This transcript is of a ~17-minute guided meditation led by Ruwan Meepagala (uploaded via Vishen Lakhiani/Mindvalley). The meditation guides listeners through circular breathing, focused visualization of oxygen/vibrant energy, and a body-scan that places compassionate attention on areas of chronic tension (neck, shoulders, back, buttocks). It frames chronic tension as protective "inner warrior" responses rooted in past emotional distress and uses nonjudgmental awareness, breathing into the sensation, and thanking the tension to encourage release; the facilitator recommends daily practice until releasing becomes habitual. The recording begins and ends with a short Mindvalley app promotional intro/outro.
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When we experience chronic tension in the body, especially in the neck, shoulders, back or buttocks, it's often due to subconscious emotional distress feelings that we repressed at some point, usually a long time ago. This meditation will help you address the subconscious roots of your chronic pain or tension. It will show this part of your nervous system that it is safe so that it can release any unnecessary tension and allow you to return to a pain free state. Right now, close your eyes and take a nice big inhalation through your nose. And when you're ready, exhale out of your mouth. Once again, inhale through the nose and exhale out of the mouth. One more time. Inhale nice and strong and exhale out of your mouth. Now please close your mouth and breathe through your nose at your own pace. Allow your breathing to find a circular rhythm. This means that the moment you stop inhaling, you begin exhaling and the moment you stop and exhaling, you begin inhaling with no pause in between. You can imagine a wheel turning if you like, where the inhales flow smoothly into the exhales and then back to inhales. Allow your breath to slow down while still remaining comfortable. You can breathe without any effort, you can breathe without any tension, and you can also live without any tension. Today we're going to show your body that this can be true. Continue breathing in this way, slowly and easily, and on your next inhale, visualize oxygen entering your bloodstream. You can visualize it as an energy if you'd like, in any healthy bright and vibrant color. With each slow and gentle inhalation, you bring more oxygen and more vibrant energy in. With each slow and gentle exhalation, you release the carbon dioxide along with any stale energy out. Continue visualizing this for a few more breaths at your own pace. You're filling your reserves with vibrant energy with oxygenated blood as this will help your body, your tissues and your muscles relax. Each and every gentle breath allows your body to enter a state of deeper and deeper relaxation. Now bring your attention to the area of your body that at this moment is carrying the most tension. There may be multiple areas that have been storing tension, but for now, focus on the one part of your body that has the most discomfort. In this moment. With your mind's eye, visualize the area. Focus on it like a warm spotlight and become curious about about this area of your body. How big is it? How many muscles or parts of muscles are affected by the tension? How many joints are affected? Can you feel any specific knots or cords of tension? Or is it spread out over a general area? And as you breathe gently and easily, see if you can breathe into this area on your next inhalation. Visualize oxygenated blood entering the tense area. Tension prevents oxygen from reaching tissues. This is the reason why these areas tend to be stiff. So by breathing into the area, we can encourage the tissue to release. Breathe in and allow oxygenated blood vibrant energy to soften any stiffness. When you exhale, allow yourself to let go of whatever it was holding onto. And instead of thinking of this part of your body as being tense, understand that it is simply carrying tension at this moment. Chronic tension and the pain that comes with it can actually move around your body. Sometimes it spreads to call your attention. Sometimes it moves from one part of your body to to another to check that it is really safe to let go. Continue breathing and put your attention on the tension itself. You can visualize the tension as a substance that happens to be on this part of your body. Become curious about the tension itself. How big is it? If you were to weigh it, how heavy would it be? Does the tension itself have a texture or maybe a color? When you put your attention on it, does the tension feel more solid or more liquid? What else can you feel about the tension? Now see if you can soften your attention on the tension. Don't judge it, don't try to change it, just observe it. Observe what you can feel about the tension that has been living in your body for some time now. And continue to breathe into it, giving it room to change form if it would like. This tension doesn't exist to hurt you. It actually came about at some point in your life, probably to protect you. Chronic tension is kind of like an inner warrior that built up a strong defense against some threat from your past, probably something emotional, probably a long time ago. You may remember what or when this was, or you may not. It actually doesn't matter. What matters is that you let this internal warrior know that the battle ended a long time ago. The threat or perceived threat is long gone. So this inner warrior, your tension can retire. The tension can let go. All the tension ever wanted was to keep you safe. And you are safe. You've been safe for a while, though you may need to convince this tension that this is actually true. Continue breathing gently and easily and soften your inner gaze even more on the tension in your body. See if you can hold your tension with loving attention. Thank your tension for doing a great job and protecting you. Holding you together. And let your tension know it's free to let go. Breathe directly into the tension itself. Focus on feeling what it feels like. Observe its qualities without judgment. The more you feel it, the more your tension can let go. The more you feel it, the more you can let go. Continue sitting with the sensation in your body. Continue feeling the tension as much as you can. It's possible that the tension persisted in the past because you resisted it. So instead, do your best to feel it as much as you can. Go into it deeper. Feel it. Soak in the feeling the way you would a warm hug or some other sensation that is pleasurable. And continue breathing in this circular fashion, allowing your inhales to to flow into exhales and exhales to flow into inhales. With each and every breath, you offer love and life to your body. With each and every breath, you give the tension in your body the space and time to let go and notice if anything has changed and how your body feels. Maybe the tension has moved locations. Maybe the tension has changed in texture. Maybe nothing has changed and that's okay too. Depending on how long you've been carrying this tension, it may need some time. And there's plenty of time and plenty of space. Now allow the warm spotlight of your attention to widen a little bit to illuminate more of your body. Breathing gently and easily. Allow it to expand beyond the areas carrying tension. Allow more of your body to be illuminated by the warm lights your inner gaze. And notice the parts of your body that are not carrying tension. There always have been parts of your body that have been tension free. Simply notice what they feel like in this moment and continue to breathe. Now allow the warm light of your inner gaze to spread over your entire body. Allow every cell to be illuminated. Breathe gently and easily into your entire self. Every inhale breathes life into your cells. Every exhale releases that which is no longer necessary. Continue with this circular breathing and observe how your entire body feels. Observe how much of your body you can feel. Certain parts of your body may feel easier to illuminate with your inner gaze. Certain parts of your body may not yet be ready to accept your loving attention. So ever however you happen to feel. And whatever you feel today is perfect and okay. Releasing is a process and it must be a gentle process. All you have to do right now is sit with the sensations that you do have, Observe them and continue to breathe. Take another moment to Breathe into your entire body. Visualize your cells expanding and releasing with each other breath. Visualize oxygenated blood entering any stiff areas allowing them to soften. Visualize warm light entering the dark spots, allowing the darkness to release. And one last time, remind any tension in your body that it did a great job and it's no longer necessary here. It's more than welcome to let go at any point throughout your day. You can keep some of your inner gaze on the tension in your body. Don't try to resist it and don't try to change it. Just observe it. Feel it as much as you can. Sit with the sensations so you can let the tension know that it is safe to let go again. If you've been carrying tension for a while, it can take time to convince your nervous system to relax. You may want to listen to this meditation once a day, every day until releasing becomes your natural habit. You can open your eyes now if they aren't already. And as you go about your day today, see if you can maintain some of this loving attention. Your inner gaze on your body, reminding yourself that it is safe to release, it is safe to let go, and it is totally okay to to feel really good.
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