A 12-Minute Meditation to Welcome Deep Rest

Encourage deep relaxation at any point during the day with this reminder to listen to your body and acknowledge when it’s time for rest.

dream@do/Adobe Stock

Jenée Johnson leads us in a guided meditation to encourage deep relaxation at any point during the day. With a reminder to listen to our bodies and acknowledge when it’s time for us to rest, she shares an effective technique known as quiet sitting to inspire us to simply be. Jenée Johnson is the founder of the Right Within Experience and the program innovation leader at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Mindfulness, Trauma and Racial Healing. Her goal is to improve her organization’s ability to manage change, stay resilient, inspire growth and become a mindful culture that leads and serves with compassion.

A 12-Minute Meditation to Welcome Deep Rest

Welcome Deep Rest with Jenée Johnson

  • 13:03
  1. Sitting in an upright but relaxed position, drop your gaze or close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and an audible exhale out. Breathing in and breathing out, sitting quietly, free floating, invite your body to relax.
  2. When we simply sit and breathe, we activate the body’s calming response. It allows the brain to display the calm, smooth, harmonious waves called alpha brain waves—like the waves of the ocean, coming in to the shore and rolling back out. Coming in and going out. Breathing in and breathing out. Relax.
  3. Drop your shoulders, relax the jaw, and unfurl your brow. Allow your mind to float freely until it settles down. Let thoughts come and go as they please.
  4. Bring your attention back gently to your breath. Don’t exert yourself trying to block thoughts. Just remain passive and remind your body that we’re sitting now, we’re breathing now, we’re relaxing now. Sit quietly, stay with your breath. Like the waves of the ocean, breathing in, breathing out. Let thoughts fade into the background. Relax. To be still, to be quiet, to be at ease. This is the gift of relaxation.

read more