Mindful Relaxation Guide

Find yourself a comfortable space to lie down. This position will help your spine to align and help you to relax better. Dim the lights and turn off all distractions such as your TV, iPhone, or other electronic. You can play some relaxing music in the background for your mindful relaxation.

Close your eyes and let go of all your worries and anxieties. Allow your body to dwell in the present moment. Lie on your back or your side with ease. Rest your arms alongside your body or fold them across your belly. Close your eyes gently. You can lay your head on a low pillow or a folded-up towel or even without one.

When you’re comfortable, you might start by saying these verses to yourself:

“Breathing in, I’m aware of my body. Breathing out, I smile to my body.

Breathing in, I feel my abdomen rises. Breathing out, I feel my abdomen falls. Rising- falling.”

Imagine yourself as a rock that falls into the river. The rock slowly sinks deeper and deeper into the bottom of the river. Allow your body to sink deeper and deeper into the earth. Feel your body sinking on your mat or your bed.

Breathing in, I feel the rhythm of my heartbeat. Breathing out, I feel the rhythm of my heartbeat. Simply observe the natural rhythm of your heartbeat as it is, without trying to slow it down. Gradually your heartbeats will become slower and calmer.

Now bring the attention to your face. “Breathing in, I’m aware of my eyes. Breathing out, I allow my eyes to relax. Aware of my face, relaxing my face.” I feel a lot of gratitude for my two eyes that are still in good condition.

They allow me to see the paradise of forms and colors: the fresh green bamboo, the clear lake, the majestic mountain, the yellow chrysanthemums, and the white clouds. I could watch the sunrise in the early morning and the sunset in the late afternoon. I could see the faces of my beloved ones: my family and friends. I could enjoy reading a book, the news, or my journals, etc. I smile to my eyes and resting my eyes.

You can continue to relax your eyebrows and forehead; allow all the wrinkles to smooth out. There’s nothing to worry about at this moment, just rest.

“Breathing in, I’m aware of my mouth. Breathing out, I allow a smile to bloom. Aware of my mouth, smiling.” Smiling is mouth yoga. It allows you to release all tensions around your jaws. You can smile to yourself, to your loved ones, to life.

“Breathing in, I’m aware of my neck. Breathing out, I relax the muscles around my neckline. Aware of my neck, relaxing my neck.” I allow my breathing to flow smoothly around my neck, letting go of any tensions I might hold there.

“Breathing in, I’m aware of my shoulders. Breathing out, I relax my shoulders. Aware of my shoulders, relaxing my shoulders.” You might want to roll your shoulder blades back and forth a couple of times. Do it slowly and smile to your shoulder with love and care.

“Breathing in, I’m aware of my back. Breathing out, I relax my back. Aware of my back, relaxing my back”. Feel your upper back and lower back touching the floor. You can stretch your arms outward above your head, lengthening your back, release all tensions around your back and your torso.

Now bring your attention to your left arm, relaxing your left arm. Imagine a waterfall running down from your left shoulder to your elbow, your wrist, and finally to your fingers. Please pay attention to any tensions you might have along your left arm and relax them.

Now you can do the same for your right arm. Relax the whole arm.

Pay attention to your two hands, relaxing your two hands with love. These hands are the wonderful manifestation, handed down from so many generations of ancestors to you.

You can send thanks to your hands for all the things that your hands enable you to do: to type a letter, to write a poem or a song, to cook, to drive, to play sports, to drink tea, to eat, and to hold the hand of my beloved ones.

Now become aware of your trunk and your thighs, become aware of any tension you might hold there, and relaxing them.

“Breathing, I’m aware of my left leg. Breathing out, I relax any tension I might have in my left leg. Aware of my leg, relaxing the tension.” Do the same for your right leg, sending loving energy to relax both of your feet; express gratitude to your feet. With these feet in good conditions, you can travel to places where you need to go, to run, to walk, to climb the stairs and mountains, to do sitting meditation, and so on.

Now continue to use the mindfulness energy you have cultivated to scan through different parts of the body and become aware of any tensions in our body or any illness we might have in our body. You can identify the tensions or illness that your body might have without doing the CAT scan. You can use your mindful breathing to listen to your body and become aware of your different organs: your heart, your lung, your liver, your intestines, etc. Be conscious of the conditions of each one and send loving care to it.

There were times in your lives when you encountered sufferings or received the suffering through your ancestors. Over time, these sufferings might have accumulated in certain parts of your body.

Other times, you might have to work yourself too hard and allow the stress and tension to build up in yourselves.

Now it’s the time to come back, to be aware of the sufferings and tensions in your body, and send your love and peace to those areas.

If you can, during the week, you can spare some time to relax and care for your body. Then, gradually, your tensions and stress will diminish, bringing more peace and joy to your life.