Welcome to this guided meditation practice.
Today's practice is going to be on letting go and relaxing.
So I invite you to find a comfortable posture,
Either seated or lying down.
Oftentimes with a relaxation practice it helps to lay down,
Just to fully let the body let go.
So as we begin to settle into stillness,
We find a posture that feels both awake and alert,
Relaxed and at ease.
And if it feels comfortable,
We can close the eyes.
Otherwise,
Softening the gaze and looking a few feet in front of you.
And as we settle into this practice,
We can remember the words from Pema Chodron.
We don't sit in meditation to become good meditators.
We sit in meditation so that we'll become more awake in our lives,
Remembering that we don't have to be good at this.
And just knowing that might allow us to relax a little bit more as we go through the practice.
Beginning to invite the body and the mind to be fully here in this new moment,
This moment that we've never had before and we'll never have again,
This moment that is worthy of our attention.
I offer the invitation to take a few slow deep breaths,
Breathing in fully and breathing out fully.
Beginning to slow down a little bit,
One breath at a time.
And gently allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
As we bring this quality of mindful attention to the forefront of our awareness,
Mindfulness is intentionally present while we're also letting go of judgment to the extent that we're able.
Bringing this mindful quality to this next breath.
What does it actually feel like to be in this body,
Breathing just this one breath?
Mindfulness has the quality of curiosity as well.
Can we become curious about what it feels like to breathe?
Noticing the inhale,
Noticing the exhale.
Remembering that we don't have to fix or change anything.
Ajahn Chah reminds us if you let go a little,
You will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot,
You will find a lot of peace.
You will find absolute peace and tranquility.
You might set the intention to let go a little bit of whatever we're holding in our bodies that isn't serving us.
Setting the intention to let go of tension,
Contraction.
Instead,
Invite in a quality of softness and calm,
Of relaxation.
Just to the extent that we're able.
We don't have to force anything.
Very gently bringing our attention back to the breath.
Noticing where the breath lands in the body.
As we inhale this next breath,
Where do we feel it?
The nose,
The throat,
The chest or the belly.
Noticing what it feels like to inhale and exhale.
Beginning to inquire,
Is there any place around the breath where I might be contracting,
Where tension is present?
Wherever we notice that,
Can this next inhale bring in a softness,
Bring in a calm,
Bring in a warmth?
And may our next exhale support us in letting go a little bit.
Maybe we feel tension in the chest,
So we inhale the softness into the chest.
And we exhale any tension in the chest.
We might gently soften,
Breathing in a warm and calming breath.
Exhaling and letting go.
Maybe breathing in this next breath into a soft belly.
Exhaling,
Letting go.
One breath at a time.
And if we notice the mind kicks up thoughts,
It might take us away from the breath and away from this moment.
It's normal and we just notice it.
And it's a perfect opportunity to begin again.
Returning to this breath,
This relaxing breath.
We might even invite relaxation into the mind,
Creating space around the mind.
Exhaling any contraction around thoughts or stories.
Very gently shifting our attention down to the feet.
Noticing if there's any tension or holding.
Imagining that we can draw this next breath of warmth and relaxation down into both of our feet,
Down into our toes.
And as we exhale,
We let go of any tension.
Any tension in the muscles of the feet,
The connective tissue of the feet.
One soft breath at a time.
My feet are relaxed.
Allowing the breath to come into the legs.
The soft,
Relaxing breath.
Into the calves and the knees and the upper thighs.
Breathing in relaxation and exhaling,
Letting go of any tension.
Drawing in relaxation with the inhale into the legs.
Exhaling any tension or contraction.
My legs are fully relaxed.
As we draw this next breath of relaxation and warmth into the hips and the pelvic floor.
And we exhale,
Allowing the pelvic floor to drop.
Exhaling any tension,
Contraction,
Just to the extent that we're able.
The pelvic floor is relaxed.
As we invite this relaxing breath into the belly,
The lower belly,
Up around the belly button,
All the way up underneath the diaphragm.
This warm,
Relaxing breath.
Exhaling,
Letting go.
As we invite this relaxation,
This nurturing and calming breath to wrap around to the low back,
The middle back,
And the upper back.
Inhaling warmth and calm.
Exhaling,
Releasing any tension along the spine.
Breathing in a soft and relaxing breath into the chest,
The lungs around the heart,
The muscles between the ribs.
Soft inhale and exhale,
Letting go of any tension.
Inviting our next relaxing breath into the hands,
The fingertips,
The arms,
Up into the shoulders.
Breathe in warmth and relaxation.
Exhale,
Letting go of any tension or holding.
Allowing our next inhale to move into the upper traps,
The throat and the neck.
As we inhale,
These muscles soften.
Letting go of any discomfort.
And as we exhale,
We allow the shoulders to drop a little bit,
Creating space.
Breathing in this soft and relaxing breath into the face and the head,
Allowing the jaw to soften,
The teeth to separate.
Relaxing around the nose,
Softening around the eyes,
All the way up into the head and the back of the head.
This inhale offering a breath of warmth,
Relaxation,
Exhaling and letting go.
Softening around the muscles,
Letting go of anything that no longer serves.
I offer the invitation now to check in with the body as a whole.
Notice what's there.
Is there any part of this experience in the body,
The mind,
That needs additional support?
We might take a few minutes here to allow the breath to support these parts of the body,
The mind,
Emotions.
Breathing in this calm,
This warmth,
Peace.
Breathing out and letting go of anything that is ready to be let go of.
We can give ourselves permission to relax.
We can give ourselves permission to let go.
And as we near the end of the practice,
We'll close with these words.
It helps to remember that our practice is not about accomplishing anything,
Not about winning or losing,
But about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is.
It spreads into the rest of our lives.
It helps to remember that our practice is not about accomplishing anything,
Not about winning or losing,
But about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is.
May this practice support you in every way that you need.
May you carry this warm and relaxing breath with you into the next moments of your day.
Many blessings to you.
Thank you.
