Health, tranquility, and longevity have been sought since the beginning of time.
We are always looking outside of ourselves for the answer, and all along the answer lies
within our own body's ability to balance, heal, and readjust itself.
This video will give you a toolbox of exercises and techniques to help you accomplish this.
No special equipment is necessary.
All you need is a quiet place, an open mind, and the desire to help yourself.
This first series of exercises is designed to relieve and prevent pain and stiffness.
The body is a machine and must be oiled regularly.
Do these exercises on a daily basis, and you will find that you are more able and ready
for the tasks of the day.
I shall be your mirror image, so when I lift my left arm, you will lift your right arm.
Let's begin.
Let's warm up.
Bring your hands to the side of your body, and your feet at hip width apart.
And we're going to do some warmups.
Let's move to the right.
Turn as far to the right as you can, and return slowly to center, and then off to the left,
and back to center.
And lift your eyes to the heavens, and down to the earth, and back to center, and again
to the right.
Stretch away all stiffness, and off to the left, and slowly to center, and lift your
eyes, and lower your eyes.
Inhale coming back up, and exhale to the right.
Let's work with the breath.
Inhale to center, exhale to the left, back to center, and inhale, lift your eyes, and
exhale, lower your eyes, and back to center.
And now let's bring the hands into soft fists, loose fists, elbows back, shoulders back.
Breathe in, and as you breathe out, look inside your left fist, and turn to center, moving
off to the right, so you can see through the fist, and back to center, again to the left,
don't forget the breath, and off to the right, and center, and once again, to the left, back
to center, to the right, back to center.
Drop your arms, good.
And now let's bring the hands back to shoulder height, inhale, and touch the heavens on the
exhalation.
Bend the elbows, inhale, shoulders back, chest forward, exhale, press at the heavens, and
again, inhale, back, and hold up the heavens on the exhalation.
Cross your arms, and inhale, lower your hands, look to the left hand as you come down, drop
your head.
Inhale as you raise the arms.
Exhale as you press the heavens.
Inhale as you lift, working with the breath, good timing, exhale as you bend to the right.
Inhale as you return, and again, exhale as you bend to the right.
Inhale as you return, exhale, and then inhale as you bend to the left.
Inhale as you bend to the left, exhale, return, inhale as you stretch, exhale, bring your
hands down, breathe in, and exhale through the mouth, release, all right, good.
Something nice for your waistlines now.
Bring your hands, make fists of your fingers, and bring your hands toward your shoulders,
and you're going to inhale, and as you exhale, you're going to press your right hand forward
and turn to the left, and inhale as you come back to center, let's repeat to the other
side, exhale as you push and twist.
Inhale back to center, exhale as you press, turn from the waist, inhale as you return,
and exhale as you press, bring your hands back, good, bring your hands down, place your
hands on your waist, and let's do a little belly dance.
With your knees slightly bent, let's bend and tilt, and bring them around, bring the
hips around, have a little fantasy, I've always wanted to be a belly dancer, oh, lovely, and
in one direction three times, and then let's take it in the other direction, and tilt,
and push back, tilt, and one more time, good, nice and loosening up for your hips, and bring
your hands down, good, bring your hands down to your knees, and with your knees bent, let's
do the Charleston, bring, now have your feet together for this one, and rotate the knees
three times in one direction, and three times in the opposite direction, good, and back,
and then stand, bring your feet apart once again, and you're going to bring your right
hand to your left leg, bend the knees slightly, raise the left arm, and turn over your left
shoulder, and see the back of your left hand, gently lower the hand, let's work with the
breath, inhale, take the left hand to the right knee, raise your right arm, turn, look
over your right shoulder as you exhale, inhale back, one more time, right hand to the left
leg, turn, look over your left shoulder and exhale, inhale back to center, left hand to
the right leg, twist over your right shoulder and exhale, lower the hand down, good, this
time we're going to inhale and raise the arms out to shoulder height, and we're going to
scoop up the energy, bend your knees and exhale, cross your arms, inhale as you come up with
your legs straight, and exhale, bend the knees and cross your arms, inhale as you come up,
one more time, exhale as you cross your arms, and slowly let your arms hang, let your head
hang, and roll up with your knees soft, good, something nice for the ankles, feet slightly
apart and come on to your right front foot, and we're going to just swing off to the left,
and lifting and stretching the ankles, take a little pressure on the foot, the standing
leg, and again, push up and stretch up, good, and push down and stretch up, good, bring
your feet together, good, and let's do a balance, right leg strong, root it into the earth,
focus on a spot on the floor just a few feet away, lift your left knee, hug the knee to
your chest, keep your spine upright, hold and release, place the weight into your left
foot, lift your right knee, focus on something, something at eye level, hold and release,
one more time, shift the weight onto your right foot, lift your left knee, hold and
release, and one more time, onto your left foot, lift and release, take a breath in,
lift the arms, open your mouth, and as you come forward with soft knees, and hang, let
go, let go, and slowly, like a window shade, roll up your spine, and you are ready for
your day.
