This meditation is designed to help downshift your stress response.
Ease the body out of fight or flight.
And invite your nervous system back into a state of rest.
Safety and repair.
Whatever you experience is perfect just as it is.
Notice if you can become just 10% more comfortable.
Relax your eyes.
And if it feels right,
Let them close.
If not,
You might choose to soften your gaze.
Relaxing your whole face and jaw.
Your shoulders.
Hips,
And legs.
Let your whole body release its weight into the surface beneath you.
With each exhale,
Imagine your body sinking a little deeper.
As if gravity is doing all the work for you.
Now visualize a soft,
Warm light.
Settling over your body.
Like a weighted blanket.
Heavy calming,
And safe.
This is the feeling of your body being given full permission to stop working so hard.
To stop racing.
To stop scanning for threats.
There's nothing to do right now but rest.
You may now set an intention for your practice.
Perhaps your intention is to release tension.
To let go of anything out of your control right now.
Or to feel calm and safe in your body.
Your intention can be as simple as one word.
Allow this word or intention to plant like a seed into the fertile soil of your consciousness.
And then let it go.
Now imagine a slow wave of cool,
Still water moving down through your body from the crown of your head.
Down through your throat.
Your heart.
All the way to your feet.
As it moves,
It washes away any tightness.
Any leftover alertness.
Any residue of the day.
Each part it touches grows heavier,
Softer.
Quieter.
Feel your body,
Your bones,
Muscles,
And limbs.
Becoming looser and more spacious.
As though you're setting down a weight you've been carrying without even realizing it.
And bring your awareness to your heart center.
With each breath.
With every slow exhale.
Feel your heart rate settling into an easier,
Steadier rhythm.
Now gently shift your awareness to the space between your eyebrows.
And imagine the muscles here.
So often tight with focus,
Thought.
And worry.
Now this tension completely melting.
This is where a lot of tension quietly collects.
Let it dissolve now.
Taking a few rounds of conscious breath here,
We'll begin by drawing energy in from the space around you.
Feel it enter into your head and the space between your eyes.
Hold the energy here like a ball of light.
On the exhale,
Feel this light spread through all of your senses.
With the next breath,
Visualize energy coming in through your nostrils.
And the exhale clears energy throughout your entire body.
Inhale,
Breath in through your ears.
Holding the ball of light.
And on the exhale,
Allow light to clear through the brain.
Mind,
And ears.
Continuing with the next breath as you imagine energy entering in through your mouth and throat.
And on the exhale,
The light shines throughout your entire body.
With this next breath in,
Feel the whole body expanding on the inhale.
And feel a long,
Slow exhale traveling from your crown all the way down your spine.
Telling every part of your body it is safe to rest.
It is safe to let go.
There is nothing to do right now.
As you rest here,
Allow any thoughts,
Images,
Or sensations to simply pass by without needing to hold on to any of them.
Let your mind be like still water.
Thoughts may ripple across the surface.
But underneath everything is calm and undisturbed.
Feel this sense of ease weaving through every layer of your being.
Softening your muscles,
Slowing your breath.
Quieting your mind.
Trust that your body already knows how to return to balance when given the chance.
Here we begin to scan the body.
With awareness.
There's no need to move the body at any point during this practice.
We'll begin by bringing your attention to your right hand.
Feel your palm,
Soft and open.
Heavy with rest.
And now move to your right wrist.
And forearm.
Elbow and upper arm.
Shoulder.
Releasing any gripping or bracing you didn't know you were holding.
Notice your right collarbone.
The right side of your chest.
Right waist.
And hip.
Bring awareness to your right thigh.
Me.
Shin ankle.
Let your right foot go completely heavy.
Now bring your awareness to your left hand.
Feel your palm relaxed and open.
Now move to your left wrist.
And forearm.
Elbow.
And upper arm.
Shoulder.
Notice your left collarbone.
Left side of the chest.
Left waist.
Feel your left thigh.
May.
Shin ankle.
Let your left foot go completely heavy.
Bring your awareness to the back of your head.
Shoulder blades.
Mid-back.
Lower back.
Releasing any tension stored from sitting or driving.
Or carrying stress in any way throughout the day.
Feel your right heel.
Left heel.
The whole back of your body resting heavy on the earth.
Fully supported.
Now notice your forehead.
Eyebrows eyes,
Cheeks.
Lips.
Ciao.
Letting your jaw unclench and your face go completely soft.
Notice your throat.
Heart center.
Abdomen rising and falling.
Slowly.
Easily.
Without effort.
Feel your whole body.
Settled.
Unguarded.
And at ease.
We will now take some slow,
Intentional breaths.
Using the breath to signal safety to your nervous system.
We'll begin to count down the breath as you breathe in.
And out.
If the counting feels distracting.
Just stop the counting and continue to breathe in a way that feels calming for you.
We'll begin to count the breath as you breathe in and out.
Slowly descending.
Counting from 10 to one.
As we inhale,
We count 10.
Exhale,
Saying 10.
Long and slow.
Inhale,
Nine.
Exhale,
Long and slow,
Nine.
Continue breathing this way,
Keeping the exhale a little longer than the inhale.
If you lose track of the counting.
Good start again at 10.
There's no wrong way of doing this.
Returning back from the counting regardless of what number you've reached.
As we begin to engage the mind's eye without any effort or strain.
Visualize a soft,
Dim screen behind your closed eyes.
And allow your awareness to rest here,
Unfocused.
Notice whatever drifts across it.
Colors,
Shapes.
Images.
Without analyzing or holding on to anything.
Let each image pass like a cloud drifting across a calm sky.
Here.
And then gone.
Fully allow the images to soften and dissolve into stillness.
As you bring your awareness back to your heart space.
Quiet,
Settled center within you.
Unaffected by your surroundings.
Here you might recall the intention you set at the beginning of the practice,
Or perhaps there's a new one now.
Quietly repeat it to yourself three times.
Trusting that your body is already integrating this sense of calm.
Gently bring your awareness back to your body.
To your breath.
When you feel ready,
Beginning to wiggle your fingers and toes,
Slowly reconnecting to the room around you.
Know that your body is capable of finding this calm again.
Anytime you need it.
And when you feel ready,
You may begin to flutter your eyes open.
Carrying this sense of ease and steadiness with you.
