We'll make ourselves comfortable.
Let's place our body somewhere we can be still for a little while.
Planting our feet on the floor,
Noticing our feet and our legs,
Making sure they're comfortable,
Our joints are in a neutral position.
We'll take a few deeper breaths as we position the top half of our body and we can inhale,
Lengthen our spine a little bit,
Extend the top half of our body,
Exhaling.
We can soften a little bit,
Soften our forehead and our shoulders,
Soften into our seat a little bit,
Put our arms and our hands somewhere comfortable.
We've parked our body.
We're going to take our attention inwards.
So let's find our breath and take a few deeper breaths as we settle.
Then we can let our breath be natural.
We'll sit still and quiet.
Notice how it feels to sit still and quiet.
Our attention on our internal world,
Body and breath,
Mind and emotions,
Ourselves.
Here we are in this moment.
How does that feel?
Whatever we find in our internal world,
Can we allow it to be,
Even if it's things we're not particularly comfortable with and would rather not have?
If we push them away,
I'd ignore them.
They tend to stay.
By allowing,
Feeling,
Maybe understanding,
Maybe embracing,
We can bring them into the whole of us and grow a little bit.
So we're going to physically relax our body a little more to take us,
To ease us into a more relaxed,
Healthier state of mind.
So let's start from the crown of our head.
Imagine a wave of relaxation starting to roll down from the top of our head.
It's going to pass our eyebrows,
Our forehead and scalp,
Softening a little,
Temples,
Eyes,
Our cheeks and our jaw,
Becoming a little more relaxed.
The wave moving down past the base of their skull and the neck,
Leaving the muscles in a neutral relaxed position.
Shoulders relaxing,
Wave passing down over the chest and the back,
Our muscles releasing the tension as it goes from our arms,
Lower back,
Abdomen,
Reaching our hips,
Relaxing,
Still enough muscle tension to hold us upright where we need to be held.
Wave of relaxation passing into our legs,
Thighs,
Knees,
Lower legs,
Ankles and feet,
All the little muscles in our feet and our toes.
Let's feel the body and as the body relaxes,
Sending signals to the mind that it too is able to relax a little.
Let's now give some more instructions to the mind that it can relax.
So we're going to imagine a place,
Time where we feel completely at ease.
I imagine ourselves being there,
As much detail as we can.
What does it look like?
How does it feel?
Allowing ourselves to experience it as fully as we can.
Let's notice how that feels in our body and mind.
You may notice you're feeling slightly calmer,
More relaxed mentally and physically.
So to bring ourselves into an even more relaxed,
Healthier state of mind,
I will count from 1 to 10 and as I count I invite you to become slightly more relaxed with each number.
1,
2,
3.
Allowing ourselves to become even more quiet and still.
4,
5,
6.
Our rest,
Digest,
Repair biology becoming activated.
7,
8,
9,
10.
Just noticing how our body and mind feel now.
So I invite you to bring your attention into your mind,
Into your head space.
But from the point of view of the observer,
As we're going to see if we can observe feeling the energy in the mind and we're going to use the analogy on the metaphor of the ocean.
So the mind is often very busy,
Maybe chaotic,
Active and we can compare that to the surface of the sea.
Always moving,
Sometimes it's very tempestuous,
Even frightening,
Sometimes it's calmer,
Quieter.
Let's see if we can be in the energy of our mind for a little while without getting carried away by our thoughts or if we do get carried away can we come back and become the observer again?
If we get carried away by thought just return without any criticism to being the observer again.
And if you like you can pretend you're on a raft or a dinghy that's well built there's no need for fear we're just experiencing this image of an ocean.
It's helping us experience our mind and as the breath rises and falls we could imagine our raft rising and falling.
So our breath is rocking us as the waves might rock the raft.
Let our breath still be comfortable and natural.
And if your breath is comfortable and relaxed that might feel soothing.
If you are feeling less comfortable the feeling of the breath might be more uncomfortable.
Can we allow whatever we find?
We are experiencing ourselves through this metaphor.
Our attention turns to the water,
To the body and the depths.
There is no need for fear because this ocean is us and the depths are ours and we long to investigate,
To know ourselves in our center.
And so we slide off the raft into the water knowing we are completely safe and we fill the water around us.
And we put our head under the water and take a breath because this is imaginary and if we choose it we can breathe.
And the last little bit of fear leaves as we feel the quietness of the water.
And we sink a little into ourselves,
Into our center.
We are weightless,
Still and quiet.
What do we find?
What does our observer feel?
Can we allow it all to be just as it is?
Releasing the need to change anything,
Just being.
Completely welcomed.
Whatever we find here,
It is ours.
Resting here for a few more moments.
And recognizing it's time to return to the external world.
So we have a little kick of our legs,
Return to the surface.
And our raft,
Hear the wind,
See the light of the Sun.
Take a few deep breaths of air.
Just noticing whatever there is to notice here.
And we'll gradually,
Gradually come back to our regular waking state.
So I'm going to count up to five and we will gradually return to the external world,
To our regular state of consciousness.
One,
Two.
Taking a few deeper breaths and allowing it to energize our body and bring movement into our body.
Three,
Four.
Stretching,
Animating ourselves.
Five.
Returning to the outer world when you're ready.
And recognizing this is always within us.
The busy upper mind and the still quiet world beneath.
It's always there.
Thank you for practicing with me.