Yoga is an ancient form of self-development, designed to bring harmony to body, mind, and
spirit.
Yoga incorporates breathing and concentration into each posture, so that it becomes a total
body-mind experience.
Through these yoga exercises, you will strengthen muscles, improve balance, relieve stress,
and make the spine more supple.
Yoga is an inner experience.
We are going to work with six different postures, becoming totally involved consciously on the
feelings as you move through your body.
First, let's come into the cat, it's a wonderful back stretch.
Come onto your hands and your knees, and this is the table pose.
And as you breathe in, lower the navel, lift the tail, lift the chin, and as you pull back
the abdomen, exhale, tuck in the chin, round your upper back like an angry cat.
Breathe in as your middle lowers, your tail lifts, your chin up, exhale as you pull in
the abdomen, round your back, and stretch across your upper back.
And again, this is wonderful for the back, especially early in the morning, you might
wake up a little stiff, and exhale as you pull in and round your back.
Now let's sit in toward the heels, drop your forehead down, and I'd like to take you now
into the dog.
So bring yourself back onto your hands and onto your knees, tuck your toes under, breathe
in, and as you breathe out, push off and press into the dog.
And stay there for three breaths.
I'm going to bring a chair forward to show you how you can do the dog at home, even by
the sink.
So bring your hands to the top of the sink or to the chair, and walk your feet away,
and as you press your hands down, press your seat back, and now if you feel there's a bit
much on your back, bend your knees a little bit, give your chance, the body a chance to
stretch out, good, and then come back onto your knees and sit.
The next position is the frog, so open your knees and cross your toes, and press back
and walk your hands forward, and move one hand at a time, and allow your upper body
to sink toward the floor.
And this is wonderful to stretch through the sacroiliac area, people seem to have problems
there, so just relax and rest in the pose, good, and slowly come up, and we're going
to go into the cobra.
So now coming back onto your tummy, all right, and place your hands to the side of your chest
and bring your forehead to the floor, and slowly on the inhalation lift your chin, lift
your eyes, pull back your shoulders, a little weight into the hands to bring you up, you
don't have to come up too high, and take a breath, and then slowly uncurl the spine,
one vertebra at a time, chin to your throat, forehead to the floor, we'll do one more,
and this time I'll show you a nice simple way to do it, hands a little forward, forehead
to the floor, coming back into cobra, chin forward, and lift up, keep your elbows down
on the floor, and bring yourself up, and hold for a breath, and then slowly uncurl the spine,
one vertebra at a time, bring your hands to the side of your chest, come onto your knees,
sit into your heels, open your knees again, and let's go back into the frog because it
feels so good after the cobra, walking your hands forward, pressing your seat back, and
then slowly walk your hands back toward you.
The next pose I'd like for you to do is the fish pose, so I'm going to use a prop and
show you how you can do a simple fish pose while the ladies will do the more classical
fish, so would you come into your fish pose, and I'd like to show you a way of doing the
fish, roll part of the blanket over so you can form a support for your neck, into the
fish pose, take a pillow or a bolster and place it under your rib cage, lie down on
the bolster, and have your neck supported by the roll, bring your arms down to your
side, it's a very relaxing posture because it opens up your lung power, it opens up your
chest, and actually you can stay here for minutes on end, it's wonderful, so stay here
and feel the quality of your breath as you stay in your fish pose, and to slowly come
out of it, bend the knees, if you're using the props, roll onto one side, bring yourself
onto your hands and sit up.
The next pose we're going to do is a forward bend, we've been doing some arches and we
always like to do pose and counter pose, most people in a forward bend need a little pillow
because it brings their body forward, so take your blanket and sit on the top of the blanket
so it brings your body forward, and we're going to bend the right knee and bring the
foot to the inner thigh and come forward onto your sitting bones, lengthening your spine,
and as you breathe in, bring your arms up overhead, lock your thumbs, reach upward,
and on the exhalation, keeping the body long, come forward over the leg, hold onto the leg
or the foot as you breathe in, and as you breathe out, lower your elbows, lower your
ribs, chest and forehead down, now you can also take a belt and bring the belt around
the ball of the foot as you come forward, and breathe and stretch and focus in on the
experience and try to relax into the posture, the whole idea in yoga is to be able to form
the stretch and then let go into it, good, and then slowly slide the hand up the leg,
return and we have to change legs, so shake out your bent knee and let's bend the opposite
leg, place the foot on the inner thigh, and again if your knee is up in the air or feeling
a little uncomfortable, take a pillow and rest it underneath the knee, there should
be no feeling of discomfort, enjoy the journey through your body, so once again we'll lift
up and hold the belt, so stretch upward and on the exhalation come forward, reaching out
and hold onto the leg or hold the belt and draw yourself down and use the exhalation
to move deeper into the stretch and when you feel the edge of the stretch just stay there
and experience the moment, enjoy the feelings, take about three breaths to hold the pose,
and then slowly roll up, good, and then we can bend both knees and bring the soles of
your feet together and again you can use the belt, you take the belt under the toes and
on the inhalation pull the toes toward you and on the exhalation bring the knees down
away from you, good, inhale on the toes coming up, exhale as the knees falling down and finally
again when you feel your limit stay there, go inside your body and taste it and hold
and relax, good, and then slide the feet forward and we go into a twist pose, so take your
left foot over your right knee, your right hand or right arm around the left knee, sit
high on your bones, good, I'd like you to see it, so inhale raise your left arm, face
the back of your left hand and exhale as you bring the hand to the floor behind your back,
try not to lean back into that hand, just use the hand as a guide, now on the inhalation
pull yourself up through the front of your body and on the exhalation bring the left
shoulder blade back as your right shoulder blade forward, stay for three breaths, focus
on the spine as you hold this lovely pose, the nerves will bless you for this one and
slowly return on the inhalation and bring your head forward on the exhalation and rest
your arms, your shoulders, your spine, good, and then let's take the body in the opposite
twist, so straighten your left leg, take your right foot over, left arm draws the knee toward
you, inhale raise your right arm, face the back of your right hand, exhale as you turn,
breathe in and as you breathe out, pull the right shoulder back and take another deep
turn, stay there, the chin is level with the floor, top of the head to the ceiling and
the mind is focused on the spine and gently out on the inhalation, nice wide arc, exhale
as you lower your head and let's finish with the pose of a child, so Evelyn we're going
to put you into the pose, placing the pillow between your thighs and your calves is much
easier for people who cannot quite bend the knees yet, so come slowly down and let your
shoulders fall away from your ears and allow the head to get some of the oxygen, some of
the energy and breathe comfortably and just surrender to gravity and slowly coming up
now, that's a full routine for you to work with, Tai Chi consists of flowing movements
which help you increase your energy level and balance, the movements are done in slow
