Let's begin by finding a comfortable position,
Either sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the floor,
Or laying down with your head supported.
During this exercise,
You'll tense each muscle group,
But not to the point of strain.
If you experience any pain or have injuries,
Just avoid that area.
Pay special attention to the feeling of releasing the tension in the muscles,
And the resulting feeling of relaxation that comes after.
Begin to focus your awareness on your breath.
Close your eyes,
Or take a softened gaze,
And just breathe slowly.
Breathing in,
Following your breath in through your lungs,
And on your exhale,
Just let the tension leave your body.
Take another deep breath in,
Filling your lungs with air,
Expanding your belly,
And when you can't take any more air in,
Briefly pause,
And then slowly and with control,
Let all the air out.
Now begin to move your awareness to your feet.
Begin to tense your feet by curling your toes and the arches of your feet,
And just hold that.
Hold,
Hold,
Hold,
Hold.
And now release.
And notice a new feeling of relaxation.
And shift your awareness to your calves.
If you're sitting,
Maybe push your toes into the floor and raise your heels,
Really squeeze your calves.
Hold,
Hold,
Hold the squeeze.
Now let go.
Release the tension from your lower legs.
And again,
Notice any feelings of relaxation.
And continue breathing while you're holding the squeeze.
You want to keep breathing deeply throughout.
Next,
Tense the muscles of your quadriceps.
Bend your legs and really squeeze hard and hold.
These are very strong muscles.
Hold,
Hold,
Hold.
And now allow your legs to just relax.
Now move your awareness up into your glute muscles.
Squeeze them together and hold,
Hold,
Hold,
Squeezing in.
And now let go.
Bring your awareness to your stomach,
Right around your belly button.
See if you can pull this in towards your spine.
Squeezing in,
Holding the tension,
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze.
Just a little bit longer.
And now let go.
Allow your belly to expand.
Continue taking nice,
Deep,
Slow breaths.
Next,
Let's move to the muscles of your upper back.
I want you to imagine that I've placed a pencil between your shoulder blades,
And I want you to try to squeeze that and hold the pencil in place.
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze.
Hold your shoulders together.
Squeeze as hard as you can without straining.
And now let go.
Drop your shoulders and just feel the tension leaving your body.
Now let's tense our arms.
Bend at your elbows,
Maybe make a fist,
And squeeze your arms.
Squeeze your biceps and hold.
And now let your arms just go limp.
Maybe shake them a little bit and just notice a feeling of ease and relaxation.
Now move up to your neck and head and see if you can just scrunch your face,
Your scalp,
Your neck,
And just hold,
Hold,
Hold.
And squeeze.
And let that go.
Take a deep breath in and out,
Just experiencing the tension leaving your body.
And now let's do a full body squeeze.
Bring everything into the midline.
Imagine that I'm zipping up the backs of your legs,
They're squeezing in,
Your arms are squeezing in towards your spine,
Shoulders towards your spine.
Everything squeezing in,
And hold,
Hold,
Hold,
Hold.
You can do it.
Hold,
Hold,
Hold.
And let go.
And just allow your whole body to go limp and relax.
Just notice whatever sensations you feel.
Begin to shift awareness through your body,
Maybe by rocking gently side to side.
Maybe take up space and stretch your arms and legs out long.
Take a deep breath in.
And on your exhale,
Just let it all go.
And whenever you feel ready,
You can blink your eyes open to the present moment.
