Rest And Recreation

We use full yogic breath to come into a more relaxed state of mind. We ask our own permission to rest and contemplate our recreation, how to choose to create the new. We link to the living Universe to empower ourselves with its light, love, energy and consciousness. Then we look into our very center of our heart center, to find the light, love, truth, consciousness that is there. I am alive, I am aware, I AM. Photo by Faye Cornish on Unsplash

Transcript

Let's make ourselves comfortable. Then lower back supported in the back of the chair, Arms and legs, Somewhere they can rest for a little while. Having a little fidget. And when we find a comfortable spot, Taking one or two deeper breaths. And as we inhale we can lengthen our spine so there's plenty of room to breathe. And exhaling, Softening our shoulders, Relaxing a little. Bringing our attention to our breath and our body. And feeling how it feels to do this. As the demands of the world are put on hold for a few minutes, Hopefully we start to relax. And let's set the intention now to take these few moments for ourself, For rest and recreation. And we'll use a breathing technique to bring us into a calmer, More restful state of being. But before we start our breathing technique, I want to invite you to give yourself permission to rest. Sometimes we keep going, We keep going, We need to complete something, We need to get something done and that may be fine. But there may be times when we need to step aside, Release the burden. I invite you to give yourself permission to rest. If it feels uncomfortable, Check in with your very central self, Your heart center. Is it a good idea for me to rest? So we use a full yogic breath to begin with. So when we're ready to inhale next, We're going to gently invite the breath a little deeper into the lower lung. Then to the sides of the lung and then into the upper chest. And then when we're ready, Letting it all go again. So we'll have a practice when you're ready to inhale, Breath going into the lower lung, The sides of the lung expanding and the upper chest just below the collarbones expanding last and the breath flowing away comfortably. There's no forcing, No straining, Just doing as much as is comfortable. So we'll take the full yogic breath for about a minute. Obviously if it becomes uncomfortable you may be trying too hard, You may wish to stop and rest with your natural breath. If it feels okay in your own time, Gently allowing a little more breath into the lower lung, Sides of the lung and the upper chest, Excuse me, Breath flowing out comfortably. And we'll keep that going for a few moments. Gently does it. You may find the breath naturally becoming slower because this breath is much more efficient, Particularly if we're anxious and we've got a shallow breath. So you may find a pause naturally appearing at the end of the out breath. Let's make this one the last one. Pausing for a moment with our natural breath. So your biology will tell you if that is relaxing or not. If your heart rate has increased, If you become tense you may be trying too hard. Maybe forcing the breath, Must be gentle. There's very few musts but this is one of them. So resting for a moment, See how that feels in our body and our mind. We're going to take another round for about a minute but this time we're not going to use the upper part of the lung so much. So what I invite you to try is to just breathe comfortably into the lower lung and then the sides of the lung expand and then we don't use the upper chest. So it takes out that last part of the inhale, We just exhale naturally. So that will be even more comfortable and relaxing. So just keep an eye on your heart rate, If that increases we may be trying too hard. So when you're ready, Inhaling when it's comfortable to do so into the lower lung and the sides and then releasing the breath when we're ready. Please continue for about another minute. If the breath wants to become a little slower we can let that happen. One more time. Releasing the breathing practice. Resting with our natural breath, Our body. Learning how that felt, How it feels. Let's have a little look around the body. See if we need to relax any stiff tense parts of us. So we're letting go of a little more tension. Softening and resting a little further. I invite you now to use diaphragmatic breath. So it's 99% of your natural breath, Just allowing the breath in ever so slightly deeper to the lower lung. Straining and forcing. Feeling more at rest now. Muscles of the face and the shoulders are relaxed. The thoughts are starting to slow a little bit as the body and the breath starts to slow a little bit. If your mind is still very chattery. You can try the technique of sitting that chattery little person on your shoulder and letting them say what they will while you rest. Gives you a little bit of distance between you and your wandering mind because it's fine. Just let it go. So we're feeling more restful. Rest and Digest and Repair biology is turning up as the Stress biology turns down. More blood flowing into the brain so we might get more clarity. Blood flowing to the digestion because we don't need it in our arms and legs. Blood and energy going to our immune system. That ramping up because we don't use that when we're in stress so much. We need to run and jump and hide and we don't need to fight a bacterial infection if there's a tiger in the room. When we're resting that's when our immune system is stronger. And our cell repair systems come online stronger too. And of course for long term health our cells, Molecules need to be repaired. It feels like you're just sitting still but you're fundamentally influencing your biology for the positive. Everybody feeling more rested and restful. Mind feeling a little quieter. Does it feel safe? Because our insecurity is what drives a lot of work, Drama, Demands, Challenge. So trying to stay with our restful sense as we can contemplate that. And if you can imagine yourself resting back in the arms of a loving living universe. That universe that is all connected. Each atom entangled. Full of energy. Full of love, Full of light, Full of consciousness. And the new paradigm that is all the same thing. Energy is light is love is consciousness. Different words for the same thing. Different aspects of the living universe. Can we let ourselves rest in it and upon it for a moment? Because you are this. You are not separate. You are light, Love, Energy, Consciousness. Which may allow the other half of our intention to feel a bit more within reach. The recreation bit. The recreation. We recreate. We create. And in a universe of flowing energy, Light, Love, Consciousness. It feels a bit easier since not so fixed. To create something new feels a bit more possible. In a universe where there's so much power. From a perspective where we are made of this power. As you breathe in, Imagine that filling your body. The energy, The prana, There's another word for it, Chi. Filling our body in our energy field. Making that recreation more possible. And as our mind recognizes that we are safe. This too opens up new possibilities. Because we are safe to try them. In a world where we are unsafe we must stay with what we know. There is no room for experimentation. When we are safe we can try new things without fear, Of failure, Recriminations. So if we don't quite feel that safety and sense of the ability to discover. We may choose to set the intention that that's where we'd like to face. We choose to recreate, To try out, To discover. With our imagination. Where does our imagination take us? Let it take you now. With wings to take you wherever it wants to go. In that more beautiful world we know in our heart is possible. Our culture minimizes the imagination and its power. But in the spiritual dimension our imagination is our power. It's the first step. If we cannot imagine it for us there's no way we can have it. It's like the very first step towards making it real. So let it run free. For the last few moments we're going to place our attention in our heart center. Imagine the breath flowing through the heart center. Imagine that living universe and our heart center linking up. And when we look in the center of the center of the center of our heart center. The me at our most fundamental. Light, Love, Energy, Consciousness. The I am. Be on the job, The name, The body, The tasks. Beyond all that what is left in the center. I am awake. I am alive. I am observing. I am. Understanding the security of that light, Love, Power, Consciousness. And we take one or two breaths as we prepare to leave this place. But it's always here underneath the busy, The doing, The job, The worries. That's the bedrock of our existence. And it's always there for us. So we'll take a deeper breath and start to move our fingers and toes. Have a little stretch. We'll take our attention back to the external world. But if you can keep one eye on your heart center as you go throughout the rest of your day. I know your day will be different. Thank you for practicing with me.