Hello and welcome to this deep relaxation.
And if you read,
Been reading my journal pages,
You'll know the last one was concerned with my birthday.
So I turned 40 and as part of my gift from my mother I received a photo album starting with a photo of myself as a child and as a baby,
A few hours old actually,
And then quite a few growing up as well.
And it had me thinking about,
Or feeling very grateful for the love I've received and feeling that I'm really made of that,
Like we all are made of all the supportive conditions that allow us to be.
So this is a relaxation based on that idea.
And then I sing this song at the end called I Have Arrived.
It's a Plum Village song based on the words of Thich Nhat Hanh and he says that being in the living in the present moment,
Recognising the conditions that allow the present moment to be as they are,
Gives us freedom.
Realising there's many supportive conditions and in that way we can kind of live in that,
In the love that's always there,
That's my feeling.
So I give this appreciation and love to my family and friends and I can feel them inside if I think of that love.
And also to anyone who's listening who maybe is a bit far from that love or doesn't feel it in their own lives,
An invitation to recognise that supportive conditions,
Wherever they've come from,
Whether it's from blood family or family of friends or spiritual teachers or art or music or however,
It is all there in you.
So with that said I invite you to find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed for about 10 or 15 minutes and we'll do a body scan with some guitar and I'll sing you the song at the end.
I'll just play the guitar while you find the quiet place.
So take some deep breaths in and out with me.
So breathing in and breathing out,
Breathing in and breathing out,
Breathing in and breathing out.
And then just getting your attention on your toes,
Maybe move your feet to find your way down there and feel the surface of the feet covering the sole,
Top of the foot,
The bones in the feet and the toes.
And then we can move into the ankles,
Sensing the bones in the lower part of the leg,
The calf muscle,
The shins up to the knees.
And as we go through the body,
We're looking for any tension we can find.
It's more noticing it really.
I find sometimes there's tension there that I didn't realise was there.
Then I may change position and get this kind of relaxed feeling.
In mindfulness practice,
This one in particular,
With tension in the body is very good because if you do this regularly,
You will notice when things are beginning to get tense.
You might realise we have a tendency to do certain things like sitting in a certain way or holding part of the body in a certain way.
This is a way of releasing that and being healthier.
A healthy body is a relaxed body.
Studies show that.
The mind,
The body,
It all functions better when it's relaxed.
It also is ready to spring into action if it needs to,
If it's calm and it's rested.
So the knees and the thighs,
The femur bones and the quadriceps and the hamstrings,
Allowing that movement of the lower leg.
It's all connected.
How we stand and balance.
We play sports,
That's how we make that burst of energy with these muscles.
If we dance,
It's how we make those dance moves.
If we use our legs less,
It's also how we move our hips,
How we reposition ourselves to look at someone we love,
Have a child on our lap,
All beautiful and important movements.
So they've got the pelvis,
The gluteus muscles and the genital area.
There can be some tension in this area.
So just relaxing the bones of that area,
The legs coming into that area and there's weight,
There's weight on that area.
So let's just allow it to relax right now.
Then we've got the spine coming up behind,
Got the digestive system,
The belly.
We've also got the intestines,
The pancreas,
The kidneys,
The belly area,
You probably feel it rising and falling with the breath.
You've got the chest rising and falling,
The rib cage.
The rib cage is such that it can expand,
It can be very strong to protect the ribs.
It's also very strong.
The body is a wonder like that,
A balance of flexibility and strength.
I've got the heart on the left,
The liver on the right and the air is coming down.
The trachea,
We can trace that middle of our chest into the in-breath,
The expanded lungs,
Oxygen to the bloodstream,
Nourishing the organs and that blood returning and leaving the body with the out-breath and with it,
The carbon dioxide.
Gently doing that,
The in and the out-breath and we'll move down over the heart to the left shoulder.
So we've got the left shoulder,
The bicep and tricep and down to the elbow.
Again,
Strength,
Suppleness.
Got the humerus bone at the top and then radius and the ulna down in the forearm,
Allowing us the strength and also the flexibility to move the arm around.
Imagine drawing or gesturing to a friend,
Painting,
Catching,
Holding,
All possible because the movement's in the arm.
Just appreciating what movement we do have there will be different for everybody.
Then into the palm of the hand,
Thumb and the fingers and then we've got the tips of the hand there.
Move over to the other side,
Find the tips of the fingers and work the way back.
Just slowly,
Constantly on the move,
Just gently experiencing the sensations in the hand to the wrist,
To the forearm,
Up to the shoulder and then we're aware of the clavicle.
Then we move into the head,
To the chin and the tongue and the teeth and the familiarity of that place,
Sensations.
Maybe not familiar if we don't spend so much time being aware of the body,
But relaxing and taking care of our home that is our body,
A way to feel present,
A way to reduce feelings of dissociation or irritation.
Just being at home in the body,
Taking care of the body,
Just being gentle with the body.
Maybe at times having performing actions that are less gentle,
Maybe we're running or we might need the muscles in our face to express dissatisfaction with something or to protect ourselves or someone.
Doing what we need to do and then coming back again to a rested home place.
The body is inseparable from the here and now.
So cheeks and nose,
In comes the breath,
Out comes the breath.
The ears and the eyes under the eyelids close.
Got the forehead,
The top of the head and the back of the head.
I'll sing you this song.
Just listening and resting.
I have arrived,
I am home in the here and in the now.
I have arrived,
I am home in the here and in the now.
I am solid,
I am free.
I am solid,
I am free in the ultimate I dwell.
In the ultimate I dwell.
I have arrived,
I am home in the here and in the now.
I have arrived in the here and in the now.
I am solid,
I am free.
I am solid,
I am free in the ultimate I dwell.
In the ultimate I dwell.
I am solid,
I am free.
I am solid,
I am free in the ultimate I dwell.
In the ultimate I dwell.
Okay so just taking the time to turn over onto one side.
Taking some nice deep breaths as the guitar fades out.
See you in another relaxation.
Take care of yourself.
Be glad that you are here with me.
