~10 Minutes
In this fully guided meditation we are going to work on releasing stress. 

And so this practice is going to be one that we can utilize in a very short period of time and also one that we can utilize almost anywhere we wish. 
(pause)
This meditation can be done seated, standing or lying down, of course depending on your circumstance and where you are. 
(pause)

We're going to begin this practice by just turning into the breath. 

And what I mean by that is becoming aware of our breathing through the nose as we inhale and out through the mouth as we exhale and we're going to work here over about two minutes to slow that rate of breathing. 

This is going to have an immediate impact on our stress levels and have an immediate impact on our relaxation levels in our body, bringing us from perhaps the fight or flight the automatic nervous system and into the parasympathetic nervous system where we rest and restore. 
(pause)
And so as we inhale slowly through the nose and we exhale fully through the mouth. 
(pause 2 minutes)

Begin to close your eyes and turn inward. If you're able to. So of course, if you're driving or if you're in an environment that's not conducive to closing your eyes, that's fine. 

Still try to turn your attention inward to the best of your ability. 

And so what I mean by that is start to feel the body if you can, and that's going to be any connection to any physical sensation you can in the body. 
(pause)
So if your feet are on the ground, perhaps feel the weight of your feet as they contact the Earth with the body, driving through it.
(pause)
or perhaps that's the sensation of your clothing on the skin. 

Or even just the sensation of the lungs, inhaling, expanding on the inhale and contracting on the exhale. 
(pause)
Any type of body awareness here we'll do inside, not not external, just inside the body 
(pause)
and so we bring our awareness inside so that we can begin to release the stress that we're holding on to in the body. 
(pause)
And now wherever you are, again, if possible. I want you to compress and squeeze the muscles in your legs as tight as you can. 

And try to hold that for 10 seconds. 
(pause)
And when you release, release on an exhale now we're going to do the same thing for the arms. 

So inhaling fully, tensing all the muscles in the arms, again, to the best of your ability, if you're driving holding the steering wheel and tense up, grab the wheel, tense the arms, tense the muscles. Holding for 10 seconds and then exhaling and release. 
(pause)

And as we exhale and we release, we release everything together. 
Very quick, very cathartic. 

And now bring your awareness back to the sensation of the total body. 
(pause)
And notice how it's changed with the breathing, slowing down and the compression and release of the extremities. 
(pause)
Notice how in this very short, brief and very very easy meditative practice, you're able to find some peace, release some stress and find deeper balance in your day. 
(pause)
If you have more time I invite you to continue this practice for as long as you wish. 

Going back to the legs, tensing and releasing and then back to the arms tensing and releasing. It's important to work on the extremities here because we release via the extremities. 

If you think about it, the nervous system ends down in the feet and in the hands. And so if we tense these muscles up, we're bringing all of that stimuli to the extremities. of our nervous system and releasing that tension. 
(pause)
Be Well Everybody and Namaste

