Meditation · Sleep
The Weight of the Body
Priya Raman · 14 min
14:00
remaining
What to do, minute by minute
1. Settle in
0:00–2:48Sit or lie down somewhere you won't be disturbed. Let your shoulders drop, close your eyes or soften your gaze, and take three slow breaths.
2. Follow the breath
2:48–5:36Breathe in for a count of four, out for a count of six. Let the out-breath be longer than the in-breath — that's what calms the nervous system.
3. Scan and release
5:36–8:24Move your attention slowly from your jaw to your shoulders, hands, belly and legs. Wherever you find tension, breathe into it and let it go.
4. Rest in stillness
8:24–11:12Stop steering. Let thoughts come and go like passing traffic — when you notice you've wandered off, that noticing is the practice. Return to the breath.
5. Come back gently
11:12–14:00Deepen your breath, wiggle your fingers and toes, and open your eyes slowly. Carry a little of this quiet into whatever comes next.
A long surrender of weight into whatever is holding you.
Notice everything underneath you doing its quiet work. The heels, the backs of the legs, the shoulders. Let each part hand over a little more weight than it usually does. There is nothing you need to hold up right now. Let the floor, or the bed, take all of it.