Welcome to this practice of deep relaxation and letting go.
Make sure that you're in a space where you can be undisturbed.
Perhaps you need to let people around you know.
Perhaps you can close and lock a door.
Prepare the space.
Ideally you want to be lying down on something soft.
Perhaps you'll need a blanket to cover yourself.
You can get into a position on your back.
Feet slightly apart.
Arms and hands out to the sides.
You want to spend some time on making any necessary adjustments now so that you can be as still as possible throughout the practice.
So get into a comfortable position on your back.
If you want to cover yourself with blankets do that now or keep one next to you just in case you'll need it later.
You can close your eyes.
And then start by bringing to mind someone or something that represents peace,
Love,
Joy.
It can be a spiritual figure like the Buddha,
The Christ,
Mother Mary or someone else.
It can be something from nature,
A tree,
A flower or it can be something else.
Spend some time focusing on one image,
Trying to become aware of some of the details,
Trying to become aware of the whole image.
No need to worry if you can't see all the details clearly.
Just notice what you can.
And then on your next exhale just let the image dissolve,
Letting go of this image.
This will be an effortless way of practicing by letting go,
Trusting and opening up to your natural peace,
Joy and love.
What is already here when you let go and relax.
Start by becoming aware of sounds,
Sounds coming and going.
Let them come and go without fighting them,
Resisting or clinging to them,
Grasping.
Let the sounds just come and go.
Then become aware of your natural breathing.
Notice how the stomach rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale like waves on the ocean.
There is no need for you to do anything.
You don't need to breathe.
It happens spontaneously.
You're being breathed.
You don't need to try to focus on relaxing or letting go.
Just trust that with each exhale what needs to let go and what is ready can be dissolved,
Can be relaxed.
With each exhale letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
I will now mention different parts of the body.
Again,
There is no need for you to do anything.
Perhaps your attention naturally goes to the part of the body that I mentioned.
If not,
No need to worry.
Just trust this process with each exhale letting go.
Souls of the feet,
The feet,
Calves and shins,
Knees,
Thigh muscles and upper legs,
Buttocks,
Anus,
Groin and pelvic area,
Genitals,
Lower back,
Abdomen,
Middle back and upper back,
Chest area,
Fingertips,
Fingers,
Palms of the hands,
Hands,
Lower arms,
Upper arms,
Shoulders,
Neck and throat,
Back of the head,
Ears,
Entire scalp,
Forehead,
Eyebrows,
Eyelids and eyes,
Nose,
Cheeks,
Mouth with lips,
Tongue,
Inside of the mouth,
Jaw,
Everything resting,
The entire body resting on the ground,
No need to hold the body,
The body is held by the ground,
No need to engage in mental activity,
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to do,
Just resting in the spacious awareness,
This effortless awareness,
Letting yourself go to solve into this natural peace,
Joy and love.
As you notice tensions in the body or mind,
Gross or subtle,
There is no need to fight them,
Work to make them go,
You can only notice and let them be,
Let them be in this vast spaciousness,
Let them dissolve,
If they're ready to dissolve,
Relax,
If ready to relax into this spacious awareness where everything can arise and pass away,
Trusting that this body and mind is already awakened,
Enlightened,
Peaceful,
Joyful,
Loving.
Let yourself rest,
Let yourself rest in this spacious awareness,
Trusting the ground,
Trusting your natural goodness,
Trusting the spacious awareness.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Slowly you can start becoming aware again of the breath,
Your natural breath,
Taking a few deeper inhales,
Seeing the air and energy going all the way down to your feet,
All the way down to your fingertips,
Reawakening the body,
Re-energizing the body.
You can start moving the fingers,
The feet,
Perhaps giving yourself a good stretch and take your time as you come out of this practice of deep relaxation,
Thanking yourself for having taken this time to care for this body,
This mind,
For caring about the world,
About the earth,
For caring about peace,
Joy,
Love.
