Hi,
I'm Jan Mahler and welcome to exercise number two in my series of exercises designed to help you deal with work pressure and prevent burnout.
Sit or lay down in a comfortable position.
Now close your eyes and just take a moment now to center yourself in this present moment.
You can feel the physical contact between your body and the chair or the bed or the floor maybe and start the exercise by focusing on your breathing.
Just observe how the breathing is happening by itself with no interference on your part.
You're just a passive spectator to the breathing happening in your body.
Now I would like you to practice some deep breathing.
So I would like you to inhale deeply through your nose and count to four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And then hold your breath,
Counting to four,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And then slowly exhale through your mouth,
Counting to six,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
So it's in-breath for a count of four,
Holding the breath for a count of four,
And slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of six.
Just try this now for about a minute.
Okay,
You can breathe normal now.
I now would like to ask you to move your attention towards your right leg and I would like you to stretch the leg and tense the muscles in the whole leg,
Stretching.
And while you're stretching the leg,
Take a deep breath and hold and exhale and let go of the tension of the leg.
Then you will do the same thing with your left leg.
Start stretching it,
Not too hard.
Make sure all the muscles become tense,
Including the muscles of your foot and your toes.
Take a deep breath,
Hold,
And exhale and let go of the tension.
And you will do the same with the right arm.
You stretch it outwards,
Tense all the muscles.
You might want to make a fist.
Take a deep breath,
Hold,
And exhale and let go of the tension of the arm.
Now your left arm,
Stretching,
Making a fist.
Take a deep breath,
Hold,
And exhale,
And relax the arm.
Then carefully move your shoulders upwards towards your ears,
Carefully.
Hold your shoulders,
Take a deep breath,
Hold,
And exhale,
And lower the shoulders.
Now I would like you to move your facial muscles,
Making faces,
Moving the jaw from one side to the other,
Opening your mouth as much as you can,
Closing your eyes harder,
Moving your forehead up and down.
Just play a little bit with the movement of the muscles of your face.
And relax your face now,
And just see if there are any sensations you can notice in your face,
Maybe some vibration or tingling or maybe some heat.
And become aware of your feet,
And your legs,
And your arms,
Sitting or laying down,
And breathing,
Here and now.
Now I would like you to try to remember a place that you have visited,
Where you felt peaceful and relaxed,
Maybe a forest,
Maybe a mountain,
Or a beach,
Or maybe a meadow.
Just choose the place,
And in your imagination,
Just try to place yourself in that same place.
Start looking around,
Just notice what you're seeing,
Notice the colors,
Maybe you can hear some sounds,
Maybe you feel the wind,
Or the sun,
Maybe there are some smells,
Immersing yourself in this peaceful image,
Giving yourself the permission to relax,
Giving yourself the permission to take a little break from your daily chores and responsibilities,
Relaxing in this peaceful environment,
Letting your body let go of all tensions.
Ok,
You can come back to the here and now,
Feeling your body sitting or laying down,
Breathing,
And just become aware of your feet,
Just acknowledge their existence,
And your hands,
And become aware of your eyes,
And how the eyelids are covering your eyes right now.
Maybe you can feel the weight of your eyelids,
And see if you can use your imagination again,
And try to envision a soft,
Warm light surrounding you,
All around your body,
A light that represents relaxation,
And peace,
And positive energy.
See if you can imagine that this light penetrates all the different parts of your body,
And gradually relaxing every muscle,
And just feel how this light permits the body to relax,
And let go of all tensions,
And feeling this relaxation,
I would like you to repeat several times during the next minute,
Internally in your mind,
The following sentence,
I am calm and peaceful.
Whenever you become aware that you start thinking about something else,
Just gently come back to the sentence,
I am calm and peaceful.
Very good,
You have come to the end of the exercise,
Maybe you want to move your feet,
Or your hands,
And your arms,
And legs a little bit to wake up your body,
Take a deep breath,
And as you exhale,
Slowly open your eyes,
And be grateful to yourself,
For the effort you are making to try to create well-being in your life.
And remember,
The more you practice,
The better the results.
