Hi,
Welcome.
My name is Lillian and I'm honored to be your guide today.
This meditation is intended to help you come into rest.
This could mean taking a short nap and falling asleep,
Or finding a restorative deep relaxation.
We'll work with using tension and release to the muscles to shift your nervous system,
As well as focus on breath and body sensation.
After a period of rest,
I will guide you to return to your waking state,
However if you prefer to keep resting or have fallen asleep,
Please stay for as long as you need.
I hope you enjoy.
Allow yourself to find a comfortable position,
Laying down on your back.
You can be on the ground,
Maybe with a blanket,
A cushion,
Or a mat underneath you.
You could also be laying on a couch,
A futon,
A bed,
Anywhere you would like to take this time to rest.
See if you can find support for your comfort,
So if you need to add some extra pillows under your head or under your knees,
Go ahead and find those for yourself now.
Maybe you want an extra blanket to lay on top of you.
As you're settling in,
You can use this time to take any kind of movement,
Adjustments,
Or stretching that you might need to just orient yourself to your body.
Really taking your time here.
You can let yourself stretch out,
Maybe extending your fingers above your head,
Your toes in the opposite direction,
Lengthening through the torso,
Through the hips.
Maybe you want to find some twisting movements through the spine,
Bending your knees and dropping the knees over to the left and to the right,
Hugging your knees in towards your chest or spreading your knees out wide into a happy baby.
You can also rock your head from side to side,
Feeling the weight of your skull connected to the pillow or the ground underneath you.
Take any kind of wiggles or shakes or stretches to come into your body.
And as you're moving here,
Drawing in the intention,
Letting your body know that we're here to rest,
Letting your body know that it's time to surrender its weight,
To surrender any doing,
And just to be.
Just for now.
And let yourself land here in a relatively still position,
And I'll take you through a series of tension and release exercises through different parts of the body to help support relaxation.
We'll start down by the feet,
Start to squeeze your toes,
Draw some tension through the bottom of the feet,
The soles of the feet and the ankles,
Squeezing your muscles there as much as feels okay for your body in this moment,
Just holding,
Squeezing some tension there,
Holding this for 5 seconds,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Release your feet,
Release your toes,
Release the tension.
Drawing up to the calves and the knees and the thighs,
Go ahead and squeeze those muscles,
Squeeze your legs,
Draw in some tension,
Draw in some heat,
Holding it for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And 1,
Releasing those muscles.
Coming up now to the hips,
The lower back,
And the buttocks,
Go ahead and squeeze those muscles,
Draw everything inward,
Holding,
Hugging for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And 1,
Release,
Letting out an exhale as you release.
Coming up to the abdominals,
The stomach,
All of those muscles wrapping around your ribcage,
Squeezing and tightening,
Hugging those muscles in for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
And relax,
Release.
Coming up to the chest,
As well as the shoulders,
You're going to squeeze through the chest,
Squeeze through the shoulders,
Holding,
Drawing all that tension inward for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And 1,
Release.
And making your way down to the arms,
The upper arms,
The lower arms,
Squeezing those muscles,
Drawing the arms inward,
Holding the tension for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
And relax,
Release.
And we'll take it to the wrists,
The hands and fingers,
Go ahead and squeeze those muscles,
Drawing your hands into a fist,
Holding for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And 1,
Release.
And lastly,
Here,
We'll focus on the neck and the face,
Go ahead and draw some tension in through the neck and the face,
Maybe scrunching your face inward to make really,
Really small,
Squeezing all of those small muscles,
Holding for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And 1,
Release.
Taking a few deep breaths in here,
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
We'll take 4 more times like this,
Breathing in,
Drawing the air all the way in through the chest and the belly,
And exhale,
Releasing from the belly and the chest,
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
Really long,
Deep inhales and exhales,
2 more like this,
Nice and slow,
Breathing in,
Filling up your whole torso,
Expanding through the lungs,
The ribs,
The belly,
And exhale,
Gently releasing,
Relaxing the torso,
Naturally exhaling the air out.
One more long breath here,
Breath in,
And breath out.
Returning to a natural breath here,
Allowing your body to feel heavy,
Releasing all of your weight into the ground,
And allowing yourself to be held here.
Notice the subtle sensations of the tingles on your skin,
Your heart beating,
And your breath.
Imagine that you are descending below the mind,
Drawing yourself down and into your body,
Into a deep and silent space inside of you,
Letting yourself land in a place of total emptiness,
Nowhere you need to go,
Nothing you need to do,
No roles or obligations or stones to fulfill,
Just for now,
You can allow yourself to return to emptiness,
Just being,
Just breathing,
Keep returning to your breath,
Returning to your heartbeat,
Feeling your body held,
Just for now,
You can rest,
And start to deepen your breath here,
Let your belly expand as you inhale,
And releasing through the exhale through your mouth,
A few more times with a deeper breath,
And as you breathe here,
You might want to start to bring a little movement back into your body,
Placing your hands on your body in some way,
Maybe bringing some touch to your face,
Your chest,
Or your belly,
Or perhaps taking a stretch,
Extending your body really long,
Or take a few twists,
Very gently waking yourself back up,
Returning,
And when you are ready,
You can very slowly open your eyes,
Little by little,
Allowing the light to come back in,
The room around you to come back into your vision,
Allowing it to be blurry at first,
And very slowly finding the room that you are in again,
And taking another moment here just to feel yourself both here in your body,
Connected,
Held by the ground,
As well as connecting to the room around you,
To the outside of you,
Feeling and sensing yourself connected to the environment that you are in,
Noticing through your senses what you might see,
Smell,
Or hear,
And taking this transition as long as you need to,
Slowly,
Gently,
Returning to your day,
Or your evening,
Honoring your body,
Honoring yourself in this transition.
Thank you for practicing with me.
