Welcome,
My name is Tess and tonight I'll be guiding you through a progressive muscle relaxation based body scan to help you put your body into a state of relaxation and readiness for sleep.
Begin by making yourself comfortable on your bed,
Ideally lying on your back but whatever is comfortable for you is just fine.
We'll start by taking a few deep breaths just feeling how our bodies respond to the breath,
Noticing the expansion and contraction of our diaphragms,
Our bellies and our chests.
Close your eyes and remember everything is sound,
Nothing is noise.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And exhale.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And exhale.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
We are here to listen to our bodies,
To let them know they are safe and now it's time to rest.
Breathe in a few more deep breaths,
Making each exhale longer than the one before.
Now,
Breathe into your toes,
Wiggling,
Feeling and stretching your toes as much as you can and exhale.
Now,
Breathe into your feet,
Stretching and flexing them,
Pointing your toes and then pulling them towards your head and exhale,
Allowing them to relax.
Now,
Breathe into your ankles,
Rolling your ankles around,
Moving your feet in every direction and exhale and relax.
Now,
Feel your lower legs breathing into your calves and shins as you once again point and flex your toes.
Now,
Exhale and relax.
Now,
Breathe into your quads,
Lifting your leg just a few millimeters off the bed as though a force is pulling you down into the bed and exhale,
Releasing the tension,
Allowing yourself to relax.
Now,
Breathe into your hamstrings and your bum,
Pull in and tense them with your inhale.
Now,
Exhale and release.
Now,
Breathe into your pelvic floor,
Pulling up and inward and exhale and release.
Now,
Breathe into your lower belly,
Tighten your muscles as you inhale all the way,
Feeling your back expand as well and relax,
Releasing all of your breath all of the way out.
Now,
Breathe into your chest allowing your lungs and diaphragm to expand mightily as you inhale fully and relax,
Exhale and release.
Now,
Breathe into your chest,
Allowing your lungs and diaphragm to expand mightily as you inhale fully and relax,
Exhale and release.
Now,
Breathe into your chest,
Feeling it expand and release,
Exhaling the tension,
Allowing everything to just fall away.
Now,
Breathe into your chest,
Allowing your lungs and diaphragm to expand mightily as you inhale fully and relax,
Exhale and release.
Now,
Breathe into your heart,
Allowing your heart to expand with healing light as it prepares to heal you in the night and keep you safe and relax,
Exhaling,
Releasing everything.
Now,
Breathe into your arms,
Tensing them,
Feeling the breath of life enter them as you tense,
Tense,
Tense and relax and release,
Letting them drop down into the bed.
And breathe into your hands,
Letting your fingers flex and spread and then curl inward and relax,
Releasing your breath,
Letting your fingers drop to the bed and sink ever deeper.
Take one deep breath now,
Just letting your body sink into the bed,
Into the gravity,
Into the warm,
Nurturing and constant hold of the earth.
Now,
Breathe into your face,
Scrunching your face and then opening into a wide surprise face and relax as you exhale and release the tension.
Let your head fall into the pillow as your whole body sinks ever deeper into the bed with each breath.
And breathe one more time into your whole body,
Breathing into anything that feels tense and alive and awake and then release and relax,
Letting yourself sink deeper and deeper into the bed with each exhale.
With each breath,
Your body relaxes more and remembers its belonging to the earth,
Which holds you more firmly in her loving embrace.
As you sink deeper into the bed,
Deeper into the hold of gravity,
Remembering that you are always safe,
You are always one with Mother Earth.
And breathe gently in and out,
Just feeling your body relax more with each breath as you prepare for a healing and restful sleep.
