Welcome.
This meditation is focused on relaxing the muscles in our body and in our mind.
This dual focus allows us to come to stillness.
For this meditation,
You may want to lie down.
Indeed,
You might want to snuggle under the bed covers and pave the way to a wonderful night's sleep.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Gently close your eyes.
We're starting with the physical body with what is called progressive muscle relaxation.
It involves tightening and relaxing your muscles one specific muscle group at a time.
Also known as Jacobson's relaxation technique,
This form of relaxation enables us to relax the body at the same time that the mind becomes aware of what it means for the body to be relaxed.
That's an important component.
The tensing and releasing of the muscles physically relaxes the body,
But there is an awareness that happens,
A light bulb that says,
Ah,
This is what it feels like to be relaxed,
To be unstressed.
We're going to start by focusing on one muscle group at a time.
We'll take a slow,
Deep breath and squeeze that group of muscles until you feel a warmth and some pressure.
It usually involves holding for about five seconds,
And it's important to feel that tension so that you can also feel the absence of that tension.
It's very easy as you're tensing one part of the body for that tension to spread to other parts.
Not to worry.
This gets easier with practice,
And it's the awareness that ultimately becomes paramount.
This is a technique that when you practice it regularly manages the physical effects of stress.
So it's helpful for things like high blood pressure,
Migraines,
And sleep issues.
The key here is to be gentle.
Even though we're tensing,
We're not clenching,
And even though we're holding,
We're not gripping on for dear life.
We're going to start at the bottom of our body and work our way to the top.
I will go through each muscle group,
Lead you through the holding pattern and the release,
And then we will move on from there.
So let's begin.
Tense your right foot.
Hold and release.
Now the left foot.
Tense,
Hold,
Release.
Right calf.
Tense,
Hold,
Release.
Left calf.
Tense,
Hold,
Release.
Right thigh.
Tense,
Hold,
Release.
Left thigh.
Tense,
Hold,
Release.
Now try the hips and the buttocks.
Some areas are going to be more difficult than others,
But try tensing the hips and the buttocks.
Hold and release.
Now the stomach.
Tighten the abdominal muscles.
Hold and release.
Move to the chest.
This can be a difficult area to tense.
To know if it's tense,
Try,
Hold,
And release.
Now we'll move to the back.
Try tensing those muscles.
Holding and releasing.
Right arm and hand.
Tense,
Hold,
Release.
Left arm and hand.
Tense,
Hold,
Release.
Now the neck and shoulders.
This is an area where we bottle tension and are often knotted.
Try tensing those muscles.
Hold and release.
Finally,
Let's move to the face.
Let's scrunch up the face.
Bring a little tension.
Hold and release.
You're now physically relaxed.
Your body has de-stressed.
Take a moment to savour what that feels like.
Try to capture that memory of the feeling and come back to it as often as you'd like.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
We're going to move on to a technique called colour breathing.
It's about relaxing the mind and the body.
It's about saying goodbye to the things that stress us in life,
That cause that tension and anxiety,
That often prevents us from sleeping,
That distracts us,
Affects our concentration,
And other ailments.
So what we're going to do here is we're going to start by imagining a colour that we find relaxing or soothing.
Any colour is fine.
There's no right or wrong.
It's the colour that speaks to you.
We'll breathe in that colour.
We'll let that colour flow through our body for a count of two,
And then we will release that colour for a count of four.
The key is to feel the colour spread throughout the body and relax the body.
Once we've done that,
We're going to move on to envisioning a colour that stresses us out.
For whatever reason,
It's a colour that we're discomforted by,
That we're a little tense when we see it,
And we're going to do the same technique.
We're going to breathe that colour in.
We're going to hold for a count of two,
And then we're going to release that colour out into the universe for a count of four.
And as we release that stressing colour,
We're going to release the tension,
Anxiety,
Negativity that we're holding onto.
We're going to let it go.
And then we'll continue to breathe in and out colours that calm and colours that stress until we are in a relaxed state.
We're going to do this three times together.
So let's begin.
Imagine a colour that calms you,
That makes you feel relaxed,
That brings you some joy.
Breathe that colour in.
Feel it spread throughout your body for a count of two.
And now release it.
And as you release it,
Feel how your body relaxes.
Feel how it is comfortable.
Feel how you are feeling perhaps a little bit serene.
And now,
Breathing in for a count of two,
A colour that is not comforting to you,
That may be stressful.
Feel it as it spreads through your body.
And now we will release it.
And with it,
We will release tension and anxiety and negativity.
Take a second and we'll breathe in again,
This time a colour that soothes us,
That calms us.
Feel it as it goes throughout your body,
As it spreads through muscles,
Bones,
Organs,
Cells.
And now exhale.
And with that exhalation,
Feel the relaxation spread throughout your body.
Savour that feeling.
Now we'll switch to the colour that stresses us.
We'll breathe that colour in,
We'll envision it,
We'll see it in our body,
And then we will let it go.
With it goes tension.
With it goes stress.
With it goes things we've been holding on to that we no longer need.
And one last time.
One last time we're going to breathe in that wonderful,
Relaxing colour that speaks to our heart.
We're going to hold it as it spreads throughout our body.
And now we're going to let it go.
Continue to let it go.
Savour.
Finally,
We'll do one last stressing colour.
We'll breathe it in,
We'll acknowledge it,
We'll see it,
And then we will release it out into the universe where it will be transformed,
And where our tensions and our anxieties will also be transformed.
This is relaxation.
This is peace and calm.
And this is ultimately stillness.
As we come to the end of our meditation today,
I'd like to leave you with this quote from Herman Hesse.
Within yourself is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
I'm Donna Lee.
The light in me sees the light in you.
We are one.
