In the modern world we tend to think of stretching when someone brings up yoga, but traditionally yoga included *many* different things, the physical practice just being one part.

Physical practice was often used as a preparation for meditation, helping us to prepare our bodies for stillness, to practise mindfulness through the intentional flow of movement and breath, and to help us to withdraw our senses from the external world, bringing our focus inward.

There are many different types of meditation, with different types of goals. But I think something that almost all of us can benefit from is simply intentional relaxation.

Intentionally relaxing every part of ourselves, from the external to the internal, is very different from mindlessly relaxing on the couch. Although chilling on the couch in front of the TV isn't bad, it doesn't mean we are truly, deeply relaxed. You can be mindlessly scrolling through your phone or the TV and your mind can be racing about all number of things, your heart can be steeping in troubling emotions and your attention can be pulled in all sorts of directions by the stimulii you're seeing.

I've prepared a guided meditation for relaxation to help you to explore a practice of intentional relaxation. Trust me, it feel *so* different to just vegging in the couch!

If you'd like free access to this class, sign up for my newsletter and you'll immediately receive your code. You can sign up by going to my home page and clicking "Get Your Free Meditation Here".

And because it's really important to form a relationship with your practice, to customise it and make it your own, I'll also send you a PDF with some journal prompts to help you reflect on and refine your experience.

I do hope you take advantage of this free gift and that it helps you to include more calm in your day!

As always, I love hearing from you, so feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments!

Take care,

Mae-Lin