Mindfulness Meditation To Relieve Stress

Hello,

Beautiful ones.

Welcome to this mindfulness meditation to relieve stress.

I'm Kelly Dennis.

Thank you for taking the time to do this practice for yourself today.

Stress can have negative effects on one's body and mind.

And getting into a regular practice of being able to manage your stress more effectively is very helpful.

Begin by getting into a comfortable position.

You can be sitting up or lying down for this particular meditation.

Try to have your head,

Neck,

And spine as straight as you can,

Or just relax in a position that's comfortable for you to maintain.

And then begin by taking a nice deep breath in and letting it out.

And then take another nice deep breath in.

And on the exhale,

Just allow your body to sink in to whatever you're sitting or lying upon.

And then begin to breathe in whatever way feels right for you right now.

You can continue to take some deep breaths,

Or you can return to your regular rhythm of breathing.

Finding your breath in your body,

Perhaps the rise and the fall of your belly,

Or the way the air enters and exits your nose.

And if while you're doing this,

Your mind wanders,

That's perfectly okay.

That's what minds do.

Just notice where it wandered off and maybe make a little note thinking and then gently come back to your breathing.

And it's okay if you have to do this several times during this meditation.

And so now really settling into the rhythm of your breathing.

The in and the out.

The ebb and the flow.

Almost as if your breath is kind of like the current of the ocean.

Bobbing you up and down with every breath in a very gentle swaying kind of motion.

And as you breathe out,

With every exhale you take,

Allow yourself to release any of the cares or the tensions or the stressors of this particular day.

And as you breathe in,

Allow yourself to breathe in that fresh oxygenated air energizing and rejuvenating you.

And as you begin to breathe comfortably and easily with nothing to bother you and nothing to disturb you,

Bring your attention to the sounds around you.

Really notice the apparent sounds and then the sounds that aren't so obvious.

You really don't have to analyze or critique the sounds or judge them.

Just notice what it's like to hear the sounds.

To hear the sound of my voice.

The sound of the music.

The sounds that are happening in the room around you.

Perhaps the sounds that are happening outside your window.

And become mindfully aware of how those sounds affect you.

Different sounds impact us in different ways.

And now bringing your mindful awareness to your skin.

Just noticing any of the sensations that your skin is feeling.

Perhaps you notice a little itch that has developed as you are trying to meditate.

Perhaps you can feel a gentle air current on those small little hairs of your forearms.

Maybe you can notice your clothing as it brushes against your skin.

And now bringing your awareness to your body.

To the physical sensations that you notice in your body.

Stress causes our body to react in different ways that we may not even notice.

For some,

Stress is so habitual that they don't even notice the build up of tension and tightness.

So just start at the top of your head.

What's happening in your scalp?

If you wiggle your eyebrows,

You can feel your scalp move.

Come down into your forehead as it's smooth and relaxed or as your brow furrowed.

Come down into your face,

Around your eyes,

And your jaw and your mouth.

Noticing any clenching of the jaw and allowing yourself to release it.

Noticing the back of your head,

The sides of your head,

And around your ears.

Sometimes when people get tense,

They hold it.

They feel like there's a hat around their head,

Very tight hat,

Squeezing.

See what you notice.

Come down into your neck and shoulders.

Create some space between your ears and your shoulders.

Noticing any tension or tightness in your shoulders,

Your arms.

Are your hands clenched or tight?

Allowing them to open and relax somewhere gently on your body.

Noticing your upper back and your middle back and your low back.

Our back is an area that really holds a lot of our stress.

Perhaps shifting a little bit to give yourself some release if you carry your tension in your back.

Moving into your chest and your abdomen and your low belly.

This is also an area that can somewhat be compressed or collapsed.

We tend to hold our bellies in.

Allow your chest to open,

Maybe even arching your back a little bit.

Allowing your belly to be soft as you breathe.

Coming down into your hips and your pelvic floor.

The large muscles of your buttocks.

Down into your thighs.

This is also an area that we tend to clench without even realizing it.

See if you can allow some smoothing and releasing of those large muscle groups.

Noticing the area around your knees and your calves and your shins.

The feet,

The bottoms of the feet,

The tops of the feet.

And into your toes.

If you notice that you've been clenching or pointing,

Just allow your toes to relax.

And sweeping back up through your body,

Just noticing any areas of discomfort or tension or tightness.

And imagining that you can send the warmth of your breath to all those tense,

Tight places.

And for a moment,

Returning to your breath and noticing any subtle feelings of relaxation you may be experiencing.

You may be feeling heaviness in your limbs.

Or conversely,

You may be feeling very light and floaty.

Whatever you're experiencing is exactly the right thing for you.

Right here.

Right now.

Allowing your body to settle into whatever you're sitting or lying upon.

Settling in more deeply,

More heavily.

Allowing your breathing to slow.

When our breath slows down,

Our mind slows down.

And we feel less activated.

This engages your parasympathetic nervous system.

The part of you that's responsible for rest and digest.

Allowing yourself to feel as comfortable as you want to feel right now.

Allowing any thoughts that have drifted in to just drift by like clouds in a bright blue sky of your mind.

Noticing them.

Noticing them without becoming attached to them.

Just watching them drift by.

Thoughts are frequently the culprit of our stress.

Because we have a thought and we believe it and then we feel like we have to engage with it and problem solve it.

And we become attached to it and then the emotions follow.

And then the bodily sensations are apt to turn into the tense contracted,

Constricted muscles.

So just right now practice allowing those thoughts to just drift on by.

No need to hold on to them.

No need to let them bother you at all.

Even if you want to and it feels right to do so,

You can just envision a place that's very peaceful and relaxing for you.

Perhaps it's a real place or it might also be an imaginary place.

A place where you feel tranquil and easy and peaceful.

And just spending a moment there now.

And as you soak up this peace and tranquility,

Notice how wonderful your body feels.

So relaxed.

So easy.

And you can take this feeling with you today.

Whenever you notice that you're getting tense,

You can take a deep breath.

And as you exhale,

You can release the tension and just briefly imagine this peaceful place.

And as you imagine this peaceful place,

You can release the tension in the moment and come back to peace,

Calm and tranquility.

And now,

Taking a nice deep breath in and letting it out and wiggling your fingers and your toes and taking as much time as you need to open your eyes and return to the room whenever you're ready.

Namaste.