palms up.
Let your shoulder blades relax and flatten,
Sinking into the floor.
Close your eyes.
Relax your body.
Keeping your attention on your breath,
Take a nice deep breath all the way in and all the way out.
As you inhale,
Notice your chest rise.
As you exhale,
Notice your chest sink.
Inhaling,
Thinking let,
And exhaling,
Thinking go.
Letting go of any stresses or tensions and giving your body and mind permission to relax and just be.
If at any time your attention wanders,
Bringing it back to your breath,
Thinking let as you inhale and go as you exhale.
You are in a safe space now.
You are calm and balanced.
Silently repeat to yourself,
I am calm and balanced.
Inhale,
Notice your chest rise.
Exhale,
Notice your chest sink.
Inhale,
Exhale.
If you are feeling stressed at the moment,
Imagine that the stress is like having a storm or a hurricane in your life.
The chaos that this storm brings is in your awareness.
But breathe in and out.
Know you are safe.
Within every hurricane,
There is an eye to the storm.
Imagine that you are looking down into the storm and you can see the still calm center,
The eye of the storm.
Imagine yourself now in the center of this storm with all your worries and all your stresses swirling around you,
But you feel very peaceful.
You are relaxed and calm.
The storm is much like life and you are in the eye of the storm at the moment.
You can see what's going on around you,
The swirling,
The chaos,
And you can see the things that could cause you stress if you let them,
But they don't.
They don't because you are in the eye of the storm.
You are peaceful and calm and you see clearly that you have a choice of whether to step into the storm and get swirled into the stress in your life or you can stay in a nice and calm place in the center.
This doesn't mean that we remove ourselves from being around things in life,
But rather that you understand that you have a choice of how you react in every situation in your life.
You have a choice whether you step into the storm,
Into the swirling chaos,
Or to stay calm and balanced in the center,
In your center.
I will now count down from nine and by the time I reach one,
You will be peaceful,
Balanced and calm,
Feeling yourself centered.
You will know that you can choose your reaction with every situation.
Are you centered or do you step out into the storm?
Gently rest here for a few moments,
Keeping your attention on your breath.
Breathing let,
Exhaling go.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
One.
Begin to move your toes and your fingers as you take a nice deep breath in all the way.
If you are in Shilasana,
Take another deep breath in.
Reach your arms overhead and exhale.
When you are ready,
You can start to bring your knees up towards your chest,
Giving them a nice hug.
As you slightly rock side to side,
Giving your lower back a nice massage.
When you are ready,
Roll over to your right side,
Relaxing into your recovery position,
Cradling your head under your arm.
As you take your last few moments to yourself here,
Inhale,
Bringing in new breath.
Exhale,
Releasing old breath in any stresses or tensions that no longer serve you.
Feel connected,
Light and free.
Rest here a few moments.
When you are ready,
Use your hands to push yourself up to sitting,
Finding a straight spine.
Close your eyes for a few moments.
Namaste.