motion with an emphasis on balance, it is sometimes called a meditative ballet, there
are many forms of Tai Chi, the form we are doing is called Qigong and is designed for
healing and gathering the life force within you, let's begin our Tai Chi, bring your
hands at the side of the chest and we're going to press heaven and earth as we push the right
hand up toward the heaven and left hand down toward the earth and again bringing back to
first position and pressing heaven and pressing earth, working with the breath on the inhalation
coming back to center and exhale as you press, just keeping that flow of breath and motion
once again, let's press, bringing the arms down, let's do a gentle punch, turn to the
left, bend both elbows and soft punch, on the inhalation, lower the hands, turn to the
right and let's punch, the fists are soft as the movement, coming back, over to the
left, bend the elbows and punch, punch, dropping the arms and holding a large ball between
your hands, dip a little down and then open up the sides and hold the ball, feel as though
you're opening up the universe with your arms, slight bend of the knees as you hold the ball,
keep that flow, comes a dance and one more, breathing in as you open up, breathing out
as you hold the ball between your hands, taking yourself into repulse monkey, raise the left
arm, let it float by your right hand and press, once more, lift the left arm, come back to
front and then push, once again, breathe in as you raise the arm, let it float by and
exhale as though you were swimming, inhale as you lift, bring your body through, exhale
as you press, once again, inhale and exhale, bring your hands back and we're going to open
the door, opening the door, leaning back a little into your heels as you lower your hands,
slight bend of the knees, inhale as you come forward, bending the elbows, keeping them
down, exhale as you lower your hands, let's do one more, inhale as you open the door,
notice the movements are circular, exhale as you lower your hands, bring your right
foot forward, left foot back, left foot is on the diagonal and we're going to trace
the drum, feel as though you have a large drum in front of you and you're going to
trace the drum, the edge of the drum with your hands and as you inhale, you're shifting
to the back foot, lifting the front toes, exhale, lean forward and come onto your front
foot and so you are shifting the weight from 70 to 30% of your body weight and again, inhale
as you trace the drum, bringing your legs, your body and your hands as one unit, bring
your feet together, breathe, relax for a moment and then we'll go to the opposite side, so
take your right foot on a diagonal behind you, left foot facing front and let's trace
the drum as you inhale, large drum, shift the weight into the back foot, slowly coming
forward, weight into the front foot and as you shift the weight into the back foot, lift
the front toes and then you can lift the back heel as you come forward and moving in unison,
bring your hands down, bring your feet together, take a moment to breathe in, breathe out,
experience the feeling within and now we'll do a whole flow of movements, this is called
animal frolics, bring your feet apart, shoulder width apart, we use the names of animals to
bring us back to our own nature, monkey lifts its paws and monkey lowers its paws, crane
lifts its wings and lowers them slightly, crane crosses its wings, bringing your wrists
across and crane drops its wings, monkey offers a gift and monkey returns, crane lifts its
wings with your palms facing behind you, crane lowers its wings, bear shows its fists and
bear presses them away, crane lifts its wings once more, lifting onto your toes, crane crosses
its wings as you lower down, monkey shows its paws once again and returns in a meditative
position, gently turns to the right, back to center and turns to the left, bring your
body around, keeping your knees facing front and to center, lower your hands, rest, breathe
in, breathe out, we'll do it once more but this time we'll do it with the breath, breathing
in as monkey lifts its paws, breathing out as monkey lowers its paws, breathing in as
crane lifts its wings, breathing out as it lowers, breathing in as crane crosses its
wings, breathing out as it lowers its wings, breathing in as monkey offers a gift, breathing
out as it returns, inhale as monkey lifts its wings, exhale as it drops its wings, as
you inhale bear finds its fists, as you exhale presses away, inhale as it lifts its wings
forming a little triangle of fingers, exhale as it folds its wings, inhale as monkey shows
its paws once more and goes into meditation on the exhalation, inhale and as you exhale
turning to the right, back to center as you breathe in, up to the left as you breathe
out, center on the inhalation and rests on the exhalation, bring your feet together and
breathe and focus on the experience of the moment, feel the energy, the chi.
