Yoga For A Healthy And Peaceful Heart

This gentle yoga class is specifically designed for cultivating a healthy and peaceful heart. Gather a few large pillows, a cozy blanket and a sturdy chair and settle in. You will be led through a centering practice, a series of gentle and accessible movements and extended relaxation meditation.

Take time to shift from "thinking and doing" to "feeling and being", as you bring attention and awareness into your body, into your mind, into your heart.

Transcript

So welcome everybody.

And thanks for being here.

My name is Suzy Amendola,

And I am the director and founder of Yoga Now in Omaha.

And we're gonna be going through a class today that is specifically designed for supporting our healthy and peaceful heart.

And I wanna just invite you to get some props together for this course,

For this class today.

And it's a little bit different than maybe what we've been using,

But I'd like you to have a folding chair,

If possible,

Nearby,

And a bolster or two bed pillows,

Maybe even a third bed pillow,

So that you've got enough for propping some of these postures and some of these movements.

And then a blanket to cover up with.

So take some time to get yourself situated.

Grab some props and pillows.

And our starting position will be lying down in a relaxation pose.

So make yourself as comfortable as you can,

Maybe a pillow under your head,

Maybe a bed pillow under the backs of your legs to support your low back,

And a blanket to cover up with.

You can also do this first centering practice sitting in a chair.

So if you feel more like being upright,

You're welcome to start the practice in the chair.

If you feel like you wanna just gather and lie down,

Then lying down might be the best position for you.

So I'll give you just a moment to get ready to gather up your props,

To settle into a position for a centering practice.

And once you find a position that feels comfortable,

Know that at any time you can change that position if it becomes uncomfortable.

And throughout the practice today,

Make sure to take care of yourself.

If as you're doing something,

It doesn't feel quite right,

See if you can make adjustments to accommodate yourself.

So it's not a game of Simon Says.

It really is a game of listening,

Paying attention to what you notice,

And then making adjustments so that you can get comfortable.

Once you've found your position,

Begin by taking several conscious,

Slow,

Deep breaths.

Begin to gather yourself in the spaces of the room,

Making that transition from all of the duties and all of the responsibilities,

All of the activities of the morning,

And make a shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being.

Arriving in the spaces of your own body,

Feeling yourself from the inside,

Feeling yourself from the inside.

Begin to sense and feel the body,

Noticing any areas that might be calling out for your attention.

And just recognizing those areas.

You might even take your breath and your attention directly into those areas,

Perhaps even unwinding areas that feel tense or tight,

Areas where you feel discomfort,

As if you could breathe into and around and even through those areas one at a time.

And now take your attention through the spaces of your own body systemically sensing and feeling as you embody your awareness even more,

As if to move in and take a moment to in you to able to sense the body and again there's nothing here toaccept,

And take up residence in the spaces of your own body.

Starting with all 10 toes and feet,

Sensing and feeling,

Ankles and lower legs,

Knees and upper legs,

And the hip joints.

All 10 fingers and the hands,

Wrists and lower arms,

Elbows and upper arms,

And joints of the shoulders,

Sensing and feeling,

A sense of presence in your limbs,

Both legs and both arms,

Residing in yourself.

And now the pelvic floor and buttocks,

Sensing and feeling,

Abdomen and organs of the abdomen,

The region of the navel,

The stomach,

The diaphragm muscle,

The rib cage and the muscles between the ribs,

Sensing and feeling the lungs,

The breath entering and leaving the lungs,

You might even say to yourself internally,

I can feel the breath in my lungs as it comes in,

I can feel the breath in my lungs as it goes out.

Sensing and feeling the heart,

Maybe even sensing the beat of the heart with a flow of blood and energy,

Or perhaps lingering feelings or emotions.

Taking up residence,

A sense of presence in your own heart space.

And now the throat and the pit of the throat.

