Welcome.
Go ahead and take a few moments to disconnect from what's going on around you.
Let your surroundings fade so you can fully direct your attention to this visualization.
Relax your body and take a deep breath or two.
Drop your gaze or close your eyes,
Whichever feels better for you.
In this visualization,
We'll practice a technique that will help you settle your busy mind.
Let's begin by taking a couple of slow,
Deep breaths all the way into your belly.
Relax your abdomen so your diaphragm can expand and contract fully.
As you breathe in,
Notice your belly spilling a little bit forward and feel a stretch in your low back and sides.
And as you breathe out,
Bring your belly towards the spine.
We'll practice this deep breathing throughout this visualization.
Let's begin by counting our breaths.
So as you inhale,
Silently in mind for yourself,
Count one and then exhale.
On the next inhalation,
Say for yourself two and exhale deeply and fully.
Inhale and say three,
Exhale.
Inhale and say four,
Exhale.
Inhale and say five,
Exhale.
Inhale and say six,
Exhale.
Inhale and say seven,
Exhale.
Inhale and say eight,
Exhale.
Inhale and say nine,
Exhale.
Inhale and say ten,
Exhale.
Now release the counting but continue breathing deeply.
If you find your mind drifts off,
That's okay.
It's part of being human.
But bring your attention back to the breath.
In these moments where we're simply breathing,
We're not thinking about anything.
We're not analyzing,
We're not labeling,
We're simply being with ourselves and with our breath.
Let's go through that inhalation and exhalation count again.
Inhale one,
Inhale two,
Inhale three,
Inhale four,
Inhale five,
Inhale six,
Inhale seven,
Inhale eight,
Inhale nine,
Inhale ten.
And again release the counting and just simply go back to deep,
Full and slow breathing.
For the next moments you're not thinking about anything,
You're not fixing anything,
You're not problem-solving.
You're simply sitting with yourself and breathing deeply.
It's okay if you feel like you're not doing anything.
You are doing something.
You're relaxing your brain.
It's important to have quiet times in the mind.
It allows it to refresh,
Regenerate and renew.
Sometimes sitting quietly feels awkward and that's okay.
But the more you practice it,
The easier it will become.
Again,
If you get distracted,
Go back to the breath and remember that the brain is like a muscle,
Just like any other muscle in the body.
Imagine if you held a bicep curl all the time and never allowed your arm to relax.
Your bicep would become exhausted,
Fatigued and no longer function as efficiently as it could.
Relaxing the brain is an important part of maintaining mental strength.
It allows the brain to be fluid and flexible and creative.
And one more time,
We'll count again but this time just to five.
Inhale one,
Inhale two,
Inhale three,
Inhale four,
Inhale five.
And once again,
Release the count,
Release any thoughts in the mind and simply breathe,
Knowing it that these moments of quiet help strengthen your mind.
And let's bring this visualization to a close,
Knowing that you can go back to this technique of counting at any time.
Whether you're at work,
In the car,
In the line at the grocery store,
Practice taking mental breaks away from thoughts multiple times a day and notice the difference it makes.
