Welcome to the daily insight and this special practice.
My name is Stephanie Nash and in this practice we will find a resting place for body and mind that helps rewire your nervous system to promote more ease in your daily life.
So with your body in a comfortable position,
With your spine stretched up and lengthened,
And if you're sitting upright,
Let your head be balanced easily and lightly on top.
And if you're lying down,
Let the weight of the head drop into the pillow or cushion.
And in either position,
Allow the rest of your body to settle.
Take a moment to notice what's going on right now in body and mind.
Is there movement in the mind,
Mental images,
Internal talk?
Notice sensations in the body.
Maybe touch sensations of the contact of the body as it rests on your chair or cushion.
Clothing on the skin,
Temperature,
Or movement of air may create sensations.
Maybe you're aware of body functioning sensations of digestion or elimination,
Breath,
Heartbeat.
Maybe emotional sensations are present.
Some sensations will be pleasant,
Some may be unpleasant,
Most will be neutral.
Just notice.
Notice if there's any tension in the body,
Whether it's of a familiar nature,
Possibly habitual,
Or maybe it's something that you're just noticing right now.
Now we are going to tune into a very specific flavor of sensation in the body.
The sensations of release,
Ease,
Letting go,
Or relaxation.
By keeping more of our awareness on this particular flavor of sensation,
The brain starts to prioritize it,
Leading to greater detection,
Appreciation,
And ease.
And ultimately,
As you do this more often,
It can become a normal default.
That happens when you're not paying attention.
And the most tangible way of feeling these sensations of release is to take a big breath in and a big pleasurable sigh out.
Try that now.
Did you feel something let go?
Maybe in the torso.
Maybe somewhere else.
What did that feel like?
Can you still feel it?
There is a natural release in the body that happens on every breath out,
And a bigger,
More tangible release that happens on a big sigh out like that one.
And on those bigger breaths out,
We can also sometimes detect a subtle spread of release and softening in the whole body that happens during and after the breath out.
It's like a wave of release on and after each breath out.
So let's breathe out again and see what sensations of release you can detect.
Did you feel that subtle spread?
What release did you feel?
Good.
Now those are sensations of release that happen naturally.
Now let's deliberately cultivate release sensations.
So first,
If you have any tension in the body,
See if you can let it go on the next big breath out,
Or even just let some of it go.
And if you have no tension,
Just let something go.
Notice the flavor of release.
And maybe you can let the jaw drop.
Just let gravity take the jaw.
The jaw tightens when we try to control our experience,
And just dropping it can help release thoughts and emotions and even open you to new ideas.
So drop the jaw.
Just let gravity take it.
Let the whole face be soft.
Let the scalp release.
And this will also help release the neck.
And if you slide the head back a bit,
Letting the ears be over the shoulders,
That will also help release the neck and jaw.
Let the shoulders relax back and down.
Let this open the front of your chest.
We tend to tighten in the front part of our torso to protect ourselves in our daily life.
So this releasing opening could also unstick habitual unpleasant emotions and thoughts.
The body's habits can affect the mind.
So here,
We are tuning into what it feels like to release.
Let the shoulders just drop.
Let the whole front of the torso and the belly soften,
Allowing the breath to just drop down easily into a soft belly.
So continue to allow your awareness to notice and soak into any sensations of release,
Ease,
Or letting go in the body,
Whether you are deliberately cultivating them or whether they're happening naturally,
Like on the breath out.
And you can use the label release.
Release.
Either say it out loud or to yourself in a regular rhythm,
Maybe on each breath out.
And every time you say it,
It reminds you to keep your attention on these special flavors of release in the body.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Good.
Keep noting flavors of release,
Which may be more subtle when you're breathing normally,
But subtle is significant.
And you can rewire your nervous system just as much with noting subtle sensations as with noting bigger sensations.
Just soak into these flavors of release,
Feeling the pleasant letting go and settling that is created.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Repeat.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Each wave takes you further,
Deeper into relaxation.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Release.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Blank.
Good.
So now,
For the last few minutes of this meditation,
We can play with combining these two restful experiences.
And you have the option of doing whatever feels best for you.
You can stay with blank and maybe allow some peripheral awareness to open up and notice release in the body.
Maybe just on the breath out.
Blank.
Release.
Staying with blank.
Noticing release on the outside.
Or you could move gently between blank and release.
Maybe a label or two in one and a label or two in the other.
Whatever feels good for you.
Blank.
Blank.
Release.
Or if you'd rather,
You can just stay parked in blank or just hang out with the release in the body for the last few minutes.
Blank.
Good.
Notice if you feel more relaxed and if the mind is more settled.
That was time well spent.
You found a resting place for the body and a resting place for the mind where you can park without engaging the thinking process.
And know that both blank and release are available at any moment in your day.
You can always just pause for a few breaths of release and a few breaths of blank and then maybe both for a few breaths.
And you will have soothed your nervous system.
It's a great act of kindness.
And now I invite you to allow any experience of release,
Relaxation,
Ease,
Focus from this meditation to continue after the end of this meditation to become part of the fabric of your moment to moment experience.
I'm Stephanie Nash and it has been my pleasure to facilitate this journey.
May you have more ease in your life.
