Get ready to relax.
You can do this meditation sitting down comfortably in your favorite chair or lying down on a bed.
Now gently close down your eyes and take a deep breath in and now breathe out.
Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth.
And we keep breathing slowly like this through the entire meditation.
Just feel how relaxing it is to breathe deeply.
Now squeeze your hands closed into fists as if you're squeezing a ball in each hand,
Gripping tighter,
Squeezing even tighter.
And right now your muscles are tense,
Very tense.
And now relax.
Let your hands go limp and now feel your hands relaxed.
Just feel how relaxed your hands are.
Notice how different relaxed feels from tense.
So now we're going to learn how to make your whole body feel relaxed like your hands are right now.
One way to relax your body is by breathing deeply.
Imagine your body is like a balloon,
Whatever color you wish.
When you breathe in you feel your chest and sides expanding like a balloon filling with air.
And when you breathe out imagine your body is like a balloon shrinking with the air being let out.
So breathe in like a balloon being blown up.
Now breathe out like the air is being let out of a balloon.
Gently let the air out by breathing the air out through your mouth.
Breathing in through your nose.
Imagining your body expanding like a balloon.
And now imagine letting the end of the balloon go and the air rushing out as you breathe out through your mouth.
As you breathe in this time raise your arms above your head.
As you breathe out lower your arms.
Breathe in,
Reach your hands above your head stretching high up really stretching and breathing out.
Lowering your arms to your sides and relax.
Raise your arms and breathe in.
Lower your arms and breathe out.
Raise your arms and breathe in.
Lower your arms and breathe out.
Now simply relax and keep your arms at your sides while you continue breathing in and out slowly and deeply.
Remembering the difference between feeling relaxed and feeling tense.
Tighten your leg muscles to make both of your legs tense.
Squeeze tighter and tighter and now let them go and relax.
Letting your legs become very relaxed and make each leg floppy as a piece of string.
Your legs feel heavy,
The muscles are loose.
Now tense your arms.
Make the muscles in your arms very tight and tense.
Tighter and now relax.
Your arms feel limp and loose as pieces of string.
Feeling so relaxed.
This is how relaxed feels.
Now let your whole body become relaxed and see how relaxed you can make your body feel.
Letting go and loosening every muscle.
Just letting your body feel heavