Progressive Muscle Relaxation For Sleep

Join me for this progressive muscle relaxation as you're guided to tense specific muscle groups then release that tension and observe how your muscles feel once they’re relaxed. This will induce complete and total relaxation as you drift off to sleep. So get ready to sleep, get into bed, and settle in.

Transcript

Welcome to this muscle relaxation for sleep.

To start,

Lie down on your back in a comfortable position and allow your arms to rest by your sides.

Close your eyes and take a moment to just notice how it feels to let go at the end of the day.

Letting go of any thoughts or any mental activity occupying your mind.

Allow your body and mind to settle as you naturally begin to unwind from the day.

Enjoy this time to rest.

Now bring awareness to your breath.

Tuning in to the full length of each inhale and each exhale.

Feeling the breath as it draws in and out of your body.

Not trying to do anything or get anywhere,

Just simply enjoying this moment of relaxation.

Follow the natural breath as it flows in and out of your body.

Let the breath wash through you.

Don't be surprised if you find yourself distracted by the wandering mind.

It's natural that your mind will be drawn to thoughts.

Our minds love to keep busy.

We simply acknowledge them as they arise and gently bring our attention back to the breath and back to my words.

Now let's bring our attention to the whole body with a technique called progressive muscle relaxation.

This is an exercise that teaches you how to relax the whole body by first tensing specific muscle groups,

Then releasing that tension and observing how your muscles feel once they're relaxed.

So we'll start with the legs and the feet.

Take a deep breath in and tense all the muscles here.

Tighten your calves,

Flex all the muscles in your feet and ankles and tense all the muscles in the upper part of your legs and thighs.

Hold the muscles,

Paying attention to how it feels when the legs are tense.

Then on your next exhale,

Release the tension you are holding,

Relaxing your legs and feet.

Allow them to completely relax.

Focus all your awareness on the release of that tension.

Observing the difference between how your legs feel when they were tense and how they feel now.

Enjoy the feeling of deep rest in this part of the body.

And as each moment passes,

Allow your body to feel heavier and heavier.

Now bring your awareness to the hips,

Glutes and pelvis area and take a deep breath in as you flex your glute muscles,

The side of your hips and tighten the entire pelvic region.

Concentrate your attention on this part of the body,

Holding tightly,

Flexing your muscles in whatever way feels natural and comfortable.

Then on your next exhale,

When you're ready,

Gently release this tension and relax the whole lower area of your body.

Enjoy the sensation,

Noticing the difference between how this area feels relaxed compared to how it felt tense.

Relax all the muscles here,

Allowing them to feel heavy and weighted,

Breathing naturally as you observe the feeling of effortlessly sinking into the mattress.

Now bring your awareness to your abdomen.

Take a deep breath in and tense your stomach muscles by tightening the area around the abdomen.

Observe how this feels as you tighten your belly and hold the tension,

Tightening all the muscles in the area of your stomach.

Then when you're ready,

Relax your abdomen,

Breathing out and observing how it feels to release all tension in this area.

Notice the difference between how it feels to have a tense stomach versus a relaxed one,

Allowing the body to sink into deep relaxation,

Breathing naturally as your body relaxes.

Now bring your awareness to the area of your upper torso.

Observe the muscles in your chest and back as you breathe into this region and tighten all the muscles in this area,

Bringing your awareness to how it feels as you tense the upper torso,

Holding this contraction.

Then when you're ready,

Release the breath and allow your muscles to relax,

Letting go of all the tension here and noticing how that feels.

Relax your chest and back,

Inhaling softly into this area and on your next exhale,

Seeing if you can relax your muscles just 5% more.

Now once again draw in a nice deep breath and bring your attention to your shoulders and neck muscles.

As you inhale gently pull your shoulders up towards your ears and squeeze the muscles in your neck and shoulders firmly.

Hold this contraction,

Noticing how it feels as you tense these muscles.

Then when you're ready,

On your next exhale,

Relax your muscles completely,

Letting this area go loose and limp.

Observe how it feels when your shoulders and neck are relaxed.

Enjoy the feeling of soothing relaxation softening into your mattress.

Now bring your awareness to your arms and hands,

Taking a deep breath in,

Tensing all the muscles in the arms and hands,

Clench your fists tightly,

Contracting your hands,

Palms and fingers,

Tighten the biceps and forearms,

Really paying attention to how it feels to tense all the muscles here.

Then when you're ready,

Release your breath,

Relax the muscles in your arms and enjoy that feeling of the tension subsiding.

Relax your hands,

Opening your fists and letting your fingers uncurl effortlessly.

Notice how it feels to release the muscles in your arms and hands,

Observing if there's any tingling or pulsing.

Allow this part of your body to feel heavy,

Soft and relaxed as you sink deeper into your mattress.

Now bring your attention to your face,

Tense all the muscles in your face,

Squeeze your eyes shut tightly as you wrinkle your nose,

Tighten your cheeks and mouth as you clench your jaw,

Hold this contraction,

Feeling into the sensations that come with tightening all the muscles in the face.

Then when you're ready,

On your next exhale,

Release all the tension you've been holding,

Relaxing your facial muscles,

Noticing how it feels to let go.

Feel your face softening,

Allowing your eye muscles,

Your nose,

Forehead and jaw to fully relax.

Enjoy the sensation of the release as you become more and more deeply relaxed.

Sink into your mattress,

Breathing in and out naturally.

Feel yourself slipping deeply into a state of complete rest.

Observe your body becoming heavier and heavier,

Becoming more and more relaxed.

Enjoy the feeling of effortless relaxation.

If any thoughts or concerns arise,

Let them slip away.

Let go of any pressure to fall asleep and simply enjoy this time of rest.

If you're still awake and your mind is active,

Know you can find restfulness in this time of relaxation.

Now take a few moments to come back to the breath,

Being aware of the natural breath as it rises and falls.

On your next inhale,

Breathe in peace.

On the exhale,

Feel that peacefulness set into the body.

The more relaxed you become,

The heavier you feel.

Relish this time of quiet and rest.

Allow the breath to take you into deep sleep,

Peaceful sleep.

Reviews

To the point and effective. I was very relaxed and drifted to sleep easily