Welcome to this deep rest practice to support you in refreshing the body and the mind and
restoring dopamine levels in the brain.
If you're not already,
Go ahead and find your way into a comfortable position for practice.
You could be seated or preferably lying down to reap the full restorative benefits of this
practice.
As you settle in,
See if you can let the senses be wide open,
Noticing what you can
see,
What you can hear.
Be sensations of touch as you settle in to your posture for practice.
You might even notice a smell or a taste that's present here.
As you're ready,
Go ahead and soften the gaze or allow the eyes to close all the way,
Starting to bring the attention inwards and check in with the rhythm of your breath.
You might invite a deeper breath in,
Feeling the belly and the chest fill,
And then releasing
a slower breath out,
Feeling that expansion dissolve on the out-breath.
As you continue to settle in to these deeper breaths,
You might play with extending the
exhale to be a little bit longer than the inhale,
So you're breathing in for a count
of one or two,
And breathing out for a count of three or four.
Seeing if you can stay present with these conscious breaths,
Noticing how it feels to
extend the exhales a bit longer,
Signaling to the nervous system that there's a sense
of safety,
That it's okay to rest and release.
We'll continue to breathe consciously and deeply as we move the attention through the
body.
So inviting you now to sense into the jaw.
Notice if you might breathe into any tension or holding here around the mouth.
What would it be like to let the tongue soften,
Even relaxing it at the root?
With each exhale,
Releasing tension around the jaw,
The mouth,
And sensing around the
eyes as well.
You breathe into the tiny muscles around the eyes,
Noticing where you might release
or soften.
Even sensing into the right and left ears,
Feeling the inner ear canals all the way to
the outer ears.
And again,
Noticing where you might direct your breath,
Where you might find a greater
level of softening and ease.
And sensing the back of the head and the back of the neck now.
Notice if there are any muscles tensing or holding here that you could release.
And more grounding and support in the surfaces beneath you.
And extending the awareness now to include the entire back body.
So feeling from the back of the head and neck,
Backs of the shoulders and arms,
Upper and
lower back,
Seat,
Backs of the legs,
The heels.
Breathing into the backside of the body and perhaps feeling a greater heaviness,
Grounding.
And then shifting the awareness into the front of the body now.
Feeling the belly,
The chest rising and falling.
Feeling the face,
The front of the neck,
Fronts of the shoulders and arms,
Tops of the legs
and feet.
Letting your entire attention rest with the front of the body,
Breathing into the front
side of the body and perhaps feeling a sense of lightness here,
Openness.
We'll shift the awareness back and forth now between the front body and the back body.
So on your next inhale,
Breathing in,
Feeling lightness,
Feeling the front body.
And as you breathe out,
Feeling the back body,
Feeling a sense of heaviness and grounding.
Breathing in,
Front body,
Light.
Breathing out,
Back body,
Heavy.
Try this on your own for a few more rounds of breath,
Feeling these opposites,
These
different sides of the body.
One of the beautiful things about this practice is we don't need to think or figure anything
out.
We're truly sensing,
Feeling,
Being.
So take a few more cycles of breath here,
Breathing in,
Placing all your attention in
the front of the body,
Feeling a sense of lightness.
And then breathing out,
Feeling the whole back body,
A sense of heaviness and grounding.
Expanding the awareness now to feel the body as a whole,
Front side,
Back side,
From the
soles of the feet all the way to the crown of the head.
And feeling your gentle breath,
Nourishing and resetting the body.
As we start to close our practice,
You might take a moment to appreciate yourself for taking
this time to pause,
To refresh,
To turn inwards for this practice of deep rest,
Sensing the
breath and the body.
Take your time now to start to sense into the space around you,
The room around you.
You might reopen the senses slowly,
Noticing sounds and blinking these eyes open a few times.
And starting to return the visual attention into the space around you as well.
Be gentle with yourself and take what you need as you start to bring some small movements
back into the body.
And see if you can take this fragrance of mindful awareness,
Of restoration,
Into whatever
activity you do next.
Thanks so much for your practice.
Take care.
