Hello,
And welcome to this progressive relaxation.
My name's Carla,
And I'll be guiding you through this process.
You might be using progressive relaxation to relax before you go to sleep.
You might be using it to deal with some extra stress that you've been under and to relax in the midst of stress.
Or you also could be using this progressive relaxation to address some fears or phobias in a process called desensitization.
No matter what you're using this for,
I invite you to find the most comfortable place that you can find at this point.
Ideal to have,
To be in a quiet space that's dimly lit,
Perhaps,
So that you kind of acclimate to this place of relaxation that we're going to enter into.
So for this relaxation,
You can be sitting down or lying flat,
And I want you to take this time to just kind of notice your body and see how relaxed you feel.
Just notice your body and the tension that you hold,
And see if you can just relax on your own.
Just see what kind of relaxation you can create.
So settle in as comfortably as you can,
And let yourself relax to the very best of your ability.
Now as you relax,
I want you to clench both your fists,
Just clench them tight,
As tight as you can.
And just notice the tension as you're doing that.
Keep your fists clenched and feel the tension in your fists.
There's also tension in your hands and your forearms.
And now I just want you to surrender and relax,
Relax.
Let the fingers of your hands become loose,
And observe the contrast in how your hands feel.
Now let yourself go.
Try to become more relaxed all over.
Once more,
I want you to clench your fists really tight,
Hold them clenched,
And notice the tension again.
And now let go,
Relax.
Let your fingers rest in a natural curl.
Do you notice the difference once more?
Each time I want you to pay close attention to how it feels when you tense up and when you relax.
So now I want you to straighten your arms and tighten them so that you feel the most tension in your tricep muscles along the back of your arms.
Stretch your arms and feel that tension.
And now relax.
Get your arms back in a comfortable position,
And just let the relaxation happen naturally.
Your arms should feel comfortably heavy as you allow them to relax.
Now I want you to straighten your arms once more so that you feel that tension in your tricep muscles.
Straighten them,
Feel the tension,
And relax.
Get your arms comfortable and let them relax further and further.
Continue relaxing your arms even more.
Even when your arms seem fully relaxed,
Try to get them that extra bit further.
Try to achieve deeper and deeper levels of relaxation.
Let all your muscles go loose and heavy.
Just settle back quietly and comfortably.
Now we're going to focus on the muscles in your head and your face.
So I want you to wrinkle up your forehead.
Wrinkle it as tight as you can.
Now stop wrinkling your forehead.
Relax and smooth it out.
Notice the difference.
Notice your forehead and your scalp becoming smoother as the relaxation increases.
Now see if you can close your eyes really,
Really tight.
Tight,
Tighter.
And place all your tension in your eyes.
Now relax your eyes.
Keep your eyes closed,
Gently,
Comfortably,
And notice the relaxation.
Now I want you to clench your jaw,
Bite your teeth together.
Study the tension throughout the jaw.
Now relax the jaw and learn to appreciate the relaxation.
You can move your jaw back and forth.
Now press your lips together,
Tighter and tighter,
And then relax the lips.
And again,
Notice the contrast between tension and relaxation.
Feel the relaxation all over your face.
The relaxation progresses further and further.
Now attend to your neck muscles.
Press your head back as far as it can go and feel the tension in your neck.
Roll it to the right and feel the tension shift.
Now roll it to the left.
Straighten your head and return to a comfortable position.
Study the relaxation.
Let the relaxation really develop.
Now shrug your shoulders.
Hold them up and try to touch your ears.
Hold the tension.
Now drop your shoulders and feel the relaxation.
Your neck and your shoulders are relaxed.
Shrug your shoulders again and move them around.
Bring your shoulders up,
Forward,
And back.
Feel the tension in your shoulders and in your upper back.
Now drop your shoulders once more and relax.
Let the relaxation spread deep into your shoulders,
Right into your back muscles.
Relax your neck,
Your throat,
And your jaw and other facial areas as the pure relaxation takes over and it grows deeper,
Deeper,
Even deeper.
Relax your entire body to the best of your ability.
Feel that comfortable heaviness that accompanies relaxation.
Breathe easily,
Freely,
In and freely out.
Notice how the relaxation increases as you exhale.
As you breathe out,
Just feel that relaxation.
Now breathe right in.
Fill your lungs.
Inhale deeply and hold your breath.
Study the tension.
Now exhale.
Let the walls of your chest grow loose and push the air out automatically.
Continue relaxing and breathe freely and gently.
Feel the relaxation.
Enjoy it.
With the rest of your body as relaxed as possible,
Fill your lungs again.
Breathe in deeply and hold it again.
That's good.
Now breathe out and feel the relief.
Just breathe normally.
Continue relaxing your chest and let the relaxation spread to your back,
Your shoulders,
Your neck and arms.
Just let go and enjoy the relaxation.
Now pay attention to your stomach muscles.
Make your stomach hard.
Notice the tension.
Now relax.
Let the muscles loosen and notice the contrast.
Feel the general well-being that comes when you relax your stomach.
Now draw your stomach in.
Pull the muscles right in and feel the tension this way.
Now push out and feel the tension.
Once more,
Pull in.
Feel the tension.
Now relax your stomach fully.
Let the tensions dissolve as the relaxation grows deeper,
Deeper,
Even deeper.
Each time you breathe out,
Notice the relaxation both in your lungs and in your stomach.
Notice how your chest and stomach relax more and more.
Try to let go of all contractions anywhere in your body.
All parts relaxing further and further and even deeper.
Now relaxed as you are,
I'd like you to tense all the muscles in your right leg.
Hold it.
Tense it and now relax it.
Let the muscles loosen as the relaxation takes over.
Once more,
Tighten the muscles of your right leg while the rest of your body stays as relaxed as possible.
Tighten and now relax your leg.
Relaxing more and more,
Even deeper.
Now push your right foot downwards away from your face.
Feel the tension in your arch and your ankle.
And now return your foot to the comfortable and relaxed position.
Now while the rest of your body stays as relaxed as possible,
I want you to tense the muscles of your left leg.
Tense it,
Hold it,
And now relax.
Simply let the relaxation develop.
Once more,
Tense the muscles of your left leg.
Tense,
Tense,
Tense,
And now relax.
Relaxing more and more.
Now push your left foot downwards away from your face.
Feel the tension in your arch,
Ankle,
And now relax your foot.
Keep relaxing like that for a while.
Feel how heavy your muscles have become.
In a state of perfect relaxation,
You don't even want to move a single muscle.
Just surrender.
Now you can become twice as relaxed as you are right now by simply taking two very deep breaths.
Take a deep breath in.
And let it out slowly,
Very slowly.
Take another deep breath in.
And now release it slowly,
Slowly,
Slowly.
Empty all the air from your lungs.
And now breathe naturally.
And as relaxed as you are,
I'd like you to now imagine one of your favorite places to be.
Somewhere for you that is comfortable and very relaxing.
Just imagine yourself there.
And as you rest,
Notice your surrender into peace.
Allow yourself to be right where you are.
Relaxed and in your peaceful place.
Stay here for as long as you like.
Welcome you back to practice peace again and again.
Thank you for joining me.