And begin to take up residence in the spaces of your own spine,

From the base of the spine all the way up through the vertebra of the neck,

Sensing the backside of the torso,

The upper back and shoulder blades,

The back of the neck,

The base of the skull and the hinges of the jaw.

And begin to sense and feel the muscles of the face,

Any lingering expressions,

Any facial lines,

Noticing the organs of sense that always reside in the head,

The mouth and the tongue,

The nose and the nostrils,

The eyes and the eye sockets,

The ears and eardrums,

And even the brain,

The cognitive sense.

As you lift your awareness up to the crown of the head,

Begin to open your attention and awareness to the whole body all at once and all together,

Integrating all of those individual parts of yourself into one whole body experience,

One whole body sensation,

So that all of those individual sensations are joining together,

One whole body experience,

Like a bird perched at the highest branch overlooking the landscape.

And begin to breathe as if your whole body were breathing,

All the cells of the body in unison,

No one cell acting independent of the whole,

But rather there's a kind of cellular harmony that's created through this full body breathing,

A sense of gathering up,

Inhabiting yourself,

Living in yourself more fully.

And now shifting your attention to a practice of centering as you begin to focus your attention on the short passageway from the tip of the nose to the center of the mind and the center of the mind to the tip of the nose.

Begin to trace and track the breath as it comes in and as it goes out,

Tip of the nose to center of the mind,

Center of the mind to tip of the nose.

And you might even say to yourself internally,

I can feel myself breathing in,

I can feel myself breathing out.

The mind may drift or wander away from breath,

Just notice,

But not getting involved,

Not labeling or judging those thoughts or feelings,

Not analyzing,

Eliminating,

And not getting lost in the drama,

The story.

Just finding your way back to breath and resting there.

Thoughts and feelings settle to the background of your awareness,

Like the snow in a snow globe settling to the bottom.

The mind,

The picture becomes clearer.

Gently preparing yourself for a practice of postures movements.

As you deepen the in breath and lengthen the out breath,

Begin to let your attention rest in your lower abdomen.

You could even gently place one or both hands just below the navel.

Here,

There's an exaggeration of the breath as you inhale,

The abdomen expands,

And as you exhale,

The abdomen contracts.

Exaggerating the in breath,

Exaggerating the out breath for just three slow,

Deep breaths.

This is called abdominal breathing or long breathing.

Let the force of breath raise and lower the abdomen,

Bringing the breath deep into the gravity dependent part of the lungs,

Fully oxygenating the lungs,

Calming the mind and the nervous system as you practice.

And when you feel ready,

Slowly cup your hands over your eyes.

Let the breath return to normal.

Use your cupped hands over your eyes to open your eyes into cupped hands and use the pads of your fingers to massage your forehead and your scalp using firm pressure.

Slow movements.

When you feel ready,

Reach your arms up overhead,

Stretching and reaching away from the navel,

Opening and squeezing fingers and toes as you reach up overhead.

Full body stretch,

Rotate your ankles and your wrists.

Stretch,

Stretch,

Stretch.

And as you exhale,

Take a sigh,

Let your arms come down.

Ah,

Bend your knees and roll to one side and just pause there for a moment.

When you feel ready,

Slowly come to a seated pose and you can sit either in a chair or on the floor.

If you're sitting on the floor,

You might want to sit up on a bolster or a couple of bed pillows.

You might cross your legs or stretch your legs out,

Whatever feels comfortable.

Try not to strain because you'll be there a little while.

So if you're more comfortable in the chair,

Stay in a chair.

Sit in a chair.

And when you sit,

Just for a moment,

Bring your hands to your heart.

The focus of this practice is the heart,

Closing your eyes for a moment and breathing as if your own heart could breathe.

As if your own heart were breathing in,

As if your own heart were breathing out.

Just bringing attention into the heart starts to shift awareness from the mind to the heart,

From thinking to feeling.

And when you feel ready,

Let your hands rest on your knees or your thighs.