Could you believe at this moment I'm giving my friend Eileen a shiatsu treatment?
Let me tell you a little about shiatsu.
Shiatsu is based on the theory of acupuncture.
So when I am pressing on a point, I'm actually pressing on an acupuncture point.
We talk about chi.
Chi is the movement of energy.
And so when you have a cold or you're feeling a little throaty, you might try this point.
Here is your collarbone and as you come slide down about two inches from the collarbone
and place your thumb into the hollow, you can activate the chi or the energy in the
body.
We would hold each point for about the count of seven to ten and then you release it.
One of the most important points in shiatsu is the point between your thumb and your first
finger.
Now this point is for headaches.
You notice I have Eileen's palm down so that I could give her pressure with my thumb perpendicular
to that point.
And again we hold this for about ten counts.
And you do both sides, both hands.
And this is for headaches, it's also for sore throats and also for insomnia.
So give it a try.
Let's turn the hand over Eileen and I'm going to show you a wonderful point in the middle
of your palm for exhaustion.
When you're feeling really tired, exhausted, give yourself a little pressure.
Press down, hold the point and again release it.
Now you can do that for yourself.
Okay, now I'd like to show you another point.
You might be familiar with this.
People that travel always seem to wear those little travel ribbons around their wrist.
Three fingers up from the break of the wrist there is another point and it's a wonderful
point for motion sickness.
And I give this to my friends on the ships and they bless me for it.
So again you press down into the point and again you do both sides so you would press
and then release.
And for the last one, place your hand on top of your shoulder and this way you can use
two fingers, one on top of the other if it's difficult for your thumbs.
And as you press down on top of the shoulder, take the other hand and pull the elbow down
so this will give you that extra pressure.
You do need good pressure for getting into those points.
And then you will feel the muscle release.
And off to the other side, middle finger can come down and pull down on the elbow and hold.
It's nice to know that you have a little technique to help yourself if you have a headache or
if your tummy doesn't feel quite so good or if your lower back feels a little strained.
So it's fun to know that you have the tools, use them.
Start your day by saying hello to your body.
This seven minute self massage from head to toe done each morning will wake up yourselves
and get you going for the day ahead.
Let's begin our dough in.
Place your hands, take your four fingers and we're going to place them on the forehead.
And with a diagonal massage, you're going to slide the hands up and down the forehead.
Relax your jaw and slide your fingers up and down your cheeks.
Let's bring the four fingers around the upper jaw, circular motions to stimulate the gums
in both directions.
Place your four fingers at the lower jaw and do the same thing with the lower jaw in both
directions.
Hook your thumbs underneath the jaw bone and form circular motions all the way to behind
the ear.
Place your four fingers at the temple.
And again with circular motions, we're going to trace the hairline.
Bring it around to the side of the face and you can put a little pressure in the areas
and around the back of the ears and let the hands meet at the back of the neck.
Let's do one more.
With your four fingers, let's trace the hairline again.
Relax the jaw as you do this and you can massage a little deeper around the back of the ears
and into the occipital bone, back of your head.
Very loose wrists, tap all over the top of the head.
It stimulates the hair growth.
And now interlock your fingers and drop your head and with the heels of the hands, let's
press inward the sides of the neck.
Press, press, go up to the back of the head.
Do that three times.
There's some very good tension areas around there.
Bring your hands down and drop your left ear to your left shoulder.
And slap your right shoulder.
And the opposite, slap, and this is saying to yourself, you're a good fellow, just slap.
One more time.
And then on the third time, grab hold of the trapezius, that high muscle that always seems
to tighten up, and squeeze.
Hold the squeeze.
It will feel so good when you stop.
And then release it.
And then they do the same thing with the other side, squeeze.
And then release it.
The arm, you're going to tap all over the inside of the arm.
There are lines of energy on the inside of the arm.
Then go up the outside of the arm through those lines of energy.
Tap, tap.
Your hand, stretch the palm, and then squeeze the palm, so you circulate all the fingers.
And then release it.
You're going to circulate all the fingers by loosening up the joints.
Walk up the thumb, and then pinch the end of the thumb, either side of the nail.
There are points there.
And then continue all the fingers, loosening up, and walk up and pinch the end.
If you find there is some thickness in the joints, work a little more in that area, gently
though, especially if you have arthritis in the fingers.
Walk up and pinch the end.
And walk up and pinch the end.
And walk and pinch.
Now, to stretch the fingers, take the opposite hand and place the finger between the first
and the middle finger, push back, stretch back, stretch, stretch, and stretch.
Take a moment just to feel the difference between the both hands.
And then we're going to go down the forearm, and then we're going up the back of the arm.
And the same thing, we're going to move the fingers around, loosening up all the joints.
Walk up the side of the thumb and pinch the end.
Loosening up, walk and squeeze, loosening up, walk and squeeze, and one more.
Take your time.
This actually takes about seven minutes, early morning gets everything going.
And now I want you to walk up, this is the last one, and squeeze.
And again, we're going to stretch the fingers, press back, press back, press back, shake
out your wrists, tap all over your chest.
As you breathe, tap, open up your lungs, bring your hands across your ribs, and go deeply
into those intercostal muscles across the ribs.
Make a fist of one hand, and let's circulate.
This is called the hara, where all the organs reside.
So roll your tummy in both directions.
To get to the lower back, make fists, and rub up and down either side of the lower spine.
And then make circles at the flanks of the back, and then with cups all over your lower
back.
Coming to the legs, open the knees, and tap, tap all over the inner legs, tap the inside
of the legs going down, then bring the hands up the outer legs, all over the legs to stimulate
the circulation.
And then for the feet, support your right ankle, hold on to the right foot, and circle
the ankle in both directions.
This is important to keep the ligaments in the ankles flexible.
And then you're going to again loosen up all the toes, and there we have again those points
either side of the nail.
So take your fingers and circle in both directions, walk up the feet, you can even twist the toes
a little bit, and then pinch the end.
That's where all the nerve endings are.
And then loosen up, and walk up the toe, and pinch the end.
Let's continue, and I give this to my friends, do this early in the morning when they're
cold and everything's tight, it's a wonderful thing, it's a gift.
And then take your thumbs and walk all over the ball of the foot, there are some good
points there.
And with your four fingers, walk all over the space between the bones on the top of
the foot.
And then slide your hands up and down the sides of the foot.
Now slap the sides of the feet, slap all over, feet love to be stimulated.
And then let's work on the other leg.
Please remember to support the ankle as you turn the foot.
Turn it in one direction, and in the opposite direction, it doesn't have to take too long.
And loosen up your toes again, walking up to the end, press the end, these are the nerve
endings, stimulate your nerves, and loosen up all the joints on the toes, walk, and you
can even give them a little twist and pinch the end, and continue, and squeeze, and squeeze.
And now with your thumbs again, walk all over the ball of the foot, and over the top of
the foot, and then slap, slide, and then bring your feet down, and the last thing we do is
have a tantrum.
If there's anything that's bothering you right this minute, I want you to kick your heels,
this is so good, kick them, this actually stimulates the nerves.
So kick your heels, doesn't that feel good?
Come and sit for a few moments, and observe reaction, notice how you feel now, I hope
it's good.
Through the use of awareness, self-suggestion, and visualization, you can bring your body
into a deep state of rest, a few minutes in this relaxed state can be better than hours
of sleep.
Come lie down on your mats, and you can do this in bed, you can do this just before you
go to sleep, if you're having a hard time sleeping, with your arms out to the side,
just slightly away from the body, and your feet slightly parted, so that your lower back
can sink into the floor.
We're first going to physically relax the body, begin by tightening your toes, pressing
your heels into the ground, feeling the tension, and then releasing.
Press your calves down, push down, feel it, and then release it.
Press your thighs down, hold the tension in your legs, feel the tension, and let it all
fall away.
Squeeze a penny between your seat, feel the tension, be inside it, be in touch, and just
let it go.
Feel in the tummy as though somebody were pressing your belly in toward your back.
Hold it, feel it, and then release it.
Squeeze your shoulder blades toward the spine, tensing particularly between the blades, it's
a prime area of tension, and just let it go.
Put your shoulders toward your ears, and give the back of the head a good hug with the back
of your shoulders, tense, and then release.
Make fists of your fingers, and press your upper arms into the floor, feel it, and then
let go.
Squeeze your eyes, and squeeze your eyes, now squeeze your mouth, and all the features
in your face, let them all come toward the center, hold it, and then let go.
Press the back of your head into the floor, so that you feel it in the back of the neck,
and then release it.
And this time we're going to tighten every muscle you can get to, as you make fists of
your fingers, squeeze your toes, press your legs into the floor, pull back your abdomen,
hold it hard, and surrender it.
Feel the effort leave your toes, as you mentally relax, feel the heels sink down into the ground.
Allow the calves to become one with the floor, feel the backs of the knees spread, the knee
caps light free of your legs.
Feel the softening of your thighs as they sink down, the lower back one with the floor,
the belly soft, and allow all the organs to sink down deep into your pelvic area.
Release across your ribs as though your ribs could become liquid and flow off your body.
Across your chest, around your heart, around your lungs, allow the upper back to spread
to take up more space on the floor, release the shoulders, and allow your arms to flow
through your limp fingers, soften the jaw, all the muscles around the ears, down through
the sides of your neck, front of your neck, back of your throat.
Allow your tongue to grow thick and soften around the mouth so that the cheek slip off
to the side of your face.
Soften your eyes so that they fall back into their sockets.
Allow this feeling of well-being to move from the tips of your toes up through to the top
of your head, and simply surrender this body to gravity.
Surrender this mind to stillness and let this feeling, this well-being, become who you are.
And as we are in this relaxed state, let's take this vacation, let's go to the beach,
let's go to the ocean.
In your mind's eye, see yourself walking in this quiet beach, nobody is around, walking
toward the water, it's a golden day, and you feel the sand beneath you, warm and soft,
you can smell the salt air, you can taste it, and feel this wonderful, sunny feeling
inside your body as we walk down toward the shore and simply lie down and just listen
to the ocean as it comes and it goes, coming in, touching your toes, flowing out, releasing
any residue of tension, flowing in, moving up through your legs, flowing out, releasing
any fatigue, any heaviness there, flowing up through your legs into your lower body,
releasing any strain in the back, any effort in the legs, flowing out into the ocean, cleansing,
releasing up through your body, up to your shoulders, and down and out through your fingers,
letting go, letting go, feeling light, feeling free, feeling open and relaxed, just like
the ocean, unlimited, expansive, free and light, stay for a while, hope you enjoyed
the journey, every now and again, give yourself a minute's vacation.
And now, very gently, let us return to the body, let us feel the fingers, feel the toes,
feel the floor beneath you, and as you take a deeper breath, raise your arms over your
head and stretch through the right side, through the left side, waking up all the muscles
that you relax so beautifully, and then draw the knees up toward you, hug them to you,
and then lower to one side, and stay for a moment, just aware of how you feel.
And then coming onto your hands and onto your elbows, slowly lift yourself up, and we shall
finish with the word namaste, from my heart to yours, thank you.
This has been a smorgasbord of Eastern disciplines, they are to be tasted and tried to see which
suits your needs best.
You can then delve deeper by reading or finding a good teacher to assist you, as we become
more at ease in our minds and bodies, we come into a state of peace and grace.
This leads to a deeper appreciation of the riches of life, health, creativity, and a
sense of our own power, self-reliance leads to self-confidence and a fuller life.