Take a few more moments now to finish preparing your space.
This might look like grabbing yourself a glass of water or tea,
Any sort of additive to the bath water,
Salts,
Oils,
Herbs,
Flowers.
And beginning by just noticing,
Noticing where you are at the beginning of your bath ritual,
Checking in with the physical form,
Noticing wherever you're contacting the earth.
Just release the breath,
Maybe taking any gentle movements before coming into relative stillness,
Before entering your water.
Tuning into gratitude,
Giving thanks for all the things that needed to align for you in order for you to be taking this time for yourself.
Welcoming in any thoughts,
Any emotions,
Any sensations,
Outside noise,
Anything really that may be joining you for your journey today.
Maybe placing your hands somewhere on your body,
Heart,
Belly,
Face.
Taking a nice deep breath in,
Inviting the body to soften and finding an intention for your time today.
If nothing is spontaneously arising for you in this moment,
Just be with yourself,
Be with that.
And whenever you feel complete,
Gently step one foot and then the other foot into your bath and navigating your way down to a seat,
Noticing where your body is contacting the tub.
Today we're going to do just a little little somatic movement before settling into some stillness for a time together.
Everything I offer here today is simply an invitation,
So work with what resonates and leave what doesn't.
If this means pausing the recording or shutting it off at any time while you work through your own process,
Switching to something different,
I want you to feel fully empowered.
This time is for you.
We're going to begin with just some very gentle massage,
So placing the hands on the feet if you're able to reach,
Letting the rest of your body be soft,
Just finding some very gentle contact between hands and feet.
Maybe massaging the arches,
Maybe giving each toe a little traction,
Greeting the feet,
Welcoming them into the warmth of the water,
Allowing the breath to move in a way that feels good.
Just bring the party up,
The ankles,
The calves,
Noticing what kind of attention the ankles,
The calves might need,
The shins might need,
Maybe raking your fingers up and down the length of the low legs,
Maybe just gently squeezing,
Checking in with the more global self,
Noticing if anything's arising,
Inviting the rest of the system to be soft,
To move in a gentle way,
Allowing the rest of the body to take any shape that feels comfortable,
Bringing the hands to the knees,
Pausing for a moment here,
Finding some relative stillness,
Maybe consciously softening the face and the jaw,
Softening the gaze,
And then continuing the journey up,
Let the hands just gently make contact with the thighs,
And then as you're finding some self-touch here that feels supportive,
Begin to work your way down into laying,
Fully reclining in your bathwater,
Settling into this small water womb,
And allowing the fluid to really accept some of the gravitational pull that you usually are subject to,
And if you can find some buoyancy,
Allow the body to be buoyant.
And if you're living in a smaller body or lucky enough to have a large tub,
Feel free to take a moment to play with this feeling of buoyancy,
Bringing a little bit more movement,
Maybe stretching and pushing into the sides of the tub,
And giving the cortical mind a little bit of a break,
No need to worry about exactly what this looks like,
Just tuning into the sensations and noticing how and where the body wants to shift,
And if you're finding your womb space to be a little bit more snug,
A little bit further along in the gestation,
Feel free to really play with the difference between what it feels like to push into the edges of the tub,
All limbs out,
Head up,
And then to just soften and yield.
Everyone just meet me here,
Finding a very gentle press out with all limbs,
All available body parts,
And see how soft and subtle,
Slow you can be with pressing into the walls of the tub,
And allowing any sequencing,
Any body movement that wants to happen to happen,
Finding your gentle press,
Softening the jaw,
Releasing the breath,
When you feel satisfied,
Relaxing into stillness,
Maybe once more,
Wherever you are,
Pressing,
Pressing,
Maybe bringing a little bit more force,
A little more effort,
Stretching into the walls of this womb,
And then yielding into the space,
Letting the body be soft,
Letting the physical form reorient in this new shape,
Returning to a more spherical,
Fluid,
Fetal shape,
Remembering the breath,
And allowing yourself to sink low,
And to start to find some rest here.
Before we settle into extended stillness,
I'm just gonna check in with the body again,
Gripping the toes,
And stretching them wide,
Clenching the toes,
Spreading them wide,
Pressing into the tub again with the feet,
Finding ankle rolls on one side,
Just drawing circles with the foot,
One way,
The other way,
And remembering your breath,
And when you feel complete with that side,
Switch sides,
Find some circles with the foot,
One way,
Then the other,
Rolling out the ankle,
Checking back in globally with the body,
Inviting any softness to any areas that have found a clench or grip,
Allowing any gentle movement,
Drawing some awareness up to the hips,
Pelvic floor,
Pelvis,
And find some gentle movement here,
Just rolling the hips in a circle one way,
And then the other,
And really feel free to release the breath and the voice when you work with your pelvis,
Keep the lips soft,
The jaw soft,
And if it feels safe,
Really encouraging your next few inhales,
And then just letting the breath out in a sigh,
And this can be with sound or without sound,
Playing with a few rounds of breath before letting the pelvis settle.
I'm taking a moment just to notice the line of the spine,
Tucking the chin,
And lifting it slightly towards the ceiling,
Tucking the chin,
Lifting it up,
And just draw a few circles with the nose,
Very small,
Start very small,
Pick a direction and go,
And really remember your breath here,
And I want to invite,
If you can,
If you're able,
To expand your awareness down the spine to the pelvis as you're drawing circles with the nose,
Just allowing any gentle movement or connections that want to be built here to be built,
Switching directions when you feel called to,
Noticing any tensions that want to unwind,
To let them unwind,
Checking back in with the face,
The jaw,
Allowing the eyes,
The gaze to be soft,
And once you feel complete,
Working with the face,
The head,
The neck,
Pouring your awareness down into your shoulders,
Taking a few gentle shrugs,
Checking in briefly with your feet as you do this,
Once you feel satisfied,
Shrugging the shoulders,
Just finding the elbows wherever they are in your bathtub,
Maybe finding a gentle push left to right,
One side,
Then the other,
Allowing the head and the neck to remain soft,
Allowing your pathway through your breath and your voice to be open,
Allowing whatever needs to be released to move through,
Taking a moment to just yield your body to the water in whatever shape you're finding yourself in,
Finding your breath for a few cycles,
Riding that tide in and out,
Releasing control of how fast,
How deep,
Allowing the breath to be what it is,
Checking in now with the hands,
Opening the palms,
Spreading the fingers wide,
Reaching,
Reaching,
Reaching,
And then softening,
And then finding a clenched fist,
Squeezing the fingers together,
And then release.
A few cycles of this,
Opening the palms,
Stretching the fingers wide,
Reaching the fingertips out away from the shoulders,
And then finding some softness,
Some stillness,
Bringing the fingers and thumbs in,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
And then releasing,
Once more,
Opening,
Spreading,
Reaching,
Bringing the toes into this spread and reach as well,
Allowing all parts to stretch,
To open,
To move in any way they feel like they want to move,
Before releasing,
Softening,
Relaxing what you're able to let go of,
Finding the tide of breath,
Riding the inhale in,
And riding the exhale out,
And if you're feeling ready to exit your bath,
You can slowly press your feet into the wall of the tub,
And allow your body to come up and out of the water,
And returning to this seated posture,
While we finish with some sound,
And if you aren't ready to exit your bath yet,
Feel free to find any shape that feels receptive for you,
Allowing your process to continue in any way,
For as long as you need.
Om Om Om Om
