Reduce Stress From Your Life

This guided practice is designed to help you experience a greater sense of calm. This therapeutic meditation begins with a body scan before transitioning into a deeply blissful visualization of a sunlit beach.

Transcript

The time has come for you to become relaxed and quiet.

You decided to take a moment and regain some balance and some serenity.

Thank yourself for making that decision.

Not many people choose to select calm,

To opt for serenity.

They just hope that it comes.

But you are taking a moment to create it for yourself.

So settle into your chair right now.

Placing your feet flat on the floor.

And assuming a position is going to have you relaxed and yet attentive.

With your shoulders back and a gentle arch in your lower back.

Gently lift your chest.

And place your hands in your lap with your palms facing up.

Gently bow your head slightly.

Dropping your shoulders.

And gently close your eyes.

Feel this moment.

Feel your body beginning to soften.

All muscles totally relaxing.

And now bring your focus to your breath.

Feel it entering your body and leaving.

You don't have to change anything.

Just be aware of it.

Feel the air coming in through your nose or mouth.

Feel the warmth of every exhale.

With every inhale you're becoming calmer and more relaxed.

And with every exhale you're releasing any tension,

Any worry.

Let's take a nice deep breath inhaling through your nose for a count of four.

Hold it for a moment.

And slowly let it out through your mouth.

Let's take another deep breath in through your nose expanding your belly and your chest.

Hold it.

And gently let it out through your mouth.

Feel your body slowly sinking into your chair.

Feel every muscle in your body slowly soften.

This time is for you.

Time for you to relax.

The time for you to choose calm.

Let's take one last deep breath in through your nose.

Hold it.

And slowly let it out through your mouth.

And now simply continue to breathe normally.

You can already feel your body relaxing.

But begin to notice if there are any areas in your body that feel tense or uncomfortable.

Don't attach a label to them.

Don't get drawn up in anything.

Simply notice those feelings or sensations without any need to change them.

Now as you're breathing normally,

Once again feel the air entering your nose,

The coolness,

The sensation,

Bringing with it a sense of vitality and rejuvenation.

And as you exhale,

You feel all the tension leaving your body,

The worry,

The stress.

In your mind's eye,

I want you to imagine the air entering your body.

Feel it swirling around every space within you.

Picture it like a vapor,

Softly entering and filling your entire being.

It's warm and soothing,

Making its way around every muscle,

Every organ of your body,

Bringing total peace and total comfort.

It is so warm,

So soothing.

Feel it wrapping itself around any areas of your body that are tense or in discomfort.

And with every exhale,

You're getting rid of any tension,

Pain or worry.

As you picture this warming cloud swirling around you,

Your mind may wander.

That's fine.

If those moments occur,

Simply return your focus to your breath.

Your mind can only occupy one thought at a time.

So by bringing your focus back to your breath,

That is where your attention will be drawn.

Those thoughts will simply fade away.

Feel your breath,

That cooling breath entering your nose,

Filling up your belly and your chest,

Bringing with it that soothing warming sensation.

Imagine now that that warmth is beginning to fill up your feet.

Feel it in your toes,

In all your muscles and tendons,

Wrapping itself all around your foot.

So warm.

The warmth of that cloud is rising up your legs,

Past your calves and knees.

And each area that it touches brings a relief of any tension,

Your muscles slowly letting go.

As it moves along your legs,

It heals.

Feel that warmth making its way into your abdomen and your chest,

Gently pushing out any discomfort or tension with every exhale.

Feel it in your arms,

All the way down to your fingers,

Every joint,

Every muscle,

Every cell in your body is so relaxed.

And now feel that warmth in your head.

Once again you may notice thoughts entering your mind,

That is totally natural and totally expected.

Simply return your focus to your breath and now the feeling of your body totally immersed in this warming,

Healing light that has filled you.

In your mind's eye,

I want you to picture yourself walking along a secluded tropical beach.

You feel the warm dry sand caressing your bare feet.

It's a perfectly warm day,

Just the right amount of breeze and sun.

There's no place you need to be other than at that place,

At that beach in that moment.

You're simply taking in a perfectly sunny day.

You look up and see the fullest,

Puffiest clouds dotting the bluest sky.

And as you look up,

You feel the warmth of the sun on your face.

You close your eyes briefly and bask in its radiance.

In that moment,

You're thinking of nothing else.

You're entranced by the warmth of the sun on your face and on your body.

And as you walk,

You hear the ocean softly cresting on the shore.

You hear it gently fall back to the sea.

It's rhythmic,

Hypnotic.

You walk closer to the water just as the surf hits the sand and you feel your feet splashed by the tide.

It's just as warm as you would expect.

And it feels so good on your feet.

As the water rushes back to the ocean,

You feel the sun instantly warming your feet.

You like how this feels and decide to walk up away from the surf and find a place to sit on the sand.

As you're back to the ocean,

You look up to the beach and there's plenty of sand to sit on.

And beyond that beach is a lush tropical forest.

Palm trees are swaying ever so gently by the warm breeze.

You walk up towards the trees and find a spot halfway between the ocean and the forest.

You turn around again one more time to see the ocean.

You sit down and feel the warmth of the sun on the sand.

So comforting,

So warm,

So relaxing.

And from where you are,

You can see the most amazing scene.

The bluest sky,

The fullest clouds and the calmest ocean gently lapping at the shore.

Taking this all in,

You feel so relaxed,

So grateful to be in this place looking out at the grandness of the ocean and the sky.

You feel calm.

You feel connected.

You see this beauty and you sense all of it.

Hear the ocean hitting the sand.

You smell the faint scent of salt water carried on the breeze that gently washes over you.

Everything is absolutely perfect.

In a moment,

I'm going to count from one to ten.

When you hear my voice,

It will be a gentle reminder that it's time to bring yourself back to your room.

When I reach ten,

You'll be fully back in your room,

Feeling totally calm,

Feeling totally at peace.

At ten,

You'll open your eyes,

Fully awake.

Finally,

You'll realize that you're close enough to receive all of your wishes,

All You You You It's time to come back now You I'm going to count from 1 to 10 1 2 3 Feeling totally relaxed totally calm 4 5 6 Starting to feel the room around you 7 almost back 8 9 and 10 gently open your eyes You don't need to get right up Sit for a moment Reflecting on the time that you just spent You think about that peaceful beach the calm the Sun and Once you're ready then begin or continue your day Knowing that you can achieve peace at any time You can take this feeling that you experienced and come back to it at any moment The serenity that you feel right now Can be achieved at any time Simply by taking a few deep breaths like the one at the beginning of this journey As you continue on with your day Know that you have the ability to remain calm to remain stress-free You are peace You are serenity Namaste

Reviews

Really enjoyed this meditation thank you. It helped me slow down my mind which had gone into overthinking!

Feeling more relaxed

Thank you Thom! Wonderful meditation 🤗 namaste 🙏☯️

Amazing! I zoned right out even though I was extremely anxious and stressed. Thank you! 🙏

Really liked the visualization of being on the beach, was really relaxing. Would have liked more time there though 😉🙂

In no time body became completely relaxed I was in a deep soothing sleep felt very nice. Thank you so much

Calm, relaxing and peaceful. Can’t think of a better way to start my day. Thank you, Thom!

Totally relaxing, so much so I didn’t want to return from the exotic beach. A rich soothing voice to complement. Thank you.

Very soothing. Great visualization and perfectly paced. Thank you🙏🏻.

Great guided meditation. Feel very calm afterwards. Peace and love to all.

Really effective and very relaxing. Beach imagery was wonderful. Thank you! 🌞

THAT WAS AMAZING!

Absolutely incredible practice. For the first time, and without much effort, I was able to do a breath sequence of 4 count inhalation, 8 count exhalation. Twice. Though I live near the coast, I've never been much of a beach/shore afficionado, but this - this was amazing. It resonated so deeply, I felt the world slipping away around me and my spirit elevating itself slightly from my body, separating just enough to prevent stress from being able to touch it, like an elevator carriage which has stopped between floors. Fantastic. I practice self-hypnosis for chronic pain management and got some of the same sensations and results here.

The only minor critique I have is that the speaking track is slightly too loud compared to the background music. There were two instances towards the end where, after a long silence, the vocal returning was loud enough to startle me somewhat, though it was still a soothing, calm tone of voice. I'm a former audiobook technical editor and sound reinforcement professional, so I may simply be more attuned to such things, I don't know.

In any event, I am bookmarking and downloading this practice for my regular rotation. What a lovely way to wake up to the new year! Thank you for sharing this with me and the world. I see the light in you. 🤲❤️🤲