Welcome to a short progressive muscle relaxation exercise.
Here I will invite you to become aware of those sensations of letting go,
Of relaxing.
For this relaxation,
You can either sit or lie down.
Please make yourself comfortable.
And when you're ready,
You can close your eyes,
And maybe finding an inner smile to ease your mind.
Becoming aware of your breath,
Letting your breath carry away the stress,
The tension,
The worries as you breathe out.
Now please take a slow breath in through your nose,
All the way down your belly,
Raising your belly like a balloon,
Holding the breath for a moment.
And then exhale through your mouth,
Belly falling,
A nice long slow breath out.
Taking another slow breath in through your nose,
Filling the lungs by raising your belly muscles,
Holding it for a moment,
And then release.
Let go of the breath through your mouth,
Lowering your belly muscles.
Once more,
Last time,
Breathing in,
Raising the belly muscles,
Holding for a moment,
And then letting go,
Letting the belly muscle relax,
Soften.
And notice how the body is starting to relax already,
To loosen,
To soften,
By just changing how you're breathing,
And letting your breathing rhythm return to normal.
Breathing easily,
Effortlessly,
Enjoying breathing this way,
Observing your breath,
Belly rising as you breathe in,
Belly falling as you breathe out.
And sometimes you'll notice that your mind will be wandering.
That is quite normal,
That is quite okay.
Notice the thought when your mind wanders,
And then gently come back and become aware of the body again.
Now if you like,
Bring your awareness to your feet and toes,
And gradually curl up your toes and tense the muscles in the sole of your feet,
In the lower leg in this way.
And as you do so,
Counting slowly to five,
And then breathe out,
Letting go,
Release.
And feel the tension in your feet wash away as you exhale.
Notice how different your feet feel when tense,
And when they relax when you let go.
Then keep breathing normally,
Observing your feet,
Relaxing each time you breathe out.
And relaxing in this way for another three breaths,
And just breathing normally,
Being aware of the tension of before,
And the relaxation of now,
And just being aware of that feeling of letting go,
To relax,
To loosen,
To soften,
Enjoying the feeling of letting go.
And now bring your awareness to both of your legs and pelvic area,
Gradually pushing your legs more and more together,
Tightening all the way to your pelvic area,
Without causing pain or straining,
And holding the tension to the count of five.
And then as you breathe out,
Just to let go,
Let the legs cool down.
Breathing out a nice long exhale,
And concentrating on the feeling of letting go as you breathe out,
Noticing the difference between the tension and the relaxation.
Breathing normally,
And breathing out,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
And relaxing in this way for another three breaths.
Letting the legs cool down,
Concentrating on the feeling of letting go,
Enjoying the feeling of letting go as you breathe out.
And now taking your attention to your torso.
Notice the tension in your torso by bringing your shoulders at the front,
Gradually tightening your torso by bringing your shoulder forward,
Tensing.
And then hold and notice the tension to the count of five.
And then release as you breathe out,
Allowing the muscles to relax more and more every time you breathe out,
And being aware of the letting go feeling,
Being aware of the difference between the tension of before and the relaxation of now.
Breathing normally,
Concentrating on letting go,
Letting go the tension,
Releasing the muscles,
Letting the muscles go limp a bit more each time you breathe out,
And relaxing in this way for a few breaths,
Breathing normally.
Enjoying letting go of the tension,
Enjoying the relaxation.
Now being aware of your arms and shoulders,
Raise your hand in front of your chest,
Putting your hand together,
Both palm touching,
Pushing against each other firmly,
Tensing the arms and the upper back and chest without causing pain or strain.
And as you do so,
To feel the tension and count to five.
Then as you breathe out,
Releasing the tension,
Letting go,
And being aware of the sensation of letting go,
Of relaxing,
Of loosening,
And noticing the difference between the tension and the relaxation.
Breathing normally,
And notice how the muscles of your back and chest are becoming more relaxed,
Loosening the shoulder muscles and your arms each time you're breathing out,
Becoming aware of relaxing the upper back and chest,
Letting it all go limp.
Now become aware of your shoulder muscles and the muscles in your neck,
Raising the shoulders to your ears,
And then hold the tension to the count of five,
And then breathe out and release the shoulders,
Relaxing as you breathe out more and more,
Letting them go limp and loose as you breathe out.
Breathing normally,
Just noticing the feeling of letting go,
Of loosening,
Such a nice feeling to relax,
To soften the shoulders,
Letting the shoulders go limp more and more each time you breathe out.
Feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed,
Feeling more calm,
And feel yourself sleeping even deeper into a state of rest,
Enjoying this state.
Now becoming aware of your neck.
Now placing your hand behind your neck,
Pushing your head against your hands,
Tensing the neck area,
And holding while counting to five.
And then as you breathe out,
To release the tension,
To let go,
And notice how it feels to let go your muscles,
Your neck muscles,
To relax,
To loosen,
To soften.
Breathing normally,
Noticing the difference between the tension of before and the relaxation of now.
Relaxing a little more each time you breathe out.
Relaxing for a few more breaths,
And enjoying the feeling of letting go,
Of relaxing.
Now coming to the awareness of the face.
Now if you like,
You can tighten the muscles in your face by squeezing your eyes shut,
Clenching your jaws,
Pressing your lips together to the count of five.
And then breathe out,
Letting go the tension,
Relaxing the facial muscles,
Feel your face softening as you do this.
And keep relaxing for a few breaths,
Concentrating on the feeling of releasing,
Of letting go each time you breathe out.
Enjoying the relaxation,
Smiling a little,
An inner smile,
Savouring.
And now being aware of your whole body.
Feeling this wave of relaxation spreading through your whole body,
Starting with your head,
All the way down to your toes.
Feeling more relaxed all over,
Enjoying this feeling.
Breathing out,
Relaxing some more each time you're breathing out.
Breathing normally,
Taking time to notice how it feels to release the tension in this way.
Feeling a little bit more relaxed each time you breathe out,
Taking time to savour the stillness of the body,
The stillness of the mind.
Maybe becoming aware of the breath again,
Observing your belly rising as you breathe in and falling as you breathe out.
Observing the breath in a way that is easy for you,
The breath softening,
The belly softening,
And smiling to ease the mind.
And then you may want to end this exercise by wishing yourself well.
May I be as healthy as I can be.
May I be at peace.
May I have ease of being.
May I be happy.
Or using your own words to wish yourself well.
And you may want to wish somebody else well as well.
Now opening your awareness,
Being aware of what is here for you,
Whatever it is,
It is what it is.
Being aware of being aware.
Then becoming aware of your surroundings,
The room where you are,
The position that you're in.
And when you're ready and you're on time,
You can open your eyes.
