0:03

Before you come to settle in a comfortable position, take a moment to stretch out if it's available to you.

Stretch your arms over your head, reach your legs out as long as you can, flex your feet and roll through your ankles.

0:24

Take a moment to ease into your muscles, to stretch them out and work into the joints most in need of release.

When you're ready, find stillness As you settle, welcome a deep breath in through your nose and sigh out through your mouth.

0:59

Breathe in, feeling your lungs open up and sigh out in relief.

Inhale, and when it feels like your lungs are full, hold on to that feeling for just a moment.

1:18

Then draw another short, sharp breath in, filling your lungs just a little bit more before you exhale.

Taking in that extra bit of breath right when you think your lungs are full is the very thing that cleanses your respiratory system and helps you release the stress and toxins stored up in your body.

1:51

Breathe in, hold it, and take another short, sharp breath in before you exhale.

Let's have three more like that.

Breathe in, hold in a little further and exhale, inhale.

2:20

Hold that breath.

Take in a little more and sigh out in relief.

Draw a final, deep, cleansing breath in through your nose.

2:37

Hold it.

Take another sharp in breath, feeling your lungs stretch further than they have all day before you.

Breathe out and begin the journey into deep relaxation.

2:59

For tonight's meditation, I invite you to let your mind wander wherever you so wish.

I invite you to pick a place somewhere welcoming, somewhere you feel you can truly let your guard down.

3:20

Perhaps it's somewhere you've been many times.

Perhaps it's somewhere you dream of being, somewhere you just know you will feel as though you belong Tonight.

3:35

Centre your attention on your safe place.

Whatever, whenever and wherever that is.

Breath by breath, allow yourself to be transported there.

3:53

As you inhale, take in the scent of that place, and as you exhale, release the weight of the day.

Breathe in the views around you as you take a little time to explore and sigh out the chaos of the waking world.

4:19

When you're ready, let it go and sink deeper into this place.

Plant your feet here in your safe space.

How does the ground feel beneath you as you stretch out upon it and come to settle comfortably on your next in breath, gather up all the tension bound up within you.

4:54

Dredge up everything you have been carrying around for the past days, weeks, and months.

And as you sigh out in relief, I invite you to let your guard down.

You are safe.

5:12

You are safe.

So take a breath and anchor up here in your safe place once you're feeling settled and not a moment sooner.

5:44

Perhaps you'd like to send your attention to the crown of your head, and perhaps you can feel the heat of the sun upon it.

Maybe you can feel it warming your hair and the skin of your scalp, undoing the tension there as it ebbs into your muscles, as the sun's warmth sinks deeper into your mind and muscles.

6:14

Feel it easing away the tension in your temples, in your brow and in the muscles at the top of your neck as they soften and release.

As you soften and settle into the safety of this moment alone, ask your mind for just one more millimetre of release.

6:41

Ask your mind to let go of its grip on the muscles that span your scalp and give you just one more millimetre of release and relaxation.

7:10

Thank your mind for releasing control.

Thank your body for trusting that it's OK to be soft here in this moment.

Feel the sun shining over your shoulders and ebbing deep into the muscles there until they're sinking and settling into the ground beneath you.

7:36

Lean in to that release, ask the mind for just a millimetre more, and thank the body for carrying you through another long day.

Take a deep breath in and sigh out in relief as you feel your stomach soften.

8:01

Let the muscles that span your back sink into the ground beneath you and give your full weight over to the earth, breath by breath.

Let it take a little more, trusting this safe place to catch you, to hold you, and to support you as your body grows heavier and heavier and you sink deeper still into relaxation.

8:37

Feel the heat of the sun against your waist and hips, sinking into your diaphragm, helping you find release in your hip flexors.

And just when you think you've let go of every last lingering bit of tension bound up within you, ask the mind to release the body just a millimetre more.

9:11

Breathe in and sigh out in relief as you feel yourself sinking and settling into the earth beneath you.

Breathe in, and as you exhale, perhaps you find yourself feeling heavier and heavier.

9:41

Inhale and as you exhale, give yourself over to the weight of exhaustion.

You are safe here.

You can rest.

9:59

It is safe to relax and let your guard down.

It is safe to sleep.

Take a deep breath in, and as you sigh out, perhaps you can feel the sun on the long muscles of your legs and arms, helping them lengthen and loosen, coaxing them in to release.

10:39

When you're ready, take the opportunity to ask the mind to fully release the body, to trust that you are safe, to trust that you can let your guard down and let go of the hold you have on your muscles.

11:02

There is nothing you need to protect yourself from here.

You are safe in this moment and the next.

Breathe in, and as you exhale, sink a little deeper into that feeling of deep release.

11:24

Inhale and as you exhale, settle in to relaxation.

Breathe in through your nose, and as you sigh out in relief, perhaps you find that you begin to gently drift towards sleep as the soothing cycle of your breath repeats.