Progressive Muscle Relaxation (E)

Transcript

Hi,

Hello,

Welcome.

My name is Julie and I'll be taking you through a relaxation exercise in just a moment.

Today we'll focus on our bodies with a progressive muscle relaxation.

During the relaxation I'll ask you to tense different muscles or muscle groups in your body and then to relax them again.

Please do the tensing without exaggerating.

Don't push your body too far.

For example,

You can make a fist,

But you can also tense up your hand so hard your knuckles turn white and your lower arm also tenses up.

And that's not the point here.

Don't think about it too much.

It's a pretty self-explanatory exercise and will go over each muscle or muscle group twice.

So if you miss the first go,

You don't have anything to worry about.

This is a great exercise for those who have never done any relaxation exercises and to do before you go to sleep.

Today's exercise will last around 20 minutes and you can do it both lying and sitting down.

If you sit down,

Make sure your feet are flat on the floor.

And where necessary,

I'll give you guys different options for each position.

Okay,

Let's get started.

Gently close your eyes and make sure you're in a comfortable position.

Let your arms lie or hang next to your body and make a bit of space between your feet.

This is your time,

A time for complete relaxation.

Now,

Become aware of your breathing.

And notice how your belly rises and falls with each breath.

Now,

Breathe a long and slow and deep breath in through your nose all the way down to your belly.

Keep that breath inside for just a moment and then exhale through your mouth.

Let your breath carry away all the stress and tension that's in your body while the air flows from your lungs.

Take another deep,

Slow breath in through the nose.

Fill your lungs completely.

Hold your breath for just a moment and then let the breath go through the mouth.

Don't be afraid to make a sound here or sigh when you breathe out.

Completely empty your lungs with the exhalation.

And then one more,

Take a deep,

Slow breath in through the nose.

Hold your breath for just a moment and then let it go.

Now,

Let the rhythm of your breathing go back to its natural cadence and relax.

In a moment,

I'll ask you to tighten different muscles and muscle groups in your body.

Tighten each muscle firmly but gently as you breathe.

And if at any point you feel uncomfortable or tensing a muscle hurts,

You can skip that part of the exercise,

Relax and return to your natural breathing.

Okay,

Now send your attention to your feet and your toes.

We're going to breathe in slowly through the nose and as you breathe in,

Curl your toes down and tighten the muscles in the soles of your feet.

Hold your breath for just a moment and then relax the muscles in your foot as you breathe out.

Feel the tension in the feet washing away while you exhale.

Take a moment here to feel into your feet.

See if you can feel a difference between how your feet feel now and how they felt when you were tensing them up.

Take another deep breath in,

Tighten the muscles in the soles of your feet again and keep them tense.

And then let go,

Breathe out.

Now bring your attention to your lower legs,

To your calf muscles.

While breathing in slowly,

Pull your toes towards your shins and tighten the muscles in your lower legs.

Keep them there for a little while and then breathe out and let those muscles relax.

And one more time,

Breathe in,

Tighten the muscles in your calves for a moment,

Keep them there and then release them all.

Feel the muscles in your calves relax and feel the tension slip away with the exhalation.

In a moment,

We'll contract the muscles in the front of the thighs.

If you're lying down and your legs are stretched out,

You can feel those muscles by pulling up your kneecaps.

If you're sitting down and your feet are resting on the floor,

You can feel them by pushing your heels into the floor.

Alright,

Take a deep breath in,

Tighten those muscles in your thighs,

Keep them tense for a little while and then release.

As we do this,

The blood flow to those muscles will increase and it's possible you feel a little tingling sensation here.

Enjoy this feeling of relaxation in your thighs.

And then one more time,

Take a deep breath in,

Tighten those thigh muscles,

Hold them there for a moment and let go of your breath,

Let your muscles relax.

Feel yourself relax more and more with each breath.

Let your body become heavier with each breath.

Let your body become softer.

Let your body become more relaxed.

Now for the muscles in the bum.

Breathe in deeply and tighten the muscles in your buttocks.

Hold on to that tension for a moment and then release your breath,

Release your muscles.

Feel the tension,

Leave your muscles,

Feel them completely relaxed.

