End Of Day | Slow Down Reset & Release | 17 Mins

As you arrive in today's Taoist inspired nature meditation that invites you to slow down,

Go ahead start by taking a really deep steady breath in,

Opening the mouth and like a waterfall letting it trickle away.

Take two more like that in through the nose,

Out through the mouth,

Let it go and when you finish those arrival waterfall breaths just sealing off the lips and letting the breath flow freely between the nostrils,

Allowing the body to land in time and space,

Letting whatever has been with you today up until this point just drop back into the background or completely out of the picture.

Bring your body,

Bring your breath,

Bring your inner experience into the foreground,

Make it your focus now.

Just like when a camera pulls focus it's like you're choosing to place your awareness here and now within yourself.

Without rehearsing any future moments or reliving anything that has been,

See if we can just cultivate this spaciousness of the moment as it unfolds perpetually.

We're going to be working a little bit with the breath as always and these are some breathing techniques that have been really deeply supportive to me when I've realized that I'm racing through,

My brain feels a little scrambled or I'm overwhelmed.

These step like breaths just gather me,

Center me and find a little bit of slowness through the breath.

If you're pregnant please don't hold the breath,

Just allow it to be a seamless up and down,

Otherwise feel free to join me as we go.

I'll briefly describe it so you get a sense before we go there together.

We're gonna inhale and we're gonna pause three times with the in-breath so it's like a glass of water filling up and a third of the way it just stops and then two-thirds of the way it stops and then at the top of the glass it stops and then we exhale and then we'll reverse that.

So let's clear the breath all together,

Inhale fully,

Expand brightly with breath and then wash the breath away.

Let it go.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale to the top,

Pause and then let it go all the way.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale,

Pause and let it go.

Couple more rounds.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale to the top of the breath and let it go.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale,

Pause.

Inhale,

Take that step and then let it go.

Continue just for two or three more rounds,

Self-guided,

Those three stepping stones on the inhale and then the releasing on the exhale.

You might even visualize three steps and then a slide going down,

That whooshing feeling on the exhale.

And every time you pause and suspend,

Open and relax.

Try not to brace or create more tension in the body,

Just stay soft.

Making this your last round and then returning to your natural breath,

Just for a couple of rounds in between and then what we'll do is we'll reverse that.

So I'll just take you through verbally before we do it proactively.

We're going to be inhaling a smooth slope upwards like the slide but going up and then we're going to be exhaling,

Pausing.

Exhaling,

Pausing.

Exhaling,

Pausing and then letting the rest of the breath go.

So you might visualize a slope or a slide on the inhale and then three steps going down with the exhale pauses.

Let's clear the breath to prepare.

Inhale fully,

Let it go.

Inhale,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale,

Pause.

Exhale,

Pause.

Exhale,

Pause.

Let anything else go.

Inhale,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale,

Pause.

Exhale,

Pause.

Exhale,

Pause and let the rest go.

Inhale,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale,

Pause.

Exhale,

Pause.

Exhale,

Pause and let it go.

Take yourself through two to three more rounds.

In for four,

Stepping stone down,

Three pauses and repeat.

And when you come to the end of those few rounds just simply returning to a natural breath without force,

Without shaping or changing the breath.

Just let it flow freely now like a river.

Now focusing on the body alone.

Just letting the breath be what is gentle,

Serene and present all the while as you place your awareness on your physical body now.

Let the body settle in just 5% more to this moment.

There is nowhere else to be,

Nothing else to do but just be aware of your body.

As you sense into your physical body,

Let's imagine now a river flowing gently through a lush valley.

The water moves effortlessly,

Not rushing,

Not pushing,

Just flowing.

And in the Taoist way the river represents the path of life,

The effortless unfolding of existence when we let it all go and simply allow.

The non-action state.

So can you just allow this spaciousness to be present without wanting to act upon anything?

I know it can be hard.

You might even raise the question inside yourself,

What am I doing?

And then responding internally,

Nothing.

And if the mind wants to take you into activity just remind yourself of that question.

Let yourself be in the nothing.

It's okay.

Keeping the breath slow in the background.

And as you open this field of awareness into the openness of the non-action,

Simply notice any tension or any areas of resistance in your physical body and bit by bit just let them soften.

Like a stone smoothed by the water over time,

Release,

Soften,

Release,

Soften.

In this inner stillness that we're aiming to move towards,

Are you able to listen?

And when you listen,

What can you hear?

Can you hear the quiet pulse of life within you?

And when we move into this spaciousness through stillness,

What can you feel when you let go of urgency and action?

What's there?

In the path of life,

The river teaches us that you're already moving to where you need to be.

Without force,

Without strain,

Flowing to where you need to be.

Take a few moments now just to rest into this spaciousness and feel yourself almost like you were floating on the surface of the river.

Body open and relaxed.

The warm golden sun upon your skin.

Feeling held,

Feeling supported,

Trusting that you're exactly where you need to be.

Floating downstream without a care in the world.

And as you continue to float downstream,

You simply allow your awareness to gravitate and spiral around the heart space,

Centre of the chest.

The warm golden sun upon your skin.

The cool,

Vibrant waters underneath you.

And here we tune into some affirmations supporting this experience today.

When I slow down,

I'm able to experience life more fully.

There is wisdom in stillness.

I allow myself to rest.

I release the underflow of urgency.

I embrace the beauty of now.

When I move towards stillness,

I find expanded strength and clarity.

And if there's anything else you'd like to place in your field of awareness,

An affirmation or a message,

Bring that into play now.

And gently releasing the affirmations,

Letting them integrate into your mind,

Your body,

Your heart as you continue to flow downstream with the flow of nature.

And then gently start to dissolve the image.

Come back into your body in this space.

Feeling whatever is beneath you,

Supporting you.

Letting your body be held just for a few moments longer.

Starting to reinvigorate the breath slowly,

Taking a few deeper breaths in and more lengthy breaths out.

Before closing today's practice,

I invite you to gently tune in to gratitude.

But when we look upon what we have,

We realize we have everything we need and more.

So what are you grateful for today?

Sensing into those things or people or experiences and letting them infuse your body,

Your mind with that warm feeling of gratitude.

Because gratitude makes us feel lighter.

Gratitude supports us moving back to that space within.

With that gratitude fresh on the surface of your heart,

Starting to notice any sounds in your environment.

Noticing the atmosphere upon your skin.

And when you're ready,

Start to blink the eyes open and come back into your space.