Welcome to your guided relaxation.
Begin by lying on your back,
Allow your eyes to close.
Take a moment to become comfortable and take three deep breaths of transition.
After your third exhale,
Allow your breath to become normal and even,
Unmanaged.
Feel the earth beneath you,
Cradling your body as you rest into it.
As you invite a smooth inhale in,
You feel the earth rise up as if to hold your body,
Forming to it.
And as you exhale,
You feel yourself acquiescing and releasing down into its foundation.
Inhale and you feel supported.
Exhale,
You surrender into that support.
Send your awareness down to your feet.
Feel the tip of each of your toes.
And travel your awareness down towards your heels.
Feel all the small muscles and the soles of your feet relaxing.
Feel the smooth arc of your arches,
The skin between your toes,
The long length of the soles of your feet.
Now,
Slide your awareness over to the tops of your feet.
Feeling your ankles relax,
Feeling the space in your ankle joints.
Bring your awareness up now,
Your shins,
From your ankles to your knees.
And then massage your breath through your calves,
As though you are untying any muscles that have become tight.
Feel your calves really spilling down towards the earth beneath you.
Feel the backs of your knees softly.
Feel the backs of your knees softly curved.
And feel the space in your knee joints.
Bring your awareness to your kneecaps,
Almost like snow-capped mountains of your knees.
And let them begin to melt down.
As though your two long femur bones were straws,
Slowly sip your breath up from your knees all the way to your hips.
And then exhale and radiate your breath out into your upper leg muscles.
And then let your awareness flow through your calves.
And then exhale and radiate your breath out into your upper leg muscles.
Feel the tops of your thighs dissolving down,
Inner and outer thighs melting away.
And the heaviness of your hamstrings as they spill into the earth beneath you.
You feel your glutes melting,
Spreading out over the foundation underneath you.
Your hip points open,
Creating space for your belly.
Your legs might even fall open a bit as they relax.
From your navel down to your toes,
You feel heavy,
Held and fully relaxed.
Now bring your awareness to your sacrum.
Feel it settling down like an anchor,
Holding you steady and rooted.
Feel the vertebrae of your spine,
Like a series of warm,
Polished stones sinking into powder-like sand beneath them.
Each vertebra settling in,
One at a time,
Like coming home.
From your sacrum,
All the way up to your skull,
You feel settled.
And now,
You feel your body,
Your body,
Your body,
Your body,
Your body,
Your body.
And now,
Feel the large wrapping muscles of your back,
Like a blanket that's been laid out over the earth.
Notice the parts of your back that are touching the earth.
Notice the parts that aren't quite touching yet.
And with your exhales,
You notice that you sink just a little deeper.
Settle your shoulder blades down into the ground.
And as you do,
Feel the tension drain away from your shoulders,
From the back of each shoulder to the back of the other.
And across the front of your shoulder girdle,
From the back of your shoulder,
From the front of one shoulder to the other.
As you feel the muscular tension begin to drain away,
Imagine that every other heaviness you carry in your shoulders is drained away.
You feel a sense of ease,
A sense of release,
Of putting down your burden.
You notice the gentle rising of your shoulders,
The gentle rising of your shoulders.
You notice the gentle rising and falling of your rib cage.
Breath in,
Create space among your ribs.
And with your breath out,
They gently hug back in and soften down towards your center.
Follow this rhythm.
Inhaling,
Creating space.
Exhaling,
Creating softness.
Notice that your rib cage expands out to the side,
Broadening as you breathe in.
And softens in to your midline as you breathe out.
A steady expansion and contraction.
Lulling you deeper into a state of relaxation.
Feel your arms now,
So heavy on the earth.
From shoulders to elbows,
Your upper arm muscles begin to spill down towards the floor.
You feel the light of your arms,
The light of your body,
The light of your body,
The light of your body.
Your elbows begin to spill down towards the floor.
Your forearms soften.
Your fingers might begin to curl in as though you're releasing your grip.
Releasing that which you're clenching onto.
You feel a sense of softness emerge in your palms and fingers.
Feel the backs of your hands against the support beneath you.
Luxuriate in the sensation of allowing your arms to be held rather than holding anything with your arms.
You readily accept the support.
Now bring your awareness up to your throat.
Imagine that you could take this moment to release any held conversations that live there.
Any stagnant words you've been holding there.
Words you wish you would have said.
Words you said but wish you hadn't.
The time for these words to be released is now.
The time for these words have passed so let them all go.
Create spaciousness for new relationships and new conversations.
As you breathe,
Feel the fresh space that has been made available in your throat.
Allow your jaw to soften.
Your lower jaw might drop down away from your upper.
Your tongue may thicken.
Allow the skin behind your ears to smooth out.
And as you breathe,
Feel a sense of expansion in your sinus cavities.
Breath blowing freely.
Iron out fine lines around your eyes.
And unfurrow your brow.
Even feel the tiny muscles under your scalp begin to smooth out.
Your eyes drop into their sockets heavy and settled.
Your brain rests on your shoulders.
Your eyes open wide.
Your eyes open wide and settle.
Your brain rests toward the back of your skull heavy,
Settled.
And you feel the heavy,
Relaxed weight of the entirety of your body dropping into the support beneath you.
Notice the sweet quality of your breath.
Again,
Bring your awareness to the support beneath you.
As you breathe in,
You feel it rise up,
So willing and able to hold the weight of your body in complete relaxation.
And as you breathe out,
You feel how willing your body is to accept that support sinking into it.
And as you breathe in,
You feel the light of your breath.
Rest in this awareness.
And allow your next inhale to be like a cool,
Clear glass of water given to you on a hot day.
Drink in your breath and let it quench your every thirst.
Easily move your fingers,
Your toes,
Gently awakening your body.
Take three deep breaths.
Feel free to lie here for some time,
Easing out of this relaxed state.
Or if you're ready to move into the next transition,
Bend your knees,
Bring your feet to the ground and roll to one side,
Cradling your head and your bent lower arm.
Use your top hand to press into the earth and take your time rising up until you come to a comfortable seat.
Thank you for practicing this guided relaxation.
Namaste.
