Hi it's Belle and welcome to this short meditation to help ease your hangover.
In the next 10 minutes or so I'm going to help you feel less anxious and kinder towards yourself.
To begin take a minute just to say thanks to yourself for taking time to meditate today even though you're not feeling 100%.
Get as comfortable as you can in the space you're in.
I personally like lying down on the floor or on a bed so your body's fully supported but you can sit up on a cushion,
In a chair or whatever's available to you.
Wherever you are see if you can just make yourself more at ease.
Take any movement that would just make you a little bit more comfortable in this moment and then I invite you to take stock of how you feel in your physical body.
Where does it hurt?
Try to be more specific than just everywhere if you can.
Can you feel your head thumping,
Your stomach churning,
Maybe your legs ache,
Your feet hurt?
Sit with these sensations for a minute.
Is there anywhere in the body that feels good?
What about the support underneath you,
Holding you up,
Coming up to meet you in whatever state you're in.
Take a few breaths here,
Settle in,
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth,
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Get curious about your breathing.
Is it shallow or deep?
Is it fast?
Is it slow?
You don't have to change anything,
Just notice the air coming in and out of the body.
You've got nowhere to be right now except here.
Nothing to do but take up space in the spot you're in.
Your mind will naturally wander from the breath and let it.
You're welcome to follow it,
See where it goes,
Where it takes you and then when you're ready gently bring yourself back to the breath.
Inhale through the nose and the exhale from the mouth.
Anything you've got to do later,
Come wait.
With each exhalation out of the mouth,
See if you can give in to any sensation of tiredness or fatigue.
You might like to try audibly sighing on the out-breath for an extra release.
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
Imagine yourself sinking further into the ground or the surface beneath you and as you do,
See if you can stretch out your breathing.
Focusing on the breath is one of the easiest ways we have as humans to relax.
The mind and the body respond to guidance from the breath.
One of the ways we can make our breathing longer is to count and hold our breath and exhale it.
So we'll use four breaths.
So we go in for four,
We hold for four and then out for four.
Just observe what that does to your body.
So let's start with big inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
We hold for four,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And exhale for four,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold for four,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
In,
In through the nose and hold and out for four.
In,
Hold,
Exhale.
In,
Hold,
Exhale.
Just continue that breathing pattern for a couple of rounds in your own time.
Wherever you are in your cycle,
You can now just come back to breathing without the counting and let the breath settle back into whatever rhythm is natural for you.
It should be deeper and a bit slower now,
But if it's not,
Don't worry.
Just breathe however feels good for you.
You might want to imagine that the air all around you has healing capabilities and every breath,
Every breath in is a powerful healing potion.
It's working its way slowly throughout your body,
Circulating,
Easing any aches or pains or niggles you might have.
And on the out breaths,
On the exhale,
You're expelling,
Releasing anything that is making you unwell or doesn't serve you.
Inhale through the nose,
Picturing that healing,
That healing air flowing through your body.
And exhaling out of the mouth,
Getting rid of all of that stale air,
All of those aches and pains.
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale out of the mouth.
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale.
Do a couple of rounds of breathing in your own time,
Your own pace.
With that vision,
The healing air can make it life.
And we're coming to the end of this short healing practice.
But before we do,
I'd like to invite you to put your right hand on your left shoulder and cross your left hand over that arm and place it on your right shoulder.
Just give yourself an affectionate squeeze,
Like you would a friend,
Because you are your own friend.
And you showed up for yourself today,
Even though you're not feeling your best.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
