Wherever you are,
Settle in however you like.
And as we begin,
Remember there's no hurry.
There's no right way to practice this meditation and there's nothing in particular you have to feel.
You don't have to let go of your day or stay present.
You can just let your thoughts and feelings and indeed your whole self be a part of the practice.
You might find relief in knowing that neither deep rest nor sleep require perfection.
Now get a sense of the space you're in,
The sounds around you and the simple fact that you're here.
Let your breath do whatever it wants and let your body begin to slowly wind down.
This isn't a meditation for sleep,
But if you drift off that's fine.
Expect to lose track of my voice from time to time.
Now gently bring attention to your body.
Noticing sensations on the skin,
Perhaps the touch of clothing or air or the contact points your body makes with the chair or bed or floor.
And let yourself yield to the soft downward pull of gravity.
Notice any signs of comfort.
Maybe there's a part of your body that feels warm,
Soft or still.
Can you sense the difference between muscle and bone?
And can you sense the various organs within?
The beating of your heart,
The breathing of the lungs,
The stomach and intestines quietly at work,
And the lower back,
The kidneys filtering away,
And your brain coordinating that quiet symphony.
Now let's do a brief scan just to help the body relax a little more deeply.
Begin with the head,
Noticing sensations on the scalp.
Perhaps there's a subtle tingling at the crown.
What do you notice?
You might imagine the tissue beneath the scalp softening.
And as the tension moves down through the forehead,
Temples and brow,
Let those places soften too.
Noticing whatever sensations are present with a gentle curiosity.
Allowing the eyes and eye sockets to relax.
Letting the cheeks and jaw go slack.
Then move down through the neck and shoulders,
Arms and hands,
Sensing each part in turn.
Feel the rise and fall of the chest as you breathe.
The sensations in the lower back.
And allow your belly to soften completely on the out-breath.
Then get a sense of your whole body,
And notice if it feels a fraction more relaxed.
And before we delve deeper,
Go back to the face.
Pay attention to all the little muscles around and behind the eyes.
And notice if there are any places that feel tight.
And just let them be.
Examine any tension you find without trying to change it.
Similarly,
Notice if there's any tension in the jaw or neck.
And examine that tension without trying to change it.
And notice if there's any tension in the muscles around the mouth,
Including in the tongue and throat.
And examine that tension without trying to relax it or change it.
Finally,
Scan the neck and meet whatever you find there with a quiet,
Steady interest.
Now,
Pay attention to the back of your eyelids.
Notice what you feel,
What you sense,
What you see.
Maybe there are shapes,
Patterns,
Colours or after-images.
Maybe there are areas of light and areas of darkness.
If there's any darkness,
Let your eyes rest there,
And allow the darker areas to slowly grow,
Letting the eyes soften as you do,
As though your gaze were becoming more and more gentle.
Now take a little break,
A moment's rest,
Where you don't have to follow my instructions or focus or track anything at all.
So there's nothing to follow,
Nothing to manage,
Nothing requiring a response.
You don't even have to listen.
You might even pretend that you've fallen asleep,
Or slipped into a daydream,
Just enjoying the opportunity to do nothing at all,
Even if it's only for the next 10 or 20 seconds.
So we've wandered through most of the body,
Focusing on the places that soften easily,
The places where a little attention creates a notable shift.
But there's no part of your body that doesn't deserve attention,
For attention,
When it's directed without judgment,
Is a form of love,
And every cell of your body responds well to that kind of attention.
So let's delve a little deeper,
Exploring places you may not have visited before.
Start at a point in the very centre of your head,
Sensing that space as though it were a comfortable place inside a cosy,
Candlelit room.
Maybe you sense a gentle pressure or warmth,
Or imagine a faint hum.
You can let the whole head feel heavy.
You can let your tongue relax,
Noticing the place at the back of your throat where the breath gently brushes as you breathe,
Feeling the neck open up to accept each in-breath,
And allowing it to relax as you breathe out.
Then drop down into the sternal notch,
That soft and vulnerable spot at the very top of your breastbone,
Right between the base of your neck and the collarbones.
Let your attention rest there,
As though settling into a small,
Sheltered space.
Then bring attention to the soft palate,
High at the back of the mouth.
Notice any sense of shape,
Pressure,
Or subtle movement there as you breathe.
And then shift to the inner ears.
Sense the space deep inside the ears,
Noticing any faint pressure,
Pulsing,
Maybe a quiet hum.
Then when next you breathe in,
Notice the ribs expanding out to the sides of your body,
And up into the armpits.
Enjoy the sense of your whole torso and its contents being massaged by the breath,
Very slowly and very gently,
Letting the breath move you rather than you moving it.
And along with the breath,
Sense the soft beating of your heart,
Maybe a murmur you can hear,
Maybe a quiet rhythm you can feel,
Maybe just a simple knowing that you have a warm and sensitive heart inside.
And breathe into the lower back,
As though warming the kidneys with each exhalation.
Perhaps you can feel the weight of the liver tucked under the ribs on the right.
Then sense the underside of the diaphragm,
The deep inner surface that moves with each breath.
You might not feel much.
It's enough just to get a vague sense of these organs and the movements deep in the body.
Then bring attention to the pelvic floor.
Perhaps there's a pleasing weight or groundedness you sense there.
And let's go deeper still.
Find,
If you can,
The deepest,
Quietest corners of the lungs,
Noticing the moment where in-breath turns to out-breath.
The settling of the ribs as you breathe out.
And appreciate the soft,
Spacious movement.
The gentle transition between one breath and the next.
The simple,
Easy flow.
And perhaps when you sense the beating of your heart,
You can appreciate the gap between one beat and the next.
Or the subtle echo of the pulse in your fingertips,
Or the toes,
Or lips.
Sensing these quiet rhythms,
The effortless dance of life.
And sense the quiet strength of your bones,
The spine coordinating a thousand subtle functions,
Allowing yourself to feel quietly held and supported by that inner core.
Then zoom in and imagine the space inside a single cell,
Like a tiny light pulsing with energy.
And the fluid space between the cells,
Like a warm inner ocean.
A microscopic inner world vibrating with life.
And perhaps you can notice the warmth of your body,
The steady heat it generates,
Even in the hands and feet.
Or imagine a soft glow in the centre of your chest,
Or a point of light just beneath the navel.
Everything humming with a quiet assurance.
And you might notice the space between breaths,
The space between thoughts,
The space between sensations.
A growing space,
A sense of spaciousness,
Somehow moving and still.
And you might notice the exact moment a sensation appears,
And then disappears,
The way some feeling fades.
The edge of the body where it meets the air,
The backs of the knees,
The insides of the wrists,
The space between the toes.
Noticing how everything is changing from moment to moment.
A thought comes,
And goes.
A feeling comes,
And goes.
The breath comes,
And goes.
A sensation comes,
And goes.
Awareness comes,
And goes.
And you can just follow along with that coming and going for as long as you like.
I'll leave you now in silence,
And you can continue to rest for as long as you like.
Thanks for listening.
