Welcome to the wave relaxation.
What we're going to do,
If you're not already,
Is just lie on your back,
Allow your body to settle down onto the floor.
Allow the in-breath and then the out-breath to be long and relaxed,
But not strained.
With each out-breath,
Feel that your body is settling down more onto the floor,
Spreading out onto the floor,
Almost melting down onto the floor.
Notice which parts of the body are in contact with the floor,
Feeling the pressure of the floor and become aware of the fact that you're being supported by the floor and you need to make no muscular effort whatsoever as you just relax and let go.
Close your eyes and start to visualise that you're lying on a beach.
It's a warm day,
Windless,
Perfect warm temperature,
Not too hot.
You're lying in soft sand and you can hear the sounds of the waves lapping gently against the shore.
Visualising your mind's eye that as well as the waves themselves,
There's an energy about the sea,
About the waves,
About the water.
Start to feel now that the rhythm of the waves breaking on the shore is in some sense tuned to your own breathing and that energy,
You might want to visualise that as some sort of coloured light,
Golden light or white light,
Possibly kind of sparkly light or whichever colour you prefer.
As you visualise yourself now lying on this beach,
I want you to imagine that with each in-breath,
Not the water itself but the energy of the ocean just comes a little closer to you with each in-breath and then recedes slightly as you breathe out.
And then on the next in-breath,
Imagine that that wave of energy,
As the wave of water comes closer towards you,
Imagine that that wave of coloured energy laps over your feet and up as far as your ankles.
Feel that wave of calming,
Relaxing energy wash over your feet up to the ankles as you breathe in and then as you breathe out,
Feel that wave of energy receding,
Taking away any tension with it.
And next time you breathe in,
Imagine that wave of energy moving up your legs as far as the knees.
You might feel a slight tingling sensation in the whole of the feet and the lower legs as you breathe in.
And as you breathe out,
Imagine that energy receding back down your lower legs,
Down through the soles of the feet,
Draining away any tension with it.
Keep breathing this slow,
Regular rhythm and on the next in-breath,
Extend that in-breath very comfortably and as you breathe in,
Imagine that wave of energy now moving up through the feet and your legs,
Up through the thighs as far as your hips.
And as you breathe out,
Feel that wave of energy draining back down through the legs,
Out through the soles of the feet,
Draining away any tension with it.
And as you continue to breathe deeply,
On the next in-breath,
Imagine that wave of energy washing up through your feet,
Through the lower legs,
Through the hips and up through your lower torso as far as your waist.
And as you breathe out,
Just imagine that wave of energy draining back down through the body,
Down through the lower torso,
Through the upper legs,
Lower legs,
Out through the soles of the feet,
Taking any tension away with it.
On the next deep,
Relaxed in-breath,
Imagine that wave of coloured energy moving up through the legs,
Through the lower torso,
Up past your waist,
As far as your chest and your middle back.
Feel that calm,
Relaxing energy flooding the entire lower half of the body up as far as the chest.
And as you breathe out,
Imagine that energy draining back down through the torso,
Through the legs,
Out through the soles of the feet,
Draining any tension away with it.
On the next long,
Slow,
Relaxed in-breath,
Whenever you're ready,
Imagine this wave of energy moving up through your feet,
Legs,
Up through the whole torso,
Up as far as your shoulders and cascading down through the upper arms,
Elbows,
Lower arms and right down into the hands,
To the tips of the fingers and thumbs.
And as you breathe out,
Imagine that energy draining back up through the arms and down all the way through the torso,
Down the legs and out through the soles of the feet.
On the next long,
Deep,
Relaxed in-breath,
Imagine this wave of energy moving all the way up through your feet,
Legs,
Your torso,
Through the shoulders,
Down through the arms to the hands and all the way up the neck.
And then as you breathe out,
Imagine that wave of energy moving back down through the body,
Taking away any tension with it,
Out through the soles of the feet.
And on your next deep,
Long,
Slow inhalation,
Imagine this wave of energy moving all the way up through your body,
From your feet,
Through your legs,
Through your entire torso,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Hands and all the way up through your neck and right up over your entire head,
Your face,
Right up to the crown of your head and just beyond the crown of your head.
And then on your relaxed,
Long out-breath,
Feel that wave of energy draining back right down through the body and out through the soles of the feet,
Taking any tension away with it.
And now for the next few long,
Deep in and out breaths,
Just visualise that wave of energy moving up through your entire body to just above the crown of the head as you breathe in and all the way down and out again through the soles of the feet,
Taking any tension away with it as you breathe out.
And now imagine that wave of energy moving up through your body,
Through the legs,
The torso,
As far as your neck and then back out again,
Draining any tension away with it,
Out down through the legs,
Out through the soles of the feet.
And on the next in-breath,
Imagine that energy just reaching as far as your shoulders,
Down through the arms to the fingers and draining back down through the torso,
Down through the legs and out through the feet.
And on the next in-breath,
Imagine that wave of energy moving up through the legs,
Up through the torso,
As far as the centre of your chest and the middle of your back and down again,
Out through the lower torso,
Through the legs and out through the soles of the feet,
Draining away any tension with it.
Now,
As you breathe in,
Imagine that wave of energy moving up as far as your waist and back down through the lower torso,
Through the legs and out through the soles of the feet.
And now,
As you breathe in,
Imagine that wave of energy just moving up to the tops of your legs and back down through the legs and out through the soles of the feet.
And on the next in-breath,
That wave of energy is now just lapping up as far as your knees and passing back down through the lower legs and out through the soles of the feet.
And on the next in-breath,
That wave of energy is just lapping gently over your feet as far as the ankles and back down and out through the soles of the feet.
And now,
Just be aware of the ocean again,
The waves crashing on the beach.
And once more,
Become aware of the pressure of your body,
And once more,
Become aware of the pressure of your body against the sand.
Visualise the sky above you,
Which has been a deep blue,
Gradually getting darker and darker as you lie on the beach.
And now the sound of the ocean is fading,
The sky is becoming darker and darker,
Until you realise that that darkness is now the darkness behind closed eyes,
And you become aware of the pressure of the floor against the back of your body.
And return your awareness to the room you're lying in,
To any sounds that you can hear,
Inside or outside the room.
And lie as long as you wish,
Just relaxing,
Or as long as you feel comfortable.
And then when you're ready,
Begin making small movements with the hands and the feet.
Slowly blink the eyes open.
And then,
When you're ready,
Slip the hands under the small of the black,
And push up slowly into a seated position.
