Hello and welcome,
My name is Beatrice and today's practice is a progressive muscle relaxation.
A beautiful technique that will help you understand the difference between your body being in tension and in relaxation.
So when you're ready,
Make sure you find a comfortable,
Safe and quiet space.
We'll be practising lying down if comfortable for you,
If not you can sit on a chair,
That is fine as well.
Make sure your back is comfortable,
Especially if you're lying down.
If you need some support,
Bend your knees and bring them together with your feet a bit wider than your hips.
You can also bring a bolster under your knees or a rolled up blanket,
Maybe even place a pillow under your head.
You're welcome to close off the eyes if that makes you feel comfortable and safe.
Otherwise you're welcome to keep them softly open,
Gazing up to the ceiling or the sky and softening all the muscles around them.
Take in a moment here to find your place,
To remind yourself that you're here to relax.
Let's start with our head.
Just begin to notice where the head touches the surface it's on.
Just feel that very place of contact of the back of the head with the surface beneath.
Let your head become more and more supported by that surface,
Allowing it to rest.
Now become aware of your face and all at once start squeezing your eyes,
Your forehead,
Scrunching up the nose and the cheeks,
Bringing tension in the lips and mouth,
Holding everything together for a second.
And completely let go,
Letting all the muscles soften more and more,
Allowing your forehead to smooth out,
Your eyes to rest.
Relaxing the nose and cheeks and letting go of even more tension around the mouth.
If you need to allow your teeth and your lips to part slightly,
Letting your tongue rest and allowing the corners of the lips to completely let go.
There's no need for any facial expressions,
Just simply let the whole face be soft and relaxed.
Now bring your awareness to the right arm,
Becoming aware of your arm from the hand all the way up to the shoulder.
And bring your hand into the fist,
Squeezing the fingers together,
Moving the tension from the hand all the way up the arm into the shoulder,
Holding for a moment.
Now open your fingers up wide all at once,
Letting go of a squeezing in the tension,
Allowing all the muscles to relax.
Bring your awareness down to the right leg now,
From the foot all the way up to the hip.
And in your own way,
Begin to tense up the muscles,
Squeezing them towards the bone,
Feeling that tension.
And now all at once,
Just relax them,
Let them go,
Let the tension drain away from your leg,
Feeling the sensation of heaviness and relaxation.
Shift your awareness over to the left side and to the left arm,
From the left hand all the way up into the shoulder,
Bringing your left hand into a fist and tensing up the whole arm,
From the hand into the shoulder,
Feeling that tension,
Squeezing tight,
Holding for a moment.
And then simply letting go,
Feeling the heaviness and the relaxation spreading through the fingers,
Forearm,
Upper arm and shoulder.
Bring your awareness down to your left leg,
From the foot on up to the hip.
Begin to squeeze the muscles of the left leg in your own way,
Feeling that tension.
Now let go of all the tension,
Allowing the leg to relax completely,
Noticing the comfortable heaviness of your leg,
Completely relaxed.
And notice how your body continues to relax more and more,
With feeling of heaviness and relaxation.
Bring your attention now to the hips and the muscles around the hips.
Begin to squeeze those muscles and feel the tension for one more moment.
And now relax,
Feeling that tension melt away from the hips,
Allowing it to drain away.
Move your attention up to the belly and bring your navel in towards the spine,
Feeling that tension,
Pressing it in.
Now relax and soften the navel area.
And this time push the abdomen out,
Away from your spine,
Feeling that stretch,
Making room inside,
Holding out.
And breathe out and relax,
Softening the muscles more and more.
And each time you breathe out,
You relax more,
Letting go of more tension.
Bring your awareness to your neck and throat.
And if it feels good for you,
Gently roll the head from side to side a few more times,
Noticing how that movement feels in your neck.
Bring your head back to centre,
To stillness,
Your attention up into the jaw.
And if it feels good,
Open the mouth and close it and move the jaw all around,
Side to side,
Letting go of the tension in the jaw,
Both in the muscles and around the joint.
Now relax and become still,
Letting your teeth keep separated,
Relaxing the corners of the lips,
Relaxing everywhere inside the mouth.
Bringing your attention to the eyes,
Squeeze them together,
Squeeze the forehead,
Feeling this constriction.
And as you let go,
Your forehead releases,
It smooths out,
Feeling the whole face rest.
Feeling the whole body now in stillness,
Resting deeply,
Feeling comfortable.
Experiencing this deep heaviness of relaxation.
And now to bring even more relaxation,
Let's add the breath.
Notice your breath simply moving in and out.
No need to change it,
Just staying with your own breath.
And once again,
Take your attention to the head and the face.
And without moving,
Take a big breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Relax your face even more in your forehead,
Around the eyes,
Your cheeks,
Your mouth.
Softening.
Bring your attention down your arms,
Take a big breath in.
And as you exhale,
Let your arms rest and relax even more,
Allowing them to become still.
Becoming more aware of your legs,
Taking a deep breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Feel your legs become heavier.
Now bring your attention to your hips,
Breathing in,
Becoming even more aware of your hips.
And when you breathe out,
Relaxing them even more,
Letting go with each breath out.
Now bringing your attention to the belly,
Take a deep breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Let go of all the tension in and around the belly.
Bring your awareness to the area of your chest,
Around your heart and around the ribs and lungs.
And take a deep breath in.
Exhale and completely let your chest settle and relax.
And allow your awareness to rest all around the heart.
Letting all of the muscles relax,
The body soften.
And just seeing how comfortable and heavy it can feel to relax,
To let go of tension.
Just stay here for a moment,
Becoming aware of how relaxation feels.
Just noticing what you're experiencing right here and now.
And you're welcome to stay in this relaxation for as long as you need to.
If you'd like to come out,
You can gently wave your fingers and your toes,
Move the head from side to side and take any movement that feels good.
Please be gentle with yourself coming out of the relaxation.
Take it slow.
And I hope you enjoyed this practice.
Please join me again soon.
Thank you very much for practicing with me.
