The following meditation is led by Tara Brach,
Meditation teacher,
Psychologist and author.
This guided practice is specifically geared towards relaxation,
Letting go,
Really resting with ease.
Become aware of this body breathing.
Begin to extend the in-breath,
Lengthening and deepening,
So that you are filling the whole chest and lungs.
So breathing in,
Deep in-breath and a slow out-breath,
Slowly releasing,
Letting go,
Letting go.
And again a deep full in-breath,
Expanding the chest,
Filling the lungs.
And a slow out-breath,
Evenly,
Smoothly releasing,
So you can feel the sensations of the breath as you exhale.
Long deep full in-breath,
You might begin counting with the in-breath to six counts.
And matching the out-breath,
Six counts out.
And if that feels like too long,
It is quite fine to do four counts,
But let the in-breath and out-breath be matched.
Breathing in this way.
Sense with the in-breath an opening to receive,
A yielding to the breath.
And with the out-breath a releasing,
A letting go,
A relaxing outward.
And a slow out-breath.
Continuing with this long deep in-breath,
Slow out-breath.
You might find that as you are breathing you can bring a slight smile to the mouth and soften the eyes.
And if the mind wanders,
You notice you have lost track of the breathing,
Just gently come back again,
Begin again.
You might sense with the in-breath how much it is possible to soften and open and receive.
And with the out-breath how much it is possible to release as if you are following the breath out into the space around you,
Relaxing outward,
Letting go.
Continuing with this full in-breath and full out-breath.
And sensing you can bring the breath and the attention to the small muscles in the face,
Softening,
Relaxing.
Letting the tongue fill the lower palate,
Relaxing at the root of the tongue.
Continuing with the breathing and sensing the possibility of relaxing more at the shoulders.
With the in-breath opening,
Receiving,
Feeling the space inside the shoulders and with the out-breath letting go,
Letting go.
Bringing the breath and the attention to the hands,
Letting the hands be soft,
Relaxing and letting go.
Feeling the breath and the awareness at the heart so that as you breathe in you open and receive,
Feeling the aliveness that is there and with the out-breath the letting go,
Releasing,
Letting go.
Feeling the breath deep in the torso,
Letting it fill the belly with the in-breath and with the out-breath the letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Widening to sense the whole body breathing so with the in-breath you are filling every cell of the body,
Opening,
Receiving,
And with the out-breath releasing,
Letting go.
And now letting go of any controlling of the breath,
Allowing the breath to resume in its natural rhythm,
A relaxed attentiveness,
Aware of the gentle movement of the breath,
The sensations in the body,
The sounds around you.
Reaching back and just resting in this wakeful openness,
Letting life be just as it is,
Moment to moment to moment.
If the mind gets lost in distracting thoughts let your practice simply be to re-relax,
Re-relax open the attention,
Aware of the sounds that are here,
The background sound of silence.
Simply scan the body,
Perhaps re-relaxing the shoulders a bit,
Softening your hands,
Relaxing your heart,
Relax back,
Resting in the awareness that is right here,
Letting life be just as it is.
Imagining things that might happen in your wildest dreams outside in a multi-kind of place outside of.
You might ask yourself if it's possible to relax and let go just a little bit more.
Gently scanning to notice the habitual places of contraction,
Of tightness,
And with kindness and gentleness to soften in a bit.
Namaste.
