Okay, Christmas is over, the New Year is almost upon us and then it’s back to work.  If you’ve taken any time off between Christmas and New Years, have you managed to relax at all?  I wonder :-).

Most of us who are busy, busy, busy with our lives, don’t know how to wind down when we actually have the chance to.  We may look forward to having some downtime, but when we actually get it, we don’t know what to do with it!  Or, it suits us for awhile and then we get bored and restless.  Sometimes I think it’s because we really don’t know HOW to wind down, as much as we think we want to.

So my New Year’s gift to you is this video.  Before I let you hit the play button, I should tell you that I’ve actually had the mp3 file of this guided meditation on my computer for some time and every now and then when I really need to relax but I’m having trouble, I throw on the earplugs and hit the play button.  It usually puts me to sleep, but that’s okay too.  Sometimes, it’s just a nice way of forgetting about the rest of the world for awhile.

It is a Buddhist meditation, but actually all that is “Buddhist” about it is the use of some Buddhist terminology like “mindfulness”.  Mindfulness is simply the state of being acutely aware.

Unfortunately, the video is in two parts, so you’ll have to hit play to get the last part.  I do have an mp3 file of the complete Body Scan so if you’d like it, just let me know and I’ll email it to you.

Now.

Follow the instructions.

Find a quiet place.

Loosen any tight clothing.

And prepare to relax.

Happy New Year 🙂

Part One:

Part Two: