Up: [[Embodiment - Ground Curriculum]] Created: 2024-11-12 Updated: 2026-01-10 > [!Orbit] Thich Nhat Hanh > We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don’t allow our bodies to heal, and we don’t allow our minds and hearts to heal. If an image is needed of what physical and mental relaxation could look like, this video, shared by Nick, of a [bear taking a nap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO2FAE5aLeA&t=307s) does it for me! ### Breathe #### Dance with the Breath From *The Wisdom of the Body* by Christine Valters Paintner Flute music is the music of the breath. Find a piece of flute music. As you listen, start with [[Statio]], taking five slow, deep breaths. When you feel the impulse to move, follow it slowly and mindfully so that you are staying present to your experience. When your attention drifts, bring it back to this moment. Notice places of tension in your body and take your breath there. Also in [[Breathing]]. #### Balloon Breath from Mary O’Malley in *The Gift of Our Compulsions* , chapter 9 - Take a few deep breaths - Then bring attention to your breath, feeling how the in-breath opens your body, and how the out-breath has a sense of letting go. - Find a tight spot in your body. Imagine that your breath is a balloon you are blowing up inside you, right at the point of tightness. - On every in-breath, pull air into the balloon, allowing it to gently push against the tightness. - On the out-breath, let go, saying out loud a long and slow “ahh.” - Do for a number of breaths, each time expanding a little bit more the area of tension. Also in [[Breathing]] #### Box Breathing for Deeper Relaxation Before Sleeping from James Nestor in *Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art* - Inhale 4; hold 4; exhale 6; hold 2. Repeat. #### 4-7-8 Breathing for Deep Relaxation from Andrew Weil - Take a breath in, exhale through your mouth with a whoosh sound - Close your mouth, inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4. - Hold for a count of 7. - Exhale completely through your mouth, with a whoosh, to a count of 8. - Repeat this cycle at least four times. _________ ### Relaxing Your Body - [[Progressive Muscle Relaxation]] _________ ### Meditations - [[Meditation Can Get in the Way of Embodiment]] - [[Invite the Relaxation Response]] - Insight Timer - Yoga Nidra meditations with Jana Roemer - Tara Brach meditations such as this one — [Letting Go, Letting Be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-40Tgg07J9A) __________ ### Physical Release through Dance - Body Groove - Dance to "Slow" by Leonard Cohen (a personal favourite) - [[Five Rhythms Dance]] - [[Body Awareness Questions When Dancing]] __________ ### Meditative Art To come ____________ ### Read a Book It's a major relaxer for me if I curl up and read a novel or poetry during the day. Identify what does it for you. A walk in a forest? Knitting? Binge-watching *might* be, but check-in with your body to know for sure.