Rest Practice Guidance

What is Rest Practice for Cycle Breakers?

Liberation lives in the body first and then ripples out. This guided rest practice lays the foundations for the depth of awareness and inner stability that is required to unlock that frequency, and offers guidance that helps you cultivate a relationship with your body that allows you to finally know how to truly rest.

Welcome to your rest
practice for today, dear one.

Let's start by having you stand
right by that sitting area that

you've set up for yourself today.

I'm going to invite you to start
just by gently walking in place,

lifting one foot after the other.

Doesn't have to be high.

Could be as subtle or as
big as you'd like it to be.

Listen for what feels good right now.

And you can even let the rest
of your body move how it wants

to move as you take your steps.

Noticing

how each step lands on the ground today,

whether there's a difference in how heavy

or how light the steps are,

if one side feels more in contact
with the ground than the other.

And meeting the energy that moves
in this process with your breath,

which might prompt you to
start a yawn or a stretch.

Mm, just letting your body go with that.

And if it feels fun and
playful, you can even just

go and-- go ahead and fake a yawn or two.

Really letting it get big,

or small, as it feels good for you today.

And just incorporating all
of that movement as you

gently walk along in place.

And letting the force of the ground
really meet the energy- From your feet.

And just noticing what that's like.

And perhaps meeting the
energy of the ground this way

might prompt even more yawning or
stretching or any movement or sound

that's wanting to come through.

And again, it could be as subtle
or as loud as you'd like it to be.

And you can just keep following
all that movement along,

unfolding almost like dominoes.

Perhaps like a little

stretch on the hips will make you
feel like stretching your arms

and making that full circle
motion with your whole torso.

And as you flow with these movements,
just slowly getting a sense of

any completion that's starting to happen.

Listening for any sense
of closure or contentment.

And just letting your body
land in stillness when that

sense of completion arrives.

And as you let that sense
of completion settle,

staying in contact with that sense of
your feet on the ground, allowing that

sense of contact to rise up into that
space right around your belly button.

And then if it feels good,
maybe let that rise up even

further into your heart space.

And then let that move kind of
behind your eyes as you slowly

look around to orient yourself in the
room that you're practicing in today.

And moving your head to the left,

letting it move back to center.

Moving it to the right.

Slowly back to center.

And just really letting your eyes
lead you and wander around all the

surface areas in the room, all the
objects in the room, just scanning.

Seeing if there's any particular
surface or object that draws you in.

Resting your awareness
there for a little bit.

Noticing how you can kind of play
with leading with your eyes first

and noticing how your head just kind
of follows along when you do that.

Like, you move your eyeballs
to the corner, to the left, and

then your head just kind of,

like a spring, follows along gently.

Just playing with that game a little bit.

And noticing as you do this how

your head also can just
kind of float in space.

As you move

your gaze around the room.

And if you go a little
too fast, that's okay.

If you notice a little bit of dizziness
from all that gazing and looking

around or the speed at which you

move your eyes across the
room, you can just slow it down

with your breath.

And just find a resting
spot for your gaze.

And from that resting spot,

I invite you to just bring your hands
up and look at it, perhaps around like

the height of your belly button or
your chest, whatever feels good for

your arms, and just hold your palms
up facing your eyes and just carefully

looking at your hands, noticing the
lines, noticing the pads of your palms.

Perhaps even moving your
hands in different shapes.

Just letting the image of your hand

come to your eyes.

You can even stretch your arms up
front so that your hands are a little

further away as you observe them.

You can play with how fast or slow you'd
like to move your hands as you observe.

You can even kind of keep your gaze in the
middle, but slowly move your hands out to

the side, almost like- parting curtains

until each hand is on each
side, almost like wings.

And just noticing how you can expand your
vision to see your hands on the periphery.

That you can kind of have a sense of
where your hands are at even while they're

not directly in front of your eyes.

And you can stay here for as long as
it feels good and playful and fun.

Even listening for any other
movement that might make this

more playful for you.

That brings in some giggles perhaps.

This posture reminds me a lot of being
like a child pretending to be an airplane.

And if your arms get tired, you
can just gently rest them down.

You can place one hand on your
chest and one hand on your belly.

Or rest your hands anywhere
on your body that feels good.

And just take a few breaths here.

Just allowing

all of that exploration to settle

and to meet the sensations

that are present now after all of that

with a soft open awareness

that releases any need for
naming or finding language.

But just resting in the in-between.

And from here, I'm going to
invite you to sit On the chair

or couch or cushion or floor

like you've set up for yourself.

And as you do that, notice what it's like
to be received by the surface you chose.

Again, finding that space between

the contact, the
experience of sitting down,

and any urge to name or label or
find the words, and just floating

in that middle space where

you can just rest in the
awareness of the sensations.

And as you

sink into the process of settling
on the chair, on your seat,

on the ground, just bring
your awareness again of

your feet on the ground.

Whether the full bottom of your feet
are in contact with the floor, or

whether you're in a cross-legged
position where kind of just the side

of your feet are touching the ground.

And if you're sitting with your
legs crossed, you can expand that

sense of contact with the ground to

your legs

and your buttocks as they just
hold you connected to the floor.

And I invite you to

kind of play with shifting your
weight a little from side to side.

Perhaps even finding a rocking or swaying
motion where you get to try out the

different ways that your feet and your
legs and your butt can move around,

and explore the different ways that
it's in contact, that they're in

contact with- The different surfaces.

And as in this process, you feel into

your feet and your legs and your hips,

and perhaps allowing yourself to sink
deeper into these parts of your body.

I invite you to just check in on
what happens to your shoulders.

What happens to your back?

What happens to your belly?

Like, what happens to your torso

as you remember, like, the
lower half of your body

being supported by the ground?

And just noticing it.

Noticing how

the force of the ground holding you,

the gentle force of the
space holding your body.

How all of that in connection to your
feet and your legs and your hips,

how does that make your torso feel?

What does that do to your
spine, your shoulder blades?

And as you kind of tune into

your torso and your back and
your shoulders, and likely your

arms are coming online here too,

if there is a surface
behind you to lean on,

Just check in if it might feel
good for you to lean back.

And if you choose to do that

feel free to take some
time to make adjustments.

Adjustments

with your pillows, if you have any.

And just adjusting the shape of your body.

Co-creating with the surfaces
you're on, a shape that feels good.

And when you find that spot, just
sinking your weight there for a bit.

And from here, listen for any
movement that might want to happen.

Could be an impulse to move your hand
or to explore a rocking motion, or it

could be a tiredness in a certain area
that's asking you to shift your posture.

And as you engage in

any movement,

see what it might be
like to bring more breath

as you do that.

More breath in that movement than
what you would normally take.

Maybe that means slower breaths or
a bigger inhale, or a deeper exhale.

And maybe that will prompt another
series of yawns and full body stretches.

Which might start off another phrase
of movement that you can follow along.

Just abide and let your body guide
you from one movement to the next

Slowing it down wherever
there's an urge to rush.

Allowing the movements to drip like honey.

And your awareness just
gently following along.

And once again, listening for that sense
of closure, completion, contentment

Once you sense that completion settle,

I invite you to move into a posture
that starts to call in a state

that feels more alert and awake.

That could be finding
a more upright posture

and/or placing your feet on the ground
if you've lifted them off in any way.

If you've had your eyes closed, you
can also start letting the light

back into your eyes, receiving
light, letting it come to you.

And from here, find like that
space about three to four

fingers below your belly button.

And if it feels good, I
invite you to gently press on

that space with your finger

and just breathe into that space,

letting that breath come to that
point, not just on the surface,

but all the way into the middle

of your body, almost- Around where
the spine exists in that space

deeper in your abdominal area.

Letting your body respond
and adjust with each breath.

And from this place, meeting
the sensations with awareness,

with noticing

as you go re- get ready
to go back into your day.

Or if you're practicing before bed,
getting ready for a full night's sleep