Everyday Inspiration

All you have to do to benefit from this deep relaxation is to listen to my voice,

Let it be your guide,

Allow your own conscious to fill in the gaps and trust in your own ability to heal,

To find answers,

To unlock creativity,

And solve problems.

Before we begin,

Remember that this is a closed eye process and you should only listen when it's safe to do so.

So get yourself comfortable,

Comfortably sitting,

Lying down,

Turn off phones,

Doorbells,

Anything else that might get in the way of you being capable of drifting into a deep and comfortable state of relaxation,

And start by taking in a long breath.

I try to remember to use the phrase,

Take in a long breath,

Because often a deep breath is interpreted as a sharp,

Short breath.

So breathe in long,

Keeping the shoulders still and allowing the diaphragm to do the work.

Visualize the mechanics of your body breathing.

The diaphragm moves down to create a larger space in the chest cavity,

A vacuum that is filled by the air filling those lungs,

And that magical gaseous exchange that happens in the lungs as the oxygen is extracted from the air,

And on the out-breath you exhale the stuff you don't need.

So try a couple of long breaths now,

Keeping the shoulders still and focusing your thoughts on the physiology of your breathing.

That's right,

And you know what the biologists the action of breathing in?

Inspiration.

Think about that for a moment.

With every breath,

Every breath,

You are being inspired.

Remember that thought as you begin to systematically relax your body.

Start at the top of your head and relax the tiny muscles of your scalp,

Softening and relaxing and releasing the tension,

And your forehead and temples.

Imagine smoothing out the lines and softening and relaxing all the tiny muscles and those eyes.

If you haven't closed your eyes yet,

Now is a good time,

And imagine the muscles that control those eyelids going soft as the tension melts.

Soften the muscles of your cheeks and those little muscles around the mouth as you lick your lips.

Imagine the tiny muscles relaxing and releasing and recharging.

So many people carry a great deal of tension in their jaws,

So just slacken off your jaw now,

Becoming aware of the muscles that control it.

When you're chewing or talking or yawning,

And invite those muscles to let go of the tension and drift a little deeper into a state of deep relaxation.

As you move your internal focus to your neck,

Remember it supports your head,

Your good looks and your brain,

And you can relax the muscles in the neck now and feel a feeling of release,

And it's like that feeling begins to spread to those shoulders.

Tense them a little,

And as you release that tension,

They become even more relaxed,

And all the time,

Without thinking about it,

You are breathing in inspiration.

And I wonder if you can imagine your spine,

And starting at the top,

Mentally move down your spine,

One vertebra at a time,

Noticing and adjusting,

Softening and relaxing,

Trusting and recharging,

Moving down the muscles,

The connective tissues,

Through the bony parts,

Feeling a feeling of lightness and release,

Like a gentle mental back rub,

And switch off,

Moving your attention to your chest,

And soften the muscles across your chest,

And the muscles of the stomach,

And imagine you can go inside your body and begin to relax the internal organs,

Those lungs,

Relax them as they continue to take inspiration from the outside,

And instantly extract the oxygen,

And pass that oxygen to the heart.

The heart is just another series of muscles,

Muscles that do a remarkable job,

Every minute of every day,

Moving the oxygenated blood around your body,

Taking the oxygen and nutrients to every part of you now,

And you don't even need to think about it,

Because your unconscious takes care of so many things,

And many of those unconscious actions are really useful,

Like breathing,

Like pumping blood,

And digesting food,

So advanced is the machine that is our body,

That scientists have discovered that a visual clue,

Simply seeing what's for dinner,

Is enough for the body to begin creating the gastric juices,

Which will best process and digest the dinner,

So be good to yourself,

And relax that stomach,

Relax the entire digestive system,

As you continue to go deeper and deeper into this state of comfortable relaxation,

And you might notice your intestines gurgling,

And that is normal,

And you can continue to relax the bigger muscles,

The quadriceps that do so much work,

Four big muscles at the front of each thigh,

The largest mass of any group of muscles in your body,

Tense them and relax them now,

And some people notice an involuntary twitch or spasm at this stage,

As you relax and feel the relaxation spreading even further,

Further all the way down each leg,

First the left leg,

Softening and relaxing and releasing the tension,

All the way down to the tips of those toes,

And then the other leg,

That's right,

Going deeper into the muscle fibers to relax even more,

Because the more you can relax now,

The easier it is for you to let your imagination run free,

Because there's an old country house near where I live in northern England,

It can't be seen from any public road,

And the entrance to the driveway is nondescript and easily passed by,

But as you turn right into the driveway,

All you can see is greenery,

Thick healthy-looking bushes flank the gravel path,

It sweeps around so your view ahead is mostly the shrubs,

And when you have moved along the path,

For a surprisingly short distance,

You'll notice the house,

Imposing and perfectly balanced,

A white stone structure,

The likes of which you've only seen on TV or in the movies,

Three or maybe four stories high,

A huge central archway and countless windows,

Windows which catch the light as you approach,

As you head toward the archway which seems to beckon you,

The sound of your footsteps on the gravel seem to echo back at you,

And there's a familiar pleasant smell in the air,

Difficult to place exactly and still evoking positive associations,

You might feel a little flutter of excitement as you approach the arch and glimpse for the first time the garden beyond,

Covering a 40 foot by 40 foot square is a sunken lawn area,

At each corner a stone plinth about five feet high,

The far left one has a lion,

The far right corner is home to the unicorn,

The near right has a large mythical bird of some kind,

And look at the near left corner,

Straight ahead is a short flight of stone steps that will take you on to the lawn,

There's that smell again,

Freshly cut grass and something else familiar,

And it doesn't matter,

Standing at the top step you notice there are eight steps,

Behind you there's a hum of distant music,

Hard to make out the detail,

Just a baseline which feels comforting,

You take in a long breath before beginning the descent down to the lawn,

And with each step down you begin to fall deeper into the relaxed state,

One,

More relaxed than you knew,

Two,

A little deeper still,

Three,

Even further down,

Step four,

Feeling lighter,

Excited and more relaxed,

Five,

Deeper and deeper still,

Six,

Deliciously deeper,

Seven,

One more step to ultimate blissful relaxation and comfort,

And as your foot touches the beautifully mown lawn,

Feel it tingle through your entire body,

Hmm,

And notice the person ahead of you,

Inviting you to follow them,

And as you get closer,

You recognize them as an enlightened version of you,

They stop,

And you are face to face with the wisest part of you,

They lean in to speak,

They tell you that you are loved and cherished,

And they are grateful for your decisions,

And they have some advice for you,

They beckon you closer and whisper an important message that they want you to know,

And you listen and smile,

And you thank this part of you,

The enlightened version of you,

For letting you know,

And as you briefly close your eyes to process the information,

You know that it's time,

Time to take in a long comfortable breath,

And to leave this particular trance-like state and return,

And as you return you'll bring with you a greater insight and understanding,

And will feel lighter and unburdened,

Because as you suspected,

The answers were within all along,

Now as you listen to this voice,

Counting backwards from five to one,

On each count you become a little more aware,

Five,

Ready to return to another state,

Four,

Feeling strangely insightful and energized,

Three,

Noticing the changing tone of this voice,

Two,

Preparing to reorientate yourself to the here and the now,

And one,

Eyes open,

Alert and awake,

Happy and ready.