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Relaxation exercise
You are about to take a journey in your mind to a beautiful secret garden, that is all your own.
Before you start your journey, make sure you are nice and comfy, and close your eyes.
Take a deep slow breath in through your nose and down to your tummy. Feel if you can inflate your tummy like a balloon but don’t push, now breathe out through the mouth slowly.
Do this three times nice and slowly. Now be very still and see if you can feel or hear your heartbeat.
Now wiggle your toes gently, scrunch them up tightly and then let them relax.
Breathe slowly into your tummy.
Move your feet in circles, and up and down then let them relax.
Push your legs hard into the ground, give them a wiggle, then let them go. Can you feel them sink a little further and feel heavier?
Take a long slow breath through your nose, into your tummy and out through your mouth gently.
Stretch your arms down by your sides and your fingers out as far as you can, hold then let them go. Feel them relax and go floppy.
Take another deep slow breath in through the nose and into your tummy, hold for one two three and release it out through your mouth.
Now your head – stretch your neck gently side to side then let it fall into a comfortable place.
Scrunch up your eyes, your cheeks, your mouth and then let go.
Push your tongue into the roof of your mouth then let it lie on the bottom of your mouth.
Take a deep long breath in through your nose, into your tummy. Hold for one, two, three then let it go slowly out of your mouth.
Now your body is relaxed and comfortable and you are ready to start your journey.
I want you to imagine you are standing at the top of a stone staircase.
The air is calm and quiet and you feel relaxed.
You start to walk down the steps and each step down makes you feel more relaxed.
One, two, three steps down and you are feeling calm and happy.
Four, five, six steps down and you reach a large hedge with a door in it.
The door is made of wood with a large metal handle.
There is a sign on the door that says Your Secret Garden.
You reach out to touch the door which is warm and turn the handle to walk through it.
You step through the open door.
It is a warm sunny day and you are standing barefoot on soft grass.
It is the most beautiful garden you have ever seen, there are hundreds of different flowers with wonderful smells, trees filled with soft blossom and the sounds of birds singing in the trees.
There are butterflies all around you, one even lands gently on your bare arm and you smile at its gentle touch and beauty.
You see a large pond which is shining in the sunshine.
You walk over to it and sit down on the warm stone by the edge.
You dip your fingers into the cool water and see how the surface ripples from your touch and the drops fall from your hands sparkling in the sunlight with rainbows.
You feel the gentle warmth of the sun on your skin and you can smell the wonderful scent of lavender and roses.
You watch as two dragonflies chase each other lazily over the surface of the pond, shimmering jewel colours of blue and green and purple.
You see a comfy looking hammock strung up between two apple trees next to the pond.
You climb into it and feel its gentle rocking motion.
The sunlight is dappled through the branches and casts a cool shade on your face.
You lie in the hammock, totally at peace and watch the pond shimmering in the warm sunshine.
You notice a large lily pad in the centre of the pond with a pink and white flower on top.
The water around it starts to gently ripple and a small green frog jumps out onto the large green leaf. You stay very still and it watches you with wide golden eyes.
You see some large goldfish slowly cruising through the plants, their reds and golds vivid against the shade of the pond.
You sit and watch the gentle life of the pond, perfectly happy and perfectly calm, listening to the gentle splash of the fountain and the humming of bees nearby.
You feel your heartbeat is slow and steady and all your worries melt away.
The hammock is so relaxing, and your body is so comfortable.
You feel sure you can sleep the best sleep you’ve ever had.
Here you can rest safe, and comfortable in your secret garden, for as long as you want.
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