This is a guided meditation designed to give you relief from the pressure and expectation of your daily life.
Begin by finding a space standing in the room that you're in,
Not touching any objects.
Just start by getting comfortable in your standing position,
Feet hip width apart,
Arms resting by your side.
Just start by clenching your hands into a closed fist,
Holding them tight and bringing tension into your hands,
Wrists and forearms.
I'll count down from 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Just let them go,
Completely relax and shake them out.
Letting go of the tension from your hands,
Wrists and forearms.
Now clenching your hands again,
Holding tight.
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And now letting them go,
Completely relaxing them.
Shaking them out,
Letting them loose.
Bringing tension into them again.
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Letting them go and shaking them out.
Just giving them a good shake and noticing the difference between when you bring tension into your arms and when you completely let it all go,
How that feels.
Now do something similar with your shoulders.
So shrugging your shoulders up to your ears,
Holding them up there,
Bringing the tension into your shoulders,
Into your upper back.
For 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 and releasing letting it go.
Noticing the difference when you bring tension into them letting it completely go.
Again shrugging your shoulders up for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 and dropping and letting them go.
Just noticing how it feels to raise tension,
Then the sensation of releasing tension.
Now just allowing yourself to,
As you're standing in your position,
Bring tension into your whole body.
Bring tension into your hands,
Wrists,
Forearms,
Upper arms,
Clenching everything.
Shrugging shoulders up,
Bringing tension into your torso,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Down your legs,
Your thighs,
Calf muscles,
Ankles,
Down into your feet.
Just tension all through your body and holding onto that tension for 10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Now letting all the tension go,
Completely relaxing,
Shaking your body out on the spot,
Doing what feels natural.
You might like to move,
Bring some slight movement into your body,
Your hips,
Shoulders,
Shaking your arms,
Your legs out.
Just taking a moment to notice any sensations within your body,
Any thoughts might be coming up.
Just letting your focus be where it wishes to,
Just observing.
You might like to change positions now,
Either sitting comfortably,
Ensuring that you're nice and warm,
Perhaps lying on a comfortable surface,
Whichever works best for you.
Feel free to grab a blanket or anything that allows you to feel comfortable and warm.
Just take a few moments to get comfortable.
There's no rush,
And if you wish to change positions during this meditation,
Feel free to do so.
When you're ready,
Just closing your eyes.
Invite you to start by just noticing the natural flow of your breath,
The inhalation,
The exhalation.
As your breath flows into your body,
The exhalation,
Noticing the natural rise and the fall on the exhalation.
Staying with this for a few moments,
Just imagining your breath as if it's sitting on top of the water or the ocean.
Drifting in and out as the tide comes in from the ocean into the shore on the inhalation.
The water drifting away from the shore back into the ocean on the exhalation.
Just staying with this idea of vision,
The flow of water.
Your breath moving the natural flow of water flowing in on the inhalation and back out on the exhalation.
Staying with this for a moment,
Contemplating the idea that when we have busy days where we've exerted much effort,
Sometimes all we need is to just simply let go.
As you breathe,
You inhale,
Preparing for the exhalation.
As you exhale,
In your mind saying words to indicate that you're letting go of something that feels natural to you.
Just repeating this with the inhalation,
Indicating to yourself that you're letting go on the exhalation.
Just asking yourself now,
How does it feel to let go?
How are you feeling in this moment?
Just checking in.
Invite you,
Check in with your thoughts,
Noticing the quality.
Just whether they're moving a little slower or smoothly,
Or they may be jumping one to the next.
Whatever's happening in your mind is completely okay and natural.
There's no need to force anything to maintain any effort.
Just noticing.
I'd like to thank your mind for leading you down a path of thoughts and experiences that you can explore.
Imagining the path as if it was a path in your mind.
Perhaps the path of your mind is able to conjure images or words,
Colors or shapes,
Objects.
Maybe just one thought running to the next.
If you'd like to,
An opportunity to visualize your mind as a path.
As your mind wanders down this path,
Maybe clear,
Perhaps busy in other parts.
Whatever you're imagining,
Wherever your mind takes you is completely okay and natural.
Along the path,
You might even like to imagine some greenery.
Perhaps you might find yourself in the depths of a busy forest.
Where is this path leading?
Does it take you to a final destination or does it continue running along?
This is the path of least resistance in your mind.
Not striving or rushing to get anywhere.
Just easing its way along.
Moving through thoughts,
Imagination,
Objects.
Quite effortlessly.
As you travel further along,
May come across a place or destination that you feel safe in.
A place where you can completely let go of the weight you're carrying from your day.
Wherever it might be,
Could be a deep part of a forest.
Perhaps a very still lake situated in the middle of a forest.
Where do you feel most safe?
Is it a space in a room where you live?
I invite you to just stay in your safe space for a moment.
Enjoying the feeling of immersing yourself in it.
Nowhere to go.
Just staying wherever you are.
Dropping the weight of effort from your day.
Just being here.
Checking in now with your thoughts,
Sensations in the body.
The natural flow of your breath.
Your natural posture.
Positioning of your body.
When you're ready,
You might like to gently rise from this safe space.
Taking as much time as you need to bring yourself back into the room.
Noticing things in your immediate environment.
Bringing some small movement into your body.
Opening your eyes.
Thanking yourself for allowing yourself to completely let go.