And one more time,

Take a deep breath in,

Tighten the muscles in your buttocks,

Hold them there just briefly and then release them.

Exhale and feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed.

Alright,

Breathe in deeply again and this time gradually tighten all the muscles in your legs from your feet to your buttocks.

Do this in any way that feels natural and comfortable.

Hold on to this and then release all these large and strong muscles with your breath out.

Enjoy the sensation of letting go while you become more and more relaxed.

Now bring your attention to your stomach.

Take a nice deep breath in and then tighten the muscles in your belly.

Imagine trying to pull your navel towards your spine.

Release your breath and let those muscles relax.

Once more,

Take a deep breath in and pull your navel back to your spine.

Hold on for a moment and then breathe out completely and relax the muscles in your abdomen and release all that tension.

Notice the feeling of relief as you release your muscles.

Now we're going to pay a little bit of attention to your shoulder muscles and the muscles in the neck.

As we take a slow deep breath in,

Pull your shoulders up towards your ears.

And then breathe out completely and let those shoulders become limp,

Loose and relaxed.

And again,

Breathe in,

Pull your shoulders to your ears,

Tighten your muscles and then release that tension as you breathe out and relax.

Take a moment to feel the weight of your body.

Enjoy the feeling of gravity.

Let your body be heavy.

Feel your body becoming heavier and heavier.

Feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed.

Your calm,

Your safe and your peaceful.

It's now time to release the tension in your arms and hands.

Let's start with your upper arms.

As you breathe in,

Move your wrists towards your shoulders.

And tense the muscles in your upper arms.

Hold that breath for a moment and then slowly let your arms drop down again and exhale completely.

And slowly let your arms drop down again and exhale completely.

You might feel a warm,

Maybe slightly burning sensation in your muscles here as you tighten them.

Feel how relaxing it is to let go of that tension and breathe through it.

We're going to tense our upper arms again by moving our wrists to our shoulders as we breathe in.

And then relax our arms back down and breathe out.

Now move your attention to your forearms.

As you inhale,

Curl your hands inward as if you're trying to touch the insides of your elbows with your fingertips.

And then exhale,

Lower your arms and feel the tension in the forearms melt away.

And then again take a deep breath in and tighten those muscles in your forearms.

Hold for a moment and then release them.

Exhale,

Let that tension slip away.

Now for the hands.

Take a deep breath in and tighten your hands into fists.

When you're done breathing in,

Hold your fists together for a few seconds and then let go,

Breathe out.

Notice whether there are tingling or maybe pounding sensations in the hands.

Your hands will become very soft and relaxed.

Take another deep breath in and bring your fists together again.

Hold them there for just a few moments and then let go,

Exhale and let your fingers go limp.

Your arms and your hands feel very heavy and relaxed.

Now bring your attention to the muscles in your jaw.

Take a deep breath in and open your mouth as wide as you can.

Feel your jaw muscles stretch and tighten.

Exhale now and let your mouth gently close.

Again,

Fill your lungs with air and open your mouth very wide.

Now let your mouth relax and let your breath run completely out of your body.

Take a few nice deep breaths and relax.

Feel yourself sliding deeper and deeper into a relaxed state.

If you like,

If you think this might feel good for you,

You can now take a moment to tense up your whole body.

Breathe in,

Tense your muscles from your toes to your legs to your belly,

Your shoulders and your face.

Breathe out and relax your whole body.

Let go of all of those muscles.

And if you like,

Once more breathe in,

Tighten all the muscles in your body.

Hold for just a moment and then breathe out,

Release.

Let your whole body melt.

Let it be loose and relaxed.

You are now completely relaxed from the tips of your toes to the top of your hand.

Please take a few more moments to rest,

Relax.

Listen to the sound of your breathing.

Listen to the sound of your breathing and enjoy the warm sensations of your physical relaxation.

If you would like to transition into sleep,

Let your body adjust to a position that's comfortable for sleeping.

If you'd like to become awake and alert again to continue your day,

You can start by waking up your body with small movements in your hands and feet or wherever you feel like you need to move first.

You can then have a nice stretch and in your own time open your eyes.

Voila!

That was it for this week.

I hope you enjoyed the exercise and hopefully until next time.

Thank you for watching!