On a journey towards deep relaxation for both body and mind.
This practice is perfect if you're struggling with stress and anxiety or want a deep and rejuvenating sleep.
Start by finding a comfortable position,
Laying down on your back,
Here you might want a pillow underneath your head and underneath your knees for extra support.
It is also recommended to cover yourself with a blankie or a duvet as your body temperature will drop as we sink deeper and deeper into relaxation.
When you have nestled in and become completely comfortable,
Adjust at your pillows,
Your clothes and your blanket and your body.
Allow your eyes to gently close,
Take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale it all through your mouth,
Let's repeat this two more times,
Inhale in through the nose and with a sigh exhale it all through your mouth.
Often we hurry along in life,
Missing out on the beautiful part of the journey known as the here and now.
You see in western beliefs we have adopted that time is a straight line,
We often even speak about time in this matter as we draw timelines or as we vision our lives from cradle to grave,
But the truth of the matter is that time is not linear,
It's a big everlasting circle.
This can be easily observed starting with the basics,
Observing how you inhale and exhaling,
Creating a circular breathing pattern as we observe the sun and the moon and their circular paths above us or the seasons from spring to summer to fall to winter.
If time was linear,
Winter and spring would be very far away,
But we know that after winter comes spring and the circle has been completed,
After day comes night,
After night comes day after life comes death and after death comes life.
You see it's all a circle and in this circle of eternity there is no hurrying.
So for the next coming moments I invite you to be,
To be here now and after all we are human beings and not human doings.
So allow yourself to reconnect with the essence of your being,
Feel the eternal stillness that you're carrying within you.
On the path to self-realization the body will be the first obstacle one must handle before being able to sink deeper and deeper in towards the self.
So to release our body and get rid of tension and disturbances we will incorporate a practice known as active release where we will squeeze our body parts at the top of an inhalation and then release on the exhalation.
Today we will start from the feet and work our way up,
So wherever you are take a deep inhalation,
Squeeze all ten toes and your feet at the top and exhale release,
Allowing our awareness to travel up into our calves,
Take a deep inhalation,
Squeeze,
Traveling up into our thighs,
Taking a deep inhalation,
Squeezing the thighs and exhale and releasing.
Moving into hips and buttocks,
Inhaling,
Squeezing at the top,
Feeling how the whole lower body is relaxed and released,
Allowing our awareness to travel out into our fingers and our hands,
Inhaling fully,
Squeezing all ten fingers and our hands,
Creating little fists,
Exhaling release,
Engaging both arms,
Lower and upper in a deep inhalation,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Exhaling releasing.
On our next inhalation we will pull our shoulders up towards our ears,
So inhale,
Shoulders come up,
Exhale release,
Allowing our awareness to travel up into our head,
Squeezing every muscle in our face on our inhalation and exhale and release,
One final time squeezing and engaging every cell in the body on our inhalation.
Now as our body has been released and relaxed we will continue our inquiry to the level of mind and to still the mind and nourish our body,
We will do a breath work known as resonant breathing,
So we will inhale for the count of six and exhale for the count of six,
Visualizing how a warm and healing light is entering our body as we inhale and as we exhale dark smoke is leaving our nostrils,
As we are purifying our temple I will count you both up and down,
Just follow my instruction,
Wherever you are take a deep inhalation through your nose,
Exhale it all through your mouth and then let's together inhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Inhale five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Inhale five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Inhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Inhale one,
Five,
Six,
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
Then allow your breath to flow freely,
Feel a sense of serene stillness and peace,
The subtle sound and flow of your breath,
Now visualize in your mind's eye a lush and green forest,
Green canopies above you are creating a roof and a shimmering green light trickles through,
Birds are singing and welcoming the morning,
A squirrel is jumping from branch to branch,
A small stream is making its way through the forest towards an unknown destination,
You're scattered like marbles,
The ground beneath you are soft and warm,
This place is familiar and it holds this essence of that stillness and peace that can only be experienced in early mornings,
When most of the world is sleeping and as you walk through the forest you come to a clearing,
In this clearing a small you is waiting,
Your inner child is sitting and basking in the sun and greets you with a smile as you enter the clearing,
You choose to sit down and for what feels like eternity you are eye gazing,
All the things that you need to hear and that your inner child needs to hear is being said,
In this clearing you ask for forgiveness and you promise that all the wrongs that were done will be corrected and that your inner child will be safe and no further harm,
No further darkness will ever ascend to this sacred place again,
You ask your inner child what he or she needed the most and then vow to strive to give that to yourself and to leave,
You embrace each other and feel how healing takes place,
Before you wander through the forest back to where you started,
From here we will ascend from the depths of our being with a simple but profound breathing technique,
We will count of 1 to 27,
Like this,
Inhale one belly rises,
Exhale one belly falls,
Inhale two belly rises,
Exhale two belly falls,
Inhale three belly rises,
Exhale three belly falls,
Inhale four belly rises,
Exhale four belly falls,
Inhale five belly rises,
Exhale five belly falls,
Inhale six belly rises,
Exhale six belly falls,
Inhale seven belly rises,
Exhale seven belly falls,
Inhale eight belly rises,
Exhale eight belly falls,
Inhale ten belly rises,
Exhale ten belly falls,
Inhale eleven belly rises,
Exhale eleven belly falls,
Inhale twelve belly rises,
Exhale twelve belly falls,
Inhale thirteen belly rises,
Exhale thirteen belly falls,
Inhale fourteen belly rises,
Exhale fourteen belly falls,
Inhale fifteen belly rises,
Exhale fifteen belly falls,
Continue this rhythm until you reach twenty seven,
And if you forget where you are,
Then gently start over at one,
As this practice is concluded,
I wish that you go forth from here in abundance and bliss,
And as always,
Stay blessed by the breath.
