Maya Angelou said: “We feel safest when we go inside ourselves and find home”. In today’s episode, I’ll guide you through a relaxation practice to help you surrender and release the blocks of 2020. Each deep breath will invite you inwards - so you can find the happiness, peace and safety that you're searching for and return home.
Lie down and get nice and cosy. Feel your awareness dropping into your body and let all of your bones sink into the floor. Take a deep breath in and exhale completely, landing softly at your centre. As you continue to breathe, encourage each exhale to become a little longer than the inhale, activating your body’s relaxation response.
Now bring your awareness down to your feet. Begin to curl and tense your toes, even the arches of your feet and then release the tension, relax your feet. Squeeze your legs and your hips, then release and let go. Pull your belly-button back towards your spine and let it go. Tighten your arms, clench your hands into fists, then release them. Lift your shoulders up towards your ears and let them go. Tense your whole face now; screwing up your eyes, wrinkle your nose, purse your lips, crease your forehead (no one can see you) and release.
Take a big inhale and tense your whole body. Squeeze all of your parts at the same time. Exhale fully and release everything. Relax into softness. Make space for you, just to be, in your home frequency, as you enjoy the feeling of tightness and tension leaving your body.
As you breathe, let your body move along with the breath to create a sense of calm and ease. Every inhale lifts you up and every exhale softens you even more. Surrender to gravity and relax deeper and deeper into the floor. Give yourself permission to release and let go even further, knowing that you’re completely held, supported and protected in this space.
This time, starting at the top of your head, let your crown soften and melt into your skull, your forehead and your face. Let your eyes, your ears, your nose and your mouth soften and relax. Feel your whole face completely melted. Bring that sensation down into your jaw and let it soften and melt into the muscles of your neck and your throat.
Feel your shoulders. Let them soften and melt into your arms, hands and fingers. Feel your chest as it softens and melts into your upper back. Notice your shoulder blades as they relax into the earth. Feel your belly soften and your lower back relax. Let your lower back soften and melt into the floor. Release any lingering tension in your upper body. Let it flow down through your arms and away.
Bring your attention to your hips. Let them soften and melt into your thighs and knees. Feel your calves and shins soften and melt into your ankles, heels and balls of your feet. Notice your toes as they soften and melt. Feel both feet completely melted. Release any lingering tension in your lower body. Let it flow down through your legs and away.
Notice how your whole self embodies ease. Your body is completely melted. Like a pool of warm, runny, melted candle wax, expanding on the floor.
Feel your whole body breathing here. Receive the inhale and release the exhale. Every single part of you is being nourished with this breath.
As you experience this full body breathing, notice the expansion and contraction of the space that you occupy. At the very centre of this is your home frequency. A place of infinite potential, possibility and peace.
For the next few moments, enjoy this sweet surrender of letting go of the need to control, to understand or have everything mapped out. Welcome what’s to come. Enjoy this healing space as you soften, relax and let feelings of peace and hope fill up your heart.
When you’re ready, begin to send tiny flickers of movement through your fingers and your toes. Circle your wrists and your ankles. Breathe in deeply and stretch your arms up and overhead in a full body stretch, taking up space like you belong. Exhale completely and allow everything to drop where it is in space.
Moving gently, hug your knees into your chest. Roll around a bit and massage your back body into the floor. Roll up to sit in any way feels good. When you get there, find a nice, easy, cosy seat. Fold your hands together in a prayer in front of your heart. Humble your brain down towards your heart and take one last big inhale and exhale, calling all of the missing pieces of you back home. Keeping this energy with you, curl the corners of your mouth into a smile and feeling whole, lift your gaze, and gently blink your eyes open.
Thanks so much for listening! If you’re ready to go deeper, I have a free mini yoga retreat waiting for you over at pranapatchouli.com/retreat. It’ll help you find emotional ease, fill up your cup and follow the whispers of your soul.
All you have to do is head over there now and enter your name and email for instant access.
I’ll be back next week with a brand new episode, so until then, from my heart to yours, Namaste.