Bring your awareness into the region of your neck.

And we're going to inhale as you breathe up your spine.

And as you exhale,

Let your chin come down towards your chest.

Keep the breath flowing.

Keep breathing.

And just notice the stretch in the back of the neck,

Opening up that pathway between the heart and the head,

The neck.

Breath keeps flowing.

Notice how far down the spine you feel the stretch.

And then when you feel ready,

When you want to take an in-breath,

Lift the chin up.

And as you exhale,

Relax and keep breathing.

The next in-breath travel up the spine.

And as you out-breathe,

Take your left ear to your left shoulder.

Keep the breath flowing.

Notice the stretch on the opposite side of the neck,

The right side.

Relax the shoulders.

Relax the neck.

You can close the eyes.

Become aware of what you observe in your own neck and shoulders.

Slowly come back to center as you inhale.

And as you exhale,

Relax,

Let go,

Soften.

Head comes back perfectly perched on top of the spine.

Next inhale,

Travel up the spine.

And as you exhale,

Opposite ear to shoulder,

Right ear to right shoulder.

Keep the breath flowing.

Notice the stretch on the left side of the neck.

Belly is soft.

Mind is quiet.

Shoulders relaxing.

Neck softening.

On the next in-breath,

Slowly come back to center.

And as you exhale,

Relax.

Breathing returns to normal.

Turning the head gently from side to side and just noticing your range of motion.

Notice when you reach that sort of stopping point and just pause there for a moment.

Moving back and forth.

Become aware of what you notice.

And as you come to center,

Let your arms drop down alongside the body.

Here,

Let your shoulders be squeezed up next to your ears.

Big in-breath as you squeeze your shoulders up and a sigh through your mouth as you drop them.

Let's do it again.

Inhale,

Shoulders come up.

Big squeeze.

Big loud sigh.

Then squeezing them together in the front of the body.

Inhale.

Inhale.

Second time.

Squeezing together in front.

And then squeeze together behind you.

Second and final time.

Good.

And then roll your shoulders.

So just together,

You can either let your hands hang or let them rest on your lap.

Roll your shoulders in one direction a few times.

See if you can do it with a sense of ease.

One direction and then the other.

Notice any sticky spots.

See if you can encourage tensions to soften as you move.

A few times and then come back to center and just be still and listen.

Listen to the echoes and the ripples of these subtle movements,

Opening up that pathway between the heart and the arms.

The arms are what allow us to give and receive love.

They take the action of the heart out into the world.

And oftentimes,

That pathway can be blocked by shoulder tension and neck tension.

When you feel ready,

Let your arms hang down alongside the body for a moment and then open your fingers really wide and then squeeze your hands into fists.

Open and squeeze and open and squeeze.

And then rotate.

Make your hands into fists and rotate your wrists in one direction.

And then rotate your wrists in the other direction.

And then move your fingers like you're playing the piano.

Move them around like you're playing the piano.

Lots of movement in your fingers,

Your joints of your fingers,

The synovial fluid moves.

And then shake your hands side to side,

Just gently.

Listen to the gentle shaking.

So you don't want to feel pain in your joints when you do this.

And then shake them up and down.

Just kind of moving fluid and energy.

And then turn them over and shake them upside down.

Good.

And then bring your palms together.

And here,

We're going to do another exercise in kind of moving the energy of the heart out into the world.

Palms are together.

Take your palms out in front of you,

Palms together,

And then roll to the backs of your hands.

Then bring your fingertips towards your heart and open your palms like you're offering something from your heart to someone you love.

And then roll to the backs of your hands,

Bring your fingers to your heart,

Open your palms out like you're offering something from your own heart.

Three times this movement,

Opening something.

And then when you come back out with your palms open in front of you,

Hold them open,

And then receiving something from someone you love.

Bring it into your heart,

Palms open.

And then roll to the backs of your hands,

Take your hands out,

Open your palms like you're receiving something from someone you love and bringing it into your heart.

