Hi,
This is Lucy.
I just wanted to offer you a guided relaxation,
Or we could call it an extended Shavasana.
So you can do this either seated or lying down,
Whatever's more comfortable for you.
And we'll just start by drawing our focus to the back of the body.
So just noticing the back of the head and the neck,
And noticing your shoulders,
Your upper back,
Your mid back and lower back,
Your hips,
Your glutes,
The backs of your thighs,
Your calves,
And the soles of your feet.
And we'll just pause for a moment and take a nice slow in-breath through the nose.
And a nice slow exhale out of the nose.
Just a few more times,
Perhaps gently hearing your breath,
So it sounds almost like a wave.
And you might place your hands on your belly if that feels okay for you,
So that you can notice the breath coming in and filling up the belly as you inhale.
And then the belly softens as you exhale.
So inhaling through the nose.
Exhaling out of the nose.
Inhaling,
Belly rises.
Exhaling,
Belly softens.
And continue with that breath,
A nice slow,
Even breath.
And if you like,
You could get your feet involved with breathing.
I know that might sound funny.
But we're breathing through our feet.
So perhaps as you inhale,
Your toes spread wide,
Stretch the toes,
Inhaling.
And then as you exhale,
The toes curl in as the belly softens and you exhale.
Inhaling,
Toes spread wide,
Belly rises.
Exhaling,
Belly softens and toes close.
Keep going with the breath.
And then taking your focus to the fronts of your feet,
Relaxing the feet and the ankles now.
And the fronts of the shins,
The knees,
Thighs,
Fronts of the hips,
The pelvis,
The waist,
The heart,
The chest,
The shoulders,
The arms,
The elbows,
The wrists,
The hands.
And if it feels okay for you,
Allowing the backs of the hands to rest just beside the body.
So the arms are rested beside the body.
And perhaps we could get our hands involved with our breathing now.
So as we inhale,
The fingers expand,
The hands spread wide,
The belly rises.
And then as we exhale,
The fingers curl in to a ball,
And the belly softens.
So we're inhaling,
Fingers spread wide,
Belly rises.
Exhaling,
The hands curl in and the belly gets small too.
I'm going to keep going for a few more rounds like that,
Expanding the fingers with the breath and the belly as we inhale.
And everything gathers inwards as we exhale.
Keep going for a few rounds with the breath.
And maybe getting the feet and the hands involved now.
So inhaling,
Fingers and toes all spread wide,
The digits are spread.
We inhale into the belly.
And then exhaling,
Toes and fingers gather inwards,
And the belly softens.
Inhaling,
Spreading those digits wide,
Expanding.
Exhaling,
Curling into a ball with the fingers and the thumbs and the toes as the belly softens.
Inhaling,
Expanding,
Growing.
Exhaling,
Contracting,
Getting small.
And we can keep doing this with the breath if it feels good.
And you can continue like that for a few rounds if you prefer,
Just to be still,
That's fine too.
Wherever you're at,
Just bringing awareness to the breath,
Nice,
Slow,
Even breath.
You might be able to hear your breath,
Oceanic breath,
Ujjayi breath.
And then just taking a moment to focus back to the heart space,
Bringing your attention to the throat and the face,
Seeing if you can soften the face.
Notice if you're frowning,
If you can soften the forehead,
Soften the jaw,
Soften the eyelids,
The cheeks.
And drawing your focus to the crown of the head now.
And if you like,
You can envisage a nice white light reaching up out of the crown of the head.
And at the same time,
A red energy drawing you down from your seat or through your feet into the earth.
Just taking a few breaths with that visual,
If that resonates with you.
Or just simply focusing back on your breath.
And if you notice your mind wander,
See if you can very gently escort your focus back to the present moment,
Perhaps anchoring your awareness to your breath.
Totally relaxed,
The body is relaxed,
Mind,
Soul,
Completely relaxed.
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go on the exhale in particular.
And if you like,
You could choose to stay here,
Just watching the breath.
And if you notice the mind wander,
Gently escort it back to the breath.
You're breathing through your nose,
Out of the nose.
I'm going to finish this meditation here,
But please feel free to stay as you are completely relaxed,
Safe.
Lots of love.
