Hello and welcome to this progressive muscle relaxation exercise for anxiety and stress This session is brought to you by Good Karma Meditations My name is Rishi and I'm going to guide you through this practice today This technique can help reduce stress and anxiety by promoting deep relaxation throughout your body Let's begin by finding a comfortable,
Quiet place where you can relax without any distractions Sit in a comfortable chair or lie down on a flat surface,
Whichever feels most comfortable to you And when you're ready,
Take a few deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth Focusing on your breath as you inhale and exhale And now let us begin the progressive muscle relaxation exercise Follow along with these instructions and remember to breathe in sync with the exercises throughout the practice Starting with your hands and forearms Take a deep breath in now,
Clench your fists tightly and hold them for a few seconds Feeling the tension in your hands and forearms,
Exhale slowly and completely Releasing the tension and feeling the relaxation spread throughout your hands and arms Repeat this process for a second round Breathing in,
Clench your fists tightly,
Hold,
And then exhale slowly,
Releasing the tension,
Feeling the relaxation spreading through the hands and arms once more Bringing your attention to the upper arms and shoulders now Take a deep breath in and tense your biceps by flexing your arms,
Holding the tension for a few seconds Exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing the tension and feeling the relaxation spread throughout your arms and shoulders Repeat this process for a second round Breathing in,
Tense the biceps,
Flexing the arms,
Holding the tension,
And then exhale slowly,
Relax,
Release And turning your focus towards the face and neck now Take a deep breath in and tighten your facial muscles,
Scrunching your face,
Holding the tension for a few seconds,
And then exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing the tension and feeling the relaxation moving through your face and neck Repeating this process again Breathing in,
Tightening,
Scrunching up the facial muscles,
And then exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing all tension in the face and neck,
Feeling the relaxation spread throughout your face and neck once more Bringing your focus to the chest and stomach now Take a deep breath in,
Hold your breath for a few seconds,
Feeling the tension in your chest and stomach Exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing the breath and feeling the relaxation spread throughout your chest and stomach And then repeating this process for a second round Take a deep breath in,
Hold the breath,
Feel the tension in the chest and the stomach,
And then exhale slowly,
Completely,
Feeling the relaxation spread throughout the chest and stomach And we now become aware of the upper back Take a deep breath in and arch your back slightly,
Holding the tension for a few seconds,
Feeling the tension in your upper back Exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing the tension,
And feeling the relaxation spread throughout your back and shoulders Now repeating this process for another round Breathing in,
Arching the back slightly,
Holding the tension,
And then breathing out,
Relax,
Completely letting go of all tension in the back Noticing the lower back now Take a deep breath in and press your lower back into the surface you're lying on or your chair,
Holding the tension for a few seconds,
Feeling the tension in your lower back Exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing the tension,
And feeling the relaxation spread throughout your lower back Repeat this process for a second round Take another deep breath in and press your lower back onto the surface you're lying on or your chair,
Holding the tension,
And then exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing tension,
And feeling that relaxation spread throughout the lower back Focusing on the hips and the glutes now Take a deep breath in and squeeze your buttocks together,
Holding the tension for a few moments,
And then exhale slowly and fully,
Releasing the tension,
And feeling the relaxation spread throughout the hips and the glutes Repeating this process for another round Taking a deep breath in,
Squeezing the buttocks together again,
Holding the tension,
And then exhale,
Completely letting go Focusing on the thighs now Take a deep breath in and tense your thigh muscles by squeezing your legs together,
Holding the tension for a few seconds,
Exhale slowly and completely as you release the tension and feel the relaxation spread throughout your legs and hips And then repeating this process for a second round Take a deep breath in,
Squeeze the legs together,
Thigh muscles tense,
And then relax,
Release,
And letting go And bringing awareness to the knees now Take a deep breath in and tighten the muscles in your thighs and calves by straightening your legs,
Hold the tension for a few seconds,
Exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing the tension and feeling the relaxation spread throughout your knees and legs And then repeating this process for another round Breathing in as you tighten the muscles of the thighs and the calves,
Straightening the legs,
Holding the tension,
And then slowly breathing out completely,
Relaxing and releasing any tension at the knees Focusing on the calf muscles now,
Take a deep breath in and point your toes downwards,
Holding the tension for a few seconds,
Feeling the tension in your feet and calves,
Exhale slowly and completely,
Releasing the tension and feeling the relaxation spread throughout your feet and your calf muscles And once again,
Deep breath in,
Point the toes,
Tensing the muscles of the calves,
And then relax and release completely Total relaxation through the calf muscles And finally we come down to the feet and toes,
Taking a deep breath in and curl your toes,
Hold the tension for a few seconds,
Exhale slowly and completely,
And releasing the tension through the toes,
Feel the relaxation spread into the feet,
Into the toes And repeat,
Deep breath in,
Curling the toes,
Tensing the feet,
Hold the tension,
And relax,
Release,
Letting go And then take a deep breath in through the nose,
Breathing out through the mouth with a long exhalation And then another deep breath in through the nose,
And breathing out through the mouth with a long exhalation And just notice how your body feels,
Notice if you feel more relaxed and at ease than before you started the exercise Remember,
You can practice this exercise any time you feel stressed or anxious,
The more you practice,
The easier it will become to release tension and promote relaxation in your body Thank you for taking the time to practice progressive muscle relaxation,
I hope you feel more relaxed and at ease