Roll to your hands.

One last time.

Once you finish,

You can bring your hands back to your heart,

Hold them there.

Close your eyes and just notice.

Opening,

Giving,

And receiving this practice of letting energy flow out and in to your heart.

It's not just about giving but also receiving.

How do we give and receive love?

This is what determines a healthy heart.

And then bringing your feet out onto the floor.

If you're sitting on the ground,

Open up.

If you're in a chair,

You can just step them out in front of you.

And just start by pointing and flexing your feet.

Pointing the toes and flexing,

Pointing and flexing.

And then open your toes really wide and then squeeze them tight.

And open them really wide and squeeze them.

Open and squeeze.

And then rotate your ankles in one direction.

And then rotate your ankles in the other direction.

And then let your feet come back.

And for those of you on the floor,

Go ahead and just roll onto your stomach.

If you're in a chair,

Come onto the ground.

Rest on your belly.

So we're just moving through addressing,

We move through addressing some of the joints.

We're going to work with a practice called Cobra.

And in Cobra pose,

There's a strengthening of the upper back.

But the big important piece of the practice is the sort of opening of the area of the chest and the lungs,

Letting the shoulders roll back and down.

And this kind of brings some energy to the front of the body.

And then we're going to do a little bit of a So when you're ready,

You're going to do a little bit of a So when you're ready,

Bend your arms at the elbows.

Bring your hands up and your hands down.

And then you're going to do a little bit of a So when you're ready,

Bend your arms at the elbows.

Bring your elbows in close.

Forehead rests on the floor.

Legs are together,

Not touching necessarily,

But just moving towards each other.

Bring your attention from the heels of your feet all the way up through the bones of your legs,

Through the bones of your spine.

And then start to brush your forehead,

Nose,

And chin as you lift up.

Using your hands just for support,

Lift up,

Take one breath,

And then slowly come back down as if you're raising and lowering one vertebra at a time.

Come up three times total.

Second time,

You might hold for two breaths.

Third time,

Maybe three or more breaths.

This one,

Two,

Three breathing doesn't have to be the pattern that you use,

But sometimes it can be helpful.

No matter what you do,

The breath flows,

Not holding the breath while you're holding the pose.

Once you've done all three,

You can turn your head to one side and let go of a big sigh through your mouth.

As if you're letting tensions exit through your fingertips as you release your hands alongside the body,

Turning your head to one side,

Letting go.

Tensions exiting,

Unwinding,

Decompressing.

Dissolving.

The time in between the movements is as important,

If not more important,

Than the movements themselves.

The time of integration and listening.

When you feel ready,

Coming into position for what's called half locust pose.

While the cobra helps to open the space in the region of the heart,

The half locust strengthens the low back,

But it improves the peristaltic action of the colon.

Because cholesterol is stored in the colon and toxins in the colon,

It's cleansing.

A lot of these practices are geared towards cleansing.

So as you slide your arms under your body,

Palms resting on your thighs,

Chin or forehead on the floor,

Take a few breaths.

When you feel ready,

Start to raise your right leg without bending the knee.

It's like you're reaching out through the sole of the foot,

Reaching up through the back of the leg.

Take just one breath and then lower that leg.

And as the toes touch,

Raise the other leg.

Take one breath.

And you'll do this again with 123 breathing,

Alternating sides.

Second time through,

You might hold the pose for two breaths.

Third time for three breaths.

You decide,

Maybe you just want to do every single one for one breath.

One side and then the other,

Improving the peristaltic action of the colon,

Improving elimination.

We eliminate through the colon,

Through the urine,

Through the skin,

But also the breath.

The most important detoxification is the exhale breath.

70% of the body's waste is carried out through the exhalation breath.

So when you finish,

Take a big sigh,

Turn the head to the opposite side.

Let go of that big exhale.

And rest.

Listen.

Gently rolling onto your back.

