Welcome to this guided progressive muscle relaxation.
For your best sleep,
First make sure that you're completely comfortable and that you have space to practice where no one will disturb you.
Maybe turning the lights off or letting the lights get really dim.
Making sure that you're totally comfortable in your bed or on the floor.
Allow the body to be straight from head to toe.
Allow your feet to flop open outward,
Arms a little away from the body and the palms facing upwards.
Make any last adjustments so that you are completely comfortable.
Progressive muscle relaxation is an exercise that reduces stress and anxiety in our body.
I will start by talking you through slowly tensing and then relaxing each muscle.
This exercise provides an immediate feeling of relaxation.
It's best to practice frequently.
With each time you practice,
You become more aware of when you are experiencing tension in your muscles and you will have the skills to help you relax.
During this exercise,
I will ask you to tense your muscles,
But do not tense to the point of straining.
Pay special attention to the feeling of releasing tension in each muscle and the resulting feeling of relaxation in your body and your mind.
Let's begin.
Lying back,
Allow your eyes to close.
Maybe you add an eye pillow.
And let's begin by taking a deep breath in and notice this feeling of air filling your lungs.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
Now hold.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Release your breath slowly and let all tension leave your body.
Take in another deep breath and pause the breath.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Again,
Slowly releasing the air.
Even slower now.
Let's take one more deep breath in through your nose,
Filling the lungs and holding the air.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Slowly release the breath and imagine this feeling of tension leaving your body.
Now bring your attention to your feet.
Begin to tense your feet by curling your toes,
The arch of your foot,
And holding onto this tension.
Notice what it feels like for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Release the tension in your feet.
Notice this new feeling of relaxation.
Next,
We'll focus on your lower legs.
Tense the muscles in your calves,
Holding them tightly.
Pay attention.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Relax the tension from the lower legs.
Again,
Notice this feeling of relaxation.
Remember to continue taking deep breaths in through your nose.
You can breathe out the nose or mouth.
Next,
We'll tense the muscles of your upper legs and your pelvis area.
You can do this by tightly squeezing your thighs together,
Making sure you feel tenseness,
But without going to the point of strain.
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Release the legs.
Feel this tension leaving your muscles.
Next,
We'll tense the stomach and chest.
You can do this by sucking your stomach in,
Squeezing harder,
Holding the tension.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Relax.
Allow the whole body to go limp.
Let yourself notice this feeling of relaxation.
Continue taking deep breaths in.
Breathe in slowly,
Noticing the air filling your lungs.
Let's pause.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Relax.
Allow the whole body to go limp.
Feel the air leaving your lungs.
Next,
We'll tense the muscles in your back by bringing your shoulders together behind you.
Hold them tightly.
Tense them as hard as you can,
Without straining.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Release the tension from your back.
Feel the tension slowly leaving your body.
And this new feeling of relaxation.
Notice how different it feels when your body is allowed to relax.
Next,
We'll tense our arms all the way up from your hands to your shoulders.
Make a fist.
Squeeze all the way up your arm.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Release the tension from the arms and shoulders.
Notice this new feeling of relaxation in your fingers,
Hands,
Arms,
Shoulders.
Notice how your arms feel limp and at ease.
Next,
Move up to the neck and head.
Tense your face and neck by distorting the muscles around the eyes and mouth,
Making it uncomfortable.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Release.
Again,
Notice this new feeling of relaxation in the face and neck.
Alright,
Let's tense our entire body.
We're going to tense everything we just did.
All at once.
Tense your feet,
Legs,
Stomach,
Chest,
Arms,
Head,
Neck.
Tense harder without straining.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Now release and relax your whole body.
Allow the whole body to go limp.
Pay attention to this feeling of relaxation.
Notice how different it is from the feeling of tension in our muscles.
Just gently close the eyes.
And now I want you to just scan the body,
Noticing any sensations in your body.
Where do you feel your breath?
Do you feel your breath in your chest,
In the upper or middle part?
Maybe your lower belly?
Is your breath short,
Fast,
Deep,
Or slow?
Just notice.
Breathing in through your nose.
Notice your legs.
Are they tense or flopped open?
Can you allow your body to get really heavy?
Almost like you're weighted or your bones are made of lead.
Imagine you're so heavy you're just sinking into the bed.
Next,
Check your teeth in your jaw.
Are your teeth relaxed?
Notice your eyebrows and that little space between the eyebrows.
Can you soften it?
Just relax your face.
Notice your heart beating.
Where can you feel it?
Maybe bring both hands to your heart.
Breathing into your heart.
Noticing your heart beating.
Is it beating fast or slow?
Now let's tune into our breath again.
Take 5 deep breaths.
Feel the wind hitting the tips of your nostrils on your in and out breath.
With each breath in,
Breathe in whatever you need right now.
Maybe it's peace.
Maybe it's calm.
Maybe love.
Maybe a relaxed sensation which will help you drift off into sleep.
With each breath out,
Imagine releasing anything you don't need.
Like worry or stress or self-doubt.
You've got this.
Now bring awareness to your toes.
I want you to imagine breathing relaxation into your toes.
Breathe in the nose.
And as you breathe out,
Relax your toes.
With each out breath,
Relax the toes a little more.
Releasing tension.
Relax your legs.
Your arms.
Your face.
Now bring your attention back to your feet.
And as you breathe in,
I want you to imagine bringing the breath from your feet all the way up your body to the tip of your toes.
And as you exhale,
Let the breath move back down your body all the way down to your feet.
Inhale,
We bring the breath up the body to the top of your head.
And exhale,
Send the breath all the way through your body down to your feet.
Imagine with each breath,
You're cleaning out the body.
Each exhale,
Sending the breath back down to your feet.
Imagine you're just cleaning the body,
Preparing it for sleep.
Now the last thing we're going to do before we go to sleep,
Bring your awareness back to the breath coming in through your nose.
As you breathe in,
Notice the belly movement.
On each inhale,
I want that belly to rise up.
And as you exhale,
The belly falls back down.
Inhale,
The belly lifts.
Exhale,
The belly falls.
It's almost like an ocean wave.
Inhale,
The breath lifts up.
Exhale,
The chest and belly lifts.
Exhale,
It slowly falls.
Just notice this movement of your belly.
Now start counting your breath backwards.
As follows.
I am breathing in 27.
I am breathing out 27.
I am breathing in 26.
I am breathing out 26.
I am breathing in 25.
I am breathing out 25.
And so on,
Counting your breath all the way down to one.
Be friendly to your mind.
If it starts to fall asleep,
Or drifts off,
Or forgets that you're counting,
That's okay.
That's okay.
Just count the breath,
The rising and falling of your belly,
As you drift away into sleep.
