Welcome.
This series offers practical,
Easy to implement tools to help you cope in the here and now with symptoms of anxiety,
Stress and overwhelm.
You may consider these tools not as a one size fits all approach,
But rather like a menu from which you may explore and select what feels best for you and your nervous system.
Progressive muscle relaxation is a helpful tool to reduce mild to moderate anxiety and stress.
We work to systematically increase muscle tension in different parts of the body and then release the tension,
Which usually results in overall less stress in the body and mind.
It can also help to increase interoception,
Which is our internal awareness of the body and is key to our emotional health.
We will begin and end this practice by using a gauge to check in with ourselves and notice how we are doing.
I invite you to do this now,
Bringing a sense of curiosity to your mind and body,
Noticing how you are without trying to change anything or without judging your experience.
Choosing a number from 1 to 10 to represent how you're feeling,
With 10 being high distress and 1 being low distress.
Just taking a mental note of where you're at with your gauge right now.
Please know that during this practice and beyond,
You are the expert on yourself.
I invite you to honor yourself and your body throughout this and any other practice,
Which may include choosing to keep your eyes open or closed,
Opting out of certain guidance or pausing as needed.
If it feels accessible,
I invite you to take three slow breaths through the nose,
Seeing if you can gently expand through the belly on an inhale,
Inflating like a balloon,
And gently exhaling out the nose,
Imagining the balloon gently inflating.
On the exhale,
Imagining any tension in the body melting away.
And on the next inhale,
Clenching your fists,
Clenching really tight,
Holding it,
Releasing the hands,
Allow your fingers to wiggle,
And then find a resting place.
Imagine any tension falling away from the hands and the fingers.
On the next inhale,
Tightening the biceps.
You may squeeze them or you may draw your forearms towards yourself and squeeze.
Continue holding and squeezing as hard as you can.
Next exhale,
Allow your biceps to relax,
Softening the muscles in the arms,
Noticing how that lands in your body.
On the next inhale,
Tightening the triceps,
The undersides of your upper arms.
You can contract the muscles here in isolation or you may extend your arms and lock the elbow to squeeze the muscles,
Whichever feels right.
Holding and squeezing.
On an exhale,
Releasing,
Imagining tension just melting away from the arms.
And on the next inhale,
Tensing the muscles in your forehead by raising the eyebrows as high as you can,
Keeping those eyebrows high,
Tensing,
Tensing.
And then release,
Allow your forehead to be soft,
Softening the brow,
And now tensing the muscles around your eyes by holding your eyelids shut,
Holding,
Relax the eyes.
The eyes are soft,
Noticing the sensation of the facial muscles releasing,
And imagine this release growing and spreading across the entire face.
And now tightening the jaw,
Clenching as much as feels okay for you,
Continue clenching.
And on an exhale,
Let the breath go out the mouth,
Release the jaw,
Just letting the jaw hang loose.
If it feels right,
You might find some movement in the jaw and the mouth,
Stretching it out,
Muscles to soften before settling into a position that feels restful for the entire face and jaw.
I now invite you to tighten the muscles of the neck by gently pushing the back of your head into the floor if you're laying down,
Or the back of a chair or wall if you're sitting up.
Tightening the muscles of the neck,
So if you find you're tensing anywhere else,
See if you're able to release,
And just holding the muscles in the neck,
Releasing,
Breathing through the nose,
Feeling the weight of the head sinking into the surface you're on.
Feel the support of the surface for your head and neck.
And with each exhale,
Releasing further.
Now moving on to the shoulders,
Bringing the shoulders upwards towards the ears and squeezing,
Holding.
And on an exhale,
Release,
Let the shoulders drop down and see if they can release any further.
Now tightening the stomach muscles,
Holding,
Drawing the navel to the spine,
And then allow the stomach to release.
It's okay for the belly to be soft.
Allow the breath just to be easy.
Now tightening the glutes,
Hips,
Pelvic floor,
Holding all of those muscles,
Holding.
On an exhale,
Allow all of these muscles to soften.
Just feeling the weight of the pelvis sinking into the floor.
The floor is soft,
Hips are soft,
Relaxed.
Now squeezing the muscles in the thighs all the way to the knees,
Squeezing,
Holding,
Release.
Let the thigh muscles soften,
Sinking the weight of your bones into the ground.
Now tightening the calves.
You may pull the toes towards the knees if that feels okay for you,
Or just work on imagining tightening just the calves in isolation.
Holding,
Releasing,
Letting the legs go soft,
Letting the knees be soft,
Ankles.
Now clenching the feet by curling the toes downwards,
Holding,
Squeezing the entire base of the foot.
On an exhale,
Releasing the toes,
The feet,
Allowing your feet to find a position that feels comfortable.
Now moving your awareness throughout your body,
Starting from the feet,
Slowly moving towards the head.
If you find any tension,
I invite you to hold and then release that area.
Working with your breath on each exhale.
Imagine that you are releasing any remaining tension.
Noticing the absence of tension is there instead.
What is the sensation like?
The feeling?
Are there any images or colors that arise?
Feel this new sensation to grow and expand throughout the body.
Notice if there is still any remaining tension in the body.
You may choose to offer yourself a visualization.
Imagining a color that feels healing or calming for you.
Slowly beaming down on you from above.
You may even want to imagine it as a warm beam of sunlight.
Allow this healing warm light to slowly move from the crown of your head throughout your entire body.
Imagine this light dissolves any remaining tension or stress it comes into contact with,
Gently melting anything that no longer serves you away.
Allow this light to move through your head,
Into the chest,
Softening the shoulders,
Releasing the belly.
Allow the light to go to where it is needed,
Until it has made it all the way through,
Down the legs,
Into the feet,
Pleatly softening and relaxing every part of the body along the way.
Wherever you're at,
I invite you to return to the gauge you used at the beginning of this practice.
Checking in with yourself now.
Noticing if anything has shifted from before we started.
Where are you now 1-10?
Perhaps there is more ease in the breath?
Or muscles have softened?
Maybe thoughts have slowed?
Just observing any changes without judgement,
Even slight changes,
And allowing yourself to really take in these shifts in your nervous system.
You may stay here for as long as you'd like and return to this practice whenever you wish,
Or you may explore other coping tools in this series.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
