Welcome back.
In today's practice,
We're gonna do a guided progressive muscle relaxation.
Find a comfortable seated position,
Or alternatively,
You can lie down.
Many people use this to help fall asleep.
So obviously in that case,
You'll be lying down in your bed.
Once you get comfortable,
Take a few slow,
Deep breaths and pay attention to your mind as it relaxes.
Focus your body and where you might be feeling tension at this very moment.
As you breathe,
Notice everything starting to slow down.
Now let's begin at your feet.
Point your toes and feet down as if you were standing on your tiptoes.
Engage your calf muscles and hold this while you breathe in.
And then as you exhale,
Relax those muscles completely.
You may notice the muscle shake or tremble when you tense each muscle.
A shaking muscle is okay,
But it should not cause pain.
If any muscle group is very tense,
You can repeat this step multiple times as we move your way up the body.
Next,
Pull your toes and ankles upwards.
Think toes to the nose.
Engage the muscles in front of the shin as you breathe in and hold.
Relax the ankles completely as you breathe out.
Begin to feel the lower leg relax.
Imagine now you are trying to hold a magazine between your legs and squeeze them together tightly.
Hold as tight as you comfortably can while you breathe in and then relax as you breathe out.
Now squeeze your buttocks tightly and hold on the in-breath and relax as you breathe out.
As we come up the body,
Bring your attention now to the abdomen and pelvic area.
Squeeze your stomach muscles and engage the belly.
Hold this on the in-breath.
And then when you are ready to exhale,
Relax.
Next,
Focus on the arms.
Make tight fists as tight as you comfortably can and hold them on this next breath and then exhale and let the hands completely open and relax.
As your attention is directed up your arms,
Bend the arms at the elbow and fire your biceps muscle as tightly as you breathe in.
Hold this for a few seconds and then as you exhale,
Let the arm relax and straighten back at your sides.
Take your shoulders and pull them up.
Shrug your shoulders upwards.
Try to touch them to your ears on the next in-breath.
Hold this upward shrug and then relax as you exhale and let the shoulders fall away.
Bring your focus up to the face and open your mouth as wide as you can.
Hold and then relax and let it gently close as you breathe out.
Shut and squeeze your eyes tightly on the next in-breath and keep them closed.
Then open them up as you breathe out.
Raise your eyebrows up,
Wrinkling your forehead.
Hold this position on an in-breath and then relax as you breathe out once again.
Now take a few more natural breaths and see how you feel.
Scan your body from your toes up towards your head and see if any tension remains.
If so,
You can cycle back to any area that might need a few more repetitions.
And after you have done that,
Allow yourself to relax in the present moment.
