Hello,
Insight Timer community.
I'm Dr.
Juna.
I'm a board-certified radiologist and lifestyle medicine physician.
Thank you so much for joining me here.
This is the relaxation response.
If you've taken one of my courses that challenges you to 7-day or 10-day or 14-days,
Whatever you would like to commit to,
You can use this recording to elicit your relaxation response.
Eliciting the relaxation response is rather simple.
The bottom line is that we want to interrupt the train of everyday thinking.
You know,
All those thoughts that go on and on in our heads all day long.
So when we interrupt that,
We can elicit the relaxation response,
Which is the physiologic opposite of the stress response,
Meaning that we turn down the sympathetic nervous system and turn up the parasympathetic nervous system.
So our heart rate lowers,
Our breathing rate lowers,
We tend to relax muscle tension,
A whole host of things happen.
But suffice to know that we always have the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems on all the time because that's how we live,
That's how we are alive.
But a lot of times when we're in that stress response from that sort of everyday thought process,
Our sympathetic nervous systems are jacked up.
So we're in that stress response that everybody is familiar with by now,
The stressed response.
So let's go ahead and increase the opposite response,
Which is the rest and digest system opposite of the stress response.
Okay,
So it's very simple.
So sit quietly in your chair,
Feet on the ground,
Or if you need to lie down,
Whatever you need to do,
Go ahead,
Get comfortable,
Be in a safe spot,
Relax,
Sit quietly.
And let's just first release the tension in our muscles.
So inhale and exhale,
Release all the muscles in your neck and shoulders.
Next out breath,
Release all those muscles in your feet.
Next,
Your body,
Your torso,
And down your back.
We hold so much tension there.
All the way down your back,
Vertebra by vertebra by vertebra.
Just relax.
Let the muscles kind of melt off your bones.
Finally,
Your legs and breathe out down to the bottom of your feet,
Releasing all the tension in your lower body.
And a final breath whenever you're ready.
At your own pace on your next exhale,
Release from the top of your head all the way down out your fingertips and feet.
Releasing all the muscles from the top of the head,
Your face,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Upper body,
Arms,
And hands.
Lower body,
All the way out your feet.
Now bring to mind a word or phrase that calms you.
It could be from your religion or simply the word calm or peace.
With that word or phrase in mind,
Repeat it silently to yourself on the out-breaths,
Your natural out-breaths.
There's no right or wrong way to do this.
Just say the word or phrase.
And whenever your mind wanders,
As it will,
Just say,
Oh,
Well,
And come back on the out-breath.
If your mind wanders a hundred times,
A thousand times,
Ten thousand times,
It's perfectly fine.
Just simply notice the wandering.
Say,
Oh,
Well,
And come back to your word or phrase.
Whatever your experience,
It's perfectly fine.
If your mind wanders a hundred times,
A thousand times,
Ten thousand times,
Continue noticing when your thoughts drift off and simply return,
Directing your mind back to your word or phrase.
Now gently release that word or phrase,
Taking a deep breath in and exhaling.
Noticing how you feel now.
Take another deep cleansing breath,
Listening to the sounds around you coming back to your space.
You can gently open your eyes if you haven't already done so.
Feel free to stretch.
Now notice how you feel.
That's the relaxation response,
And I hope you feel better.
You've done an amazing thing for your body.
You can come back to this meditation whenever you like.
Thank you for joining me.
I'll see you next time.
