To begin,
Make sure you're absolutely comfortable.
Settle yourself down so that you are warm enough and as comfortable as you can be and take a couple of deeper breaths without strain.
Breathing in through the nose and exhaling through the mouth with a sigh and as you exhale allow your body to be held by the surface that you rest upon.
Feel that surface supporting you,
Aware of where your body touches that surface,
Feeling supported,
Safe,
Sinking down into the bed,
Releasing your muscles and letting go.
Aware now of your natural breath.
Without changing it,
Where does your breath start?
Where do you notice it?
The very beginning of your breath.
Is it the first movement of your diaphragm or your chest?
Where do those muscles move and expand?
Expanding your chest,
Drawing the air into your lungs,
Filling them with air from the bottom,
Filling them up to the top as you breathe in.
Do the diaphragm and the chest move together?
Just notice.
Where do you feel movement?
In the ribcage,
Expanding perhaps,
Expanding and lifting a little,
Allowing the air in.
Where else do you notice you have movement?
Your back,
Your shoulders,
Do they lift a little?
Rising a little with each breath,
Sinking a little with each exhale.
Can you feel the cool air on your top lip?
The cool air as it touches your top lip,
As your chest expands,
Drawing the air in,
The air warming in your lungs as it releases the oxygen to be taken off around your body,
Collecting the carbon dioxide and breathing it out,
Releasing it.
The warm air in your throat,
The warm air touching the top lip before joining the atmosphere,
Slightly damp air released.
And the next breath again,
But perhaps noticing that still moment,
The stillness of your chest before you take your next breath.
That's right,
How long is that pause?
The pause,
The natural pause between your out breath and the next breath in,
That nourishing breath in.
Deeper down now as your breath settles,
Then that diaphragm expands again,
Chest rising,
Ribs lifting and separating.
Deeper down now,
The cool air rushing in and the warm air flaring out and pausing,
Aware of the movement.
Any tension in our body now?
And how are your hands?
Any tension in your hands?
Where are they?
And taking your attention back to your shoulders,
Deeper down now,
Allowing them to drop down a little with the out breath.
What about your feet?
Are your toes clenched together,
Pressed together?
Letting any tension there,
Let go.
Releasing your toes,
Releasing your fingers,
Allowing the gentle flow of breaths in and out,
Following the natural rhythm,
Powerful rhythm,
The rhythm of life,
Easy flow of life in and out.
And how long is the in breath now?
How long is the breath out?
Aware of your breath,
Where it starts,
Following the flow of the breath,
The natural easy rhythm of the breath,
The flow of energy,
The flow of life,
Aware of the life within you,
One with your mind and your body.
Deeper down now,
The synergy of your mind and your body,
Feeling completely aware,
In tune,
That's right.
I'd like you to imagine now that you're in an elaborate dining room with two candelabras in the middle of a dining table.
The table may be set for a meal.
There are five candles in each candelabra.
I wonder what color the candles are and the candelabras.
Are they made of wood,
Of silver or even of gold?
Seeing them clearly in the candle light,
Perhaps shimmering in the candle light,
Seeing the flickering of the candles.
As a slight draft moves through the room,
In a moment I'd like you to go over to the dining table and you're going to blow out the candles one at a time.
So going over to the table now and blowing out the tenth,
Perhaps scenting the smell of the wax as the candle gutters out and you feel a sweeping sense of relaxation move through you as the candle goes out.
Blowing out the ninth candle now and relaxing deeper and deeper with each candle that you blow out.
Blow out the eighth candle now.
As the room shimmers in the candle light,
You relax deeper down,
Down deeper as you blow out the seventh candle.
So restful in the light of the room now as you drift deeper.
Blowing out the sixth candle now.
Such a relief.
One candelabra has been done now and you relax twice as much again.
Over to the other candelabra now to blow out the fifth candle.
So comfortable and relaxed now with each candle that goes out,
Feeling yourself drift deeper into sleep now.
Only four candles left now.
So blowing out that fourth candle deeper and deeper and the third candle now and the room is darker now which is so relaxing,
So calming.
The gentle flickering.
Two candles left.
Blowing out the second candle now.
Feeling your breathing so relaxed now and blowing out the first and last candle and as the room goes into a soft and gentle velvety darkness,
You feel yourself go deeply into sleep,
Drifting and dreaming into a deep and relaxing sleep.
