Progressive Relaxation - 15mins

Progressive relaxation involves tensing and then releasing different parts of the body. In this practice you'll do this in a couple different ways - if you're familiar with progressive relaxation be ready for something fresh!

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this practice of progressive relaxation. In this practice, We will be tensing and then releasing different parts of the body. And this can really help your body notice the difference between tensing and relaxing. And also by the end of the practice, Hopefully you will feel a little more at ease and calm. So make yourself comfortable in your position of choice. You might like to lay down for this practice. That can be on the floor or on a comfortable couch or bed. You can also be seated, Either in a classic meditation posture or in a comfortable chair. Know that you want to be comfortable so that after your tensing and releasing, You really can allow your body to soften. Once you're settled in, Go ahead and close down your eyes. And we'll take three big breaths to settle in. So a deep inhale through your nose. An audible exhale through your mouth. Twice, More like that, Big breath in. Let it go. One more time, Inhale. As dramatic as you like, Let it go. And then seal your lips and allow your breath to move nice and easily. And drop your awareness down to sense your whole body. Take the time to sense your whole body in space. You might like to notice things like the parts of your body that touch the ground. The texture of your clothing against your skin. The touch of air on your skin. And then notice the weight of your body. And now gather your awareness to the center of your chest. Using this as our starting off point, Gathering awareness to the center of your chest. From here, Expand your awareness across the right side of your chest to your right shoulder, And then all the way down your right arm. Sensing your whole right arm and shoulder girdle. From here. Begin to make a fist with your right hand. Start to clench the muscles up through your forearm, Your upper arm, Your shoulder, And around your shoulder blade, Perhaps even feeling it into your neck and chest. Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze. Take a breath in. And as you exhale, Let it go. Notice those moments after releasing the tension in your right arm. Staying with your right arm. This time, Spread your fingers out like you're trying to make your hand bigger than it can be. Use that to then bring tension into your forearm, Your upper arm, Right up to your shoulder, Your neck, Your chest, Spreading your fingers wide and squeezing your whole arm. Take an inhale. Let that go as you exhale. Just lingering with awareness of your right arm. Then gently gather awareness back to the center of your chest. And from here, Expand over the left side of your chest, Down your left arm and to your hand. Sensing your whole left arm. Now begin to make a fist with your left hand. Squeeze all the way up through your forearm, Your upper arm, Your shoulder. Feel it into the left side of your chest and your neck. Squeeze, Squeeze. Take an inhale. Let it go with your exhale. And you can always make those exhales audible. Lingering awareness in your left arm. And now spread the fingers of your left hand wide apart, As big as you can make your hand, And then bring that tension all the way up through your hand, Your arm, To your shoulder, Your neck and chest. Squeeze, Stretching, Breath in. Let it go as you breathe out. This lingering awareness of the softening of your left arm. Gather awareness back to the center of your chest. And then drift your awareness down to your tailbone. Resting at your tailbone for a moment. And then expand from your tailbone over through your right hip, Your right thigh, Your lower leg and your foot. Filling your whole right leg with awareness. Now, Start to curl your toes. Curl your foot. Start to squeeze your whole leg all the way up through your thigh, Your glutes. Squeezing your whole right leg. Squeeze, Squeeze. A breath in. And let it go as you breathe out. Resting awareness in your right leg in that moment of letting go. Now, Begin to spread your right toes wide apart. Spread them wide apart and then bring that tension all the way up through your leg. Spreading your toes wide, Squeezing all the way up through your leg to your glutes. A breath in. Let it go as you breathe out. And lingering in that sensation after the release. Gather your awareness back to your tailbone. And then expand awareness through your left hip, Your left thigh, Lower leg, And foot. Holding your left leg in your awareness. Start to curl your toes in, Curl your foot, Squeeze your leg all the way up to your glutes. Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze a breath in. Let it go. Rest in the awareness of how it feels to let it go. Staying with your left leg now, Spread your toes wide apart, As wide as you can get them, And use that to bring tension all the way up through your leg again, Spreading your toes wide and squeezing your whole left leg right up to your glutes. A breath in. Let it go on your breath out. And then gather your awareness back to your tailbone. And then drift awareness up into your abdomen. And with awareness in your abdomen. Begin to squeeze here. Tense up your abdomen like you're going to do a crunch without moving very much so squeeze squeeze squeeze through your belly squeeze squeeze squeeze a breath in little one Let it go as you breathe out. And rest in awareness of your softening abdomen. And now to your back. Begin by squeezing your glutes and then start to tense your whole back. Take the time to notice that it's actually your back that's squeezing. Squeeze, Squeeze. If you're laying down, You can kind of press down into the ground to feel that. Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze through your back. A breath in and let it go. Ugh. Now gather awareness up to your neck. Now if you're in a seat, You're gonna shrug your shoulders. If you're laying down, You're gonna press your head back into the ground. And you can kind of do a combination of both. Start to squeeze your neck. So pressing your head into the ground or shrugging your shoulders or a little bit of both, Squeeze, Squeeze, A breath in. Let it go. Lingering awareness in that area that has just softened. Alrighty, Bring your awareness to your face. And we'll begin by squeezing inward. Purse your lips. Squeeze everything as though you're trying to make your face small, Drawing into one point. Squeeze your eyebrows in. Squeeze, Squeeze. Make it as tight as you possibly can. Take a breath in. Let it go on your breath out. And now, You'll make your face as big as you can. Open your mouth wide. Stick your tongue out. You can even open your eyes for this one or simply stretch your eyebrows up and away So you're making your face as big and as wide as you possibly can stretch stretch stretch Feel that take an inhale And let it go as you breathe out. Allowing everything to soften. Okay, We've got two more types of tension. Full body. Squeezing inward. So make fists, Curl your toes, Squeeze your face into a little ball, And squeeze everything as much as you can, Your whole body squeezing in, In, In, A breath in, Let everything go on your breath out. And then once again, Your whole body, This time spreading wide, Spread your fingers, Spread your toes, Open your mouth, Stick your tongue out, Lift your eyebrows up, Stretching out, Taking up space, Really go for it, Stretch out, Out, Out, Out, Out, A breath in. Let it go as you breathe out. And rest in awareness of your whole body softening. Your whole body letting go. As you sense your whole body. If there are any lingering points of tension. Encourage them to soften. And return now to feeling. The weight of your body. Sense the gentle pull of gravity. Now you may like to rest longer in stillness. Feel free to do so. When you're ready, Gently bring your awareness back to your surroundings. And gently blink open your eyes. Have a beautiful rest of your day.