Welcome to the dissolving method.
This is a classic Taoist style relaxation practice for bringing the awareness into the body and letting go of any tension and letting energy flow freely in a balanced harmonious manner.
So bringing your awareness to the crown of the head,
Just feeling on the inhale and on the exhale this feeling as if you're dissolving any bit of tightness or tension.
As they say in the Taoist tradition,
Ice to water,
Water to vapor.
Just connecting with that feeling,
It's an embodied feeling,
Not something we're trying to visualize here,
Something we're trying to feel.
Coming down to the forehead,
Top of the skull,
Breathing in,
It's the feeling of ice,
Something a bit more solid.
And as you exhale,
It slowly runs to a feeling of water,
And that water just dissolves to vapor.
Feeling into the eyes,
Just releasing any of that tightness or tension in the eyes and the eyes soften up.
Coming further down,
The face,
The cheeks,
The jaw,
The ears,
And the whole skull now.
You want to have this feeling as if the whole face dissolves,
The feeling of melting,
As if you're letting go of your self-image and any bit of tightness and holding on just releases.
Coming down to the throat and neck,
Feeling a bit more solid,
It's ice,
And as you breathe out,
It becomes water,
Slowly turns into gas and vapor.
To the shoulders,
Upper back,
Top of the upper chest,
Feeling the solidity on the inhale and on every exhale as if the body falls away,
Using the power of the exhale,
Using the intention to bring healing,
Lightness and softness to the whole body.
To the upper arms,
The chest,
The lower part of the chest,
The back,
Just following this pattern that on the inhale,
Feel the solidity of the body,
On the exhale,
You're just letting the body fall away,
Ice to water,
Water the vapor.
The lower torso,
The ribs,
The sternum,
Mid-back,
The lower belly,
The obliques,
The lower back.
Moving over to the arms,
The forearms,
The wrists,
And the hands.
Feeling on the inhale,
As you breathe out,
Let that solidity turn soft until it just falls away,
Dissolves.
Coming into the pelvic region,
The buttocks and the hip bones and the groin,
Dissolve with that exhale.
Down through the upper legs,
Breathing in and feel,
Muscles,
Tissues,
Bones,
Let the exhale ride,
The exhale out,
Everything softens,
Melts away.
Down to the knees and the lower legs,
The back of the lower legs and the shin bones.
Especially bring your awareness now to the shins and on the exhale,
As if the bones relax,
Relax the bones.
Bring your attention to the ankles,
The heels,
Soles of the feet and tops of the feet,
Then all the toes.
Feel the solidity on the inhale and let it dissolve as you breathe out,
Ice to water,
Water the vapor.
Now,
Slowly bring your awareness to the breath,
Just feeling the inhale and exhale,
Connecting to this five qualities of the breath,
Slow,
Let the breath go slow,
Slowing the pace without holding the breath,
Slow as you can make the breath,
Without any holding,
Without any forcing,
Slow and relaxed and comfortable.
The breath becomes deep,
This is not a powerful gasping for air,
This means dropping deep into the body,
Feel the breath,
Feel that lower belly,
The lower abdominal area involved in the breath now,
The expansion and contraction of the lower abdomen,
Dropping deep with the breath as if you're dropping down into a deep lake,
Going deep.
Feel the lower abdomen,
Expand and contract with every breath.
Feel the breath smooth,
Smooth out the pauses between inhale and exhale and exhale and inhale,
As if the pauses are barely negligible,
Almost a circular quality to the breath.
So,
We feel the breath slow,
Deep and smooth,
Connect to the feeling of quiet,
As if someone sitting right next to you cannot hear your breath,
The breath becomes quiet and subtle,
While at the same time,
It's still deep within the body,
There's no loud sounds,
Becomes more and more subtle to the point where even you cannot hear your breath.
And finally,
A feeling of soft and light,
The breath,
Like the body,
Feels soft,
Feels light,
As they say in the tradition,
A feeling of cotton.
So,
The breath has become slow,
Deep,
Smooth,
Quiet and soft.
Just surfing the breath,
Embodying these five qualities,
Let the body fall away,
Opening up,
Releasing any bit of tightness or tension,
Just riding this breath,
Till there's nothing more to do,
Nowhere to go,
Just let it go,
Let the breath simply be,
As you drop deeper and deeper into a relaxed state of awareness.