And as you roll to your back,

Bend your knees,

Place your feet on the ground,

On the earth.

Notice the condition of your own back after these two back stretching poses.

And then draw your right knee in for the wind elimination series.

This is also good for peristalsis and for relieving any pressure in the low back.

One side and then the other.

Bring one knee in,

Right knee and then the left knee.

And then stretch your legs out and just rest for a moment.

And notice.

If it's more comfortable to bring both knees in and squeeze them,

You can rest with your knees to your chest.

Find your way onto one side and just pause on the side of your own body.

You might even notice which side you favor.

Maybe you like turning onto your right side.

Maybe you like turning onto your left side.

You can always make a different choice.

Once you feel ready,

Press yourself back to sitting and sitting up on your bolster or a folded bed pillow.

Sitting on the edge with your legs stretched out in front of you.

I'm going to work with a forward movement.

And in this position,

We'll also pay attention to the heart,

The backside of the heart.

But we're going to start with this movement of the arms.

So as your legs are stretched out in front,

Bring your palms to your heart.

And here we're going to just reach the arms like a flowing motion out and up.

Reach up,

Stretch up,

Look up,

Open up and then gather your palms back to your heart.

We're going to do this three times.

So again,

Second time,

Reach up,

Stretch up,

Look up,

Open up.

And then gather your palms back to your heart.

Third time,

Reach up,

Stretch up,

Look up,

Open up.

And gather your palms back to your heart.

Good.

And now let your hands rest on your thighs and gently slide down your legs.

And as you slide down your legs,

The movement comes from the pelvis,

Abdomen rests towards your thighs,

Hands towards your shins,

Chin towards your chest.

You can round the spine and breathe into the backside of your heart.

So the backside of your heart is breathing in,

The backside of your heart is breathing out.

And if you went too far,

Slide up a little and rest.

Find a place where you can be for another few breaths.

Breathing as if the back of your heart is breathing.

The back of the heart is often where we store sort of difficult feelings or emotions.

The part of ourselves we don't wanna share with the world,

We push to the back.

Just taking a moment and breathing here,

Honoring all of those parts.

And you wanna keep in the back part of your heart,

All of those feelings or emotions.

And then slowly sliding back up,

Palms come back to your heart and just take a pause.

And now bending your left knee.

And as you bend your left knee,

Place it right next to your right knee.

So your foot is right next to your other knee for a seated spinal twist.

Here,

If you like being on the pillow,

You can stay there.

If it feels more grounded to come off,

You could slip down off your pillow.

As you hold onto that knee,

Take a pause and lift yourself up a little bit.

Get that long spine.

And as you hold your knee with the opposite hand,

Right hand to left knee,

The other hand comes onto the floor and again supports your spine,

Lifting up.

Take a twist,

But start at the base of your spine and initiate the twist from the bottom up.

Twisting and looking over your back shoulder,

Let your shoulders relax,

But the gaze of your eyes soften to the back corners.

Breath is moving.

Bringing that full twist into the whole spine.

And even the heart is kind of twisting around and shifting here.

And then slowly unwind from the top downward.

And as you come back to center,

Stretch your leg out and shake it a little bit.

Grab your other knee,

Draw it in.

You can cross it over or leave it right there on the inside.

So whatever feels more comfortable.

Hold your knee.

As you lift up,

Hold your knee with the opposite hand.

Put your other hand on the ground behind you.

So your left hand is holding your right knee,

Your right hand is on the floor.

And then initiate the twist from the base of the spine all the way up through the vertebra of the neck.

Like you're inviting a little bit of movement in a lot of places in the spine.

Take a few breaths,

Holding and breathing.

If you went too far,

Come out a little bit.

You're always kind of dancing with your edges here.

Where is that place where I can stay present and relaxed?

Where my mind doesn't wander?

Where my breath can be free?

And then slowly unwind from the top downward.

Stretching your legs out and shake them.

We're gonna use a practice here.

This is a version of shoulder stand that's a passive version.

I'm gonna have you use your chair,

Or maybe you have a couch or something in your house that you can use.

I'm gonna invite you to bring your chair up close to you and set it on the edge of your mat if you've got a mat.

And put your two bed pillows,

Or your head pillow and your butt pillow on your dominant side.

So as you're sitting on the ground,

You're gonna sit facing your chair.

And here with your pillows on your dominant side,

You'll go ahead and lie down on the floor.

Close to your chair,

You're gonna put one leg up on the chair,

Just one leg.

And once you have one leg up on the chair,

Pull one pillow under the back of your head.

So it might be your bed pillow under your head.

See how it feels?

And if you're okay here,

Lift up your buttocks and pull your second pillow under your back of your pelvis or a bolster under the back of your pelvis.

And just pause here.

This is the pose of two waterfalls.

So there's a pooling of blood that comes from your leg down into your abdomen.

And then the pillow under the buttocks brings that second pool into your carotid arteries,

The receptors.

These are the arteries that tell the brain that the heart has enough blood and it doesn't need to pump so much.

So here,

It lowers heart rate and turn it lowers blood pressure.

But initially it can raise blood pressure.

So you wanna just pause for a moment,

See if you can get a little calmer.

And then when you feel that,

You can bring your other leg back up onto the chair and just pause here and notice.

And again,

Noticing that flow of blood and energy that moves from the legs into the abdomen,

From the abdomen into the carotid arteries,

The thyroid gland,

And the carotid arteries are right here.

So not only are you bringing some blood and energy to the thyroid,

Which helps to balance the thyroid gland,

This is our hormone regulator,

But it also tells the brain the heart has enough blood and the heart can stop pumping so fast and so much.

And it starts to lower blood pressure and heart rate.

As you're here,

Begin to take your attention into your own heart,

Closing your eyes.

And at any time you can take your legs down,

One leg down,

You can take the bolster out.

But if you're comfortable,

See if you can be here for a few minutes.

As you let your awareness enter the cave of your own heart,

This is the space of your own inner wisdom,

Your own inner healer.

You can ask your own heart what it needs for healing.

You can ask your heart with openness and humility if there's something that you can do that will help the health of your own heart,

Your own wellbeing.

Asking over and over like a mantra,

Like a prayer.

Oh,

Precious heart of mine,

Is there something you need from me,

Something that would help in your health and wellbeing?

Maybe it's a lifestyle change.

Maybe it's a change in relationship,

A way of interacting,

Exercise,

Diet,

Just listening and not expecting the answer to come through the mind.

It may come through a feeling,

An aha kind of moment,

An intuition,

A knowingness.

It may not come at all and that doesn't matter.

It may come to it another time when you most need it to come.

That little voice,

That inner wisdom,

That wise teacher.

Just asking and listening helps to restore the relationship you have with your own heart,

With your own inner wisdom,

Your own intuition.

The voice becomes louder,

Clearer with time and practice.

Reconnecting to your heart's wisdom,

To your intuition.

When you feel ready,

You can close the practice with a sense of gratitude.

Gratitude for this precious heart.

Making a transition from this version of shoulder stand,

Passive shoulder stand to a version of a passive fish pose.

So here,

As you take one foot down,

Go ahead and lift up and pull the pillow out from under the back of the pelvis and then take your other foot down.

Roll onto one side.

And as you press up,

You can turn the pillow that was under the back of the pelvis,

The pillow or bolster,

So that it's the length of your whole spine.

So you're sitting in front of it.

If it's a bolster,

You might wanna sit on a pillow in front of the bolster.

If it's a bed pillow,

There's no need.

You can just sit in front of the bed pillow and lie down over it so that it supports you all the way up to the mid ear.

This is where if you stuck your fingers in your ears,

You would touch the top vertebra of your neck.

You wanna be supported all the way to mid ear as your head comes back.

Now you could take another pillow if you've got a bolster or a pillow and you could place it under your head so your head is more level.

So you don't feel too much extension back.

Depending on what feels right to you,

You might try that second pillow under your head.

So now there's this openness through the chest and the shoulders,

The heart and the lungs,

Even the throat,

The carotid artery.

You can separate your feet and your arms just enough so that you feel like you can breathe all the way out to your fingers and all the way out to your toes.

I like to call this the starfish pose.

And for a moment,

Taking your breath from your heart to your toes as you inhale and your toes to your heart as you exhale,

Inhaling down and exhaling back up as you seamlessly leave your breaths together.

And now taking your breath from your heart to your fingers and your fingers to your heart,

Inhaling out and exhaling back in,

Seamlessly leaving the in-breath to the out-breath and the out-breath to the in-breath,

Almost like the image of a wave washing into the shore,

Washing back out to the ocean,

From your heart to your crown and your crown to your heart,

Inhaling up and exhaling back down,

Bathing the body in breath,

Feeding the heart with breath and energy.

Landing your breath and your attention in your heart center,

Breathing as if your heart is breathing in,

Breathing as if your heart is breathing out.

A sense of gratitude for this precious body,

All of the ways this body supports you in your own life,

In your own journey.

A wave of gratitude for this precious life,

This precious birth.

And gratitude for whatever you feel particularly grateful for today could be more than one thing.

And now,

You're ready to take a breath in and out.

It could be more than one thing.

Gratitude is a feeling.

It brings us into the experience of our own hearts.

It changes the way you interface with the world around you and it's healing for the heart.

When you feel ready,

Transitioning into position for extended relaxation,

Here you can roll off of your bed pillows or bolster.

You can put your bolster under the back of your legs,

A pillow under your head.

If you're super comfortable in this position,

You can stay there.

And now,

You're ready to take a breath in and out.

Once you find a position,

Let yourself settle in.

Powering down.

The whole body and mind moving into a place of peace,

Calm,

Stillness.

See if you can do absolutely nothing from now on.

The body moves towards sleep and the mind stays awake and alert,

But deeply relaxed and calm,

Present and aware.

This practice rests the mind and body even deeper than sleep because of consciousness.

Begin by sending a wave of relaxation over the whole body.

And as you move systematically through the body,

Letting the body rest,

All pentoes and the feet power the body.

Deeply letting go,

Relaxing the ankles and the lower legs,

The knees and the upper legs and the hip joints relax.

Bones of the legs become heavy and warm with relaxation and the muscles start to loosen their grip and their hold around the bones.

Exploring softness,

Ease,

Relaxation from hips to toes and toes to hips.

Resting all 10 fingers in the hands,

The wrists and the lower arms,

The elbows and the upper arms and the joints of the shoulders.

Exploring relaxation,

Stillness from shoulders to fingers and fingers to shoulders,

Letting go,

Resting,

Relaxing the pelvic floor and buttocks,

Resting the abdomen,

And letting go of any gripping or tension in the organs of the abdomen.

On the right side,

The liver and the gallbladder relax.

On the left side,

The stomach,

The spleen,

The pancreas powering down.

Underneath,

The intestines relax.

Up above,

The diaphragm,

Resting the diaphragm,

The rib cage and the muscles between the wrists.

Relaxing the lungs,

Receiving and releasing breath as you turn the responsibility of breathing back over to the lungs.

And deeply relaxing the heart,

Nestled between the lungs,

Relaxing the chambers of the heart,

The valves,

The muscles that lead to and from the heart,

Relax.

The muscles that surround the artery walls,

Relax those muscles.

Those are within your conscious control.

And as you relax the muscles that surround the artery walls,

The blood and energy moves more freely.

Relaxing around feelings and emotions as if to unburden the heart from any difficult feelings or emotions,

Anything you're willing and able to let go of to set aside.

Even if it's just the rough edges of those feelings,

Softening just a little bit more,

Letting the heart relax,

Spread out,

Resting the throat and the thyroid gland,

The carotid arteries and the muscles of the neck.

Descending relaxation up through the center of the spine,

The bones of the spine descending down,

The muscles relaxing their grip and their hold around the bones.

The back of the torso settling into the floor,

The front of the torso settling onto the back of the torso.

Relaxing the back of the neck and the base of the skull,

The hinges of the jaw,

The chin,

The back of the neck and the hinges of the jaw,

The chin,

The lips and the corners of the mouth,

Cheeks and nose,

Eyes and eye sockets,

Eyelids and eyebrows,

And the space between the eyebrows.

Relax.

Relax the forehead and the temples,

The ears and the scalp.

And now relax the mind as if the mind were just another muscle.

The mind loosens its grip and its hold over the body,

Freeing the body,

Relaxing completely from top to toe and toe to top.

And the whole body and mind rest in a vast and spacious awareness.

Body and mind organizing around the natural rhythms of breath,

As if to connect to everything breathing and living,

Finding a more spacious version of yourself,

Noticing the mind and the thoughts that linger in the mind.

And just begin to bear witness to those thoughts without the labels or judgments,

Just a sense of presence,

Observation as they come and go,

Like clouds passing over the sky.

The whole body resting,

The mind resting and witnessing.

Begin to move deeper as you search for that place of stillness and peace beneath the mind,

Deep in the center of your being,

Resting in that quiet,

Calm center of consciousness,

Resting in your own true nature,

Deeply letting go.

And just begin to move deeper as you search for that place of stillness and peace beneath the mind,

Resting in that quiet center of consciousness,

Resting in that quiet center of consciousness.

And just begin to move deeper as you search for that place of stillness and peace beneath the mind.

In that deep place of stillness,

Begin to allow your awareness to gently rise up to the surface,

Rising up from a deep sleep.

As you deepen the in breath and length and the out breath,

Begin to feel your way back into the spaces of your own body,

Imagining a healing light,

Healing energy sitting above the crown of your head,

Imagining that light getting brighter and stronger,

A healing light,

Any color that feels particularly healing.

Begin to draw that bright healing light into the body,

Sending it over the mind,

Healing the mind,

Directing it down the spine,

And then through to the vital organs,

Surrounding the heart,

Bright healing light in the center of your own heart,

Pumping it throughout the body,

Sending it down the arms to the fingers,

Through the abdomen buttocks,

Down the legs to the toes,

Filling the whole body with that bright healing light.

And let it be pulled like a magnet to those areas that are in specific need of healing.

Let it create a powerful healing shift right now and letting that healing be deep and profound.

When you feel ready,

Slowly begin to breathe movement back to the body,

Letting that healing light dissolve into your cellular memory for safe keeping,

Returning to it whenever you want,

Whenever you need it.

You can even set it on autopilot.

As you move the fingers and toes,

Cup your hands and bring cupped hands over your eyes,

Opening your eyes into cupped hands,

Massaging the forehead and scalp once again,

Gathering up onto one side,

Rolling there,

And just pausing on your side body.

And slowly finding your way to sitting.

Sitting for a moment with the head,

Neck,

And trunk straight,

Sitting in a position that feels comfortable.

It can be on the floor in a chair.

Feasting your way up,

Placing your palms back over your heart and the heart.

And your attention is resting in your own heart,

Knowing that healing the heart is two directions,

Taking energy in to heal your heart and sending energy out to others whose hearts might be aching or in need of healing.

Returning to that bright light in the center of your own heart,

That healing energy and as you release your hands,

Send some of that light,

Some of that energy out into the world with a wish for peace and healing.

Send it to someone you know who may be suffering,

Someone you know who may need healing.

May all beings know peace,

Peace,

Peace,

And only peace.

Om shanti,

Shanti,

Shanti.

Namaste.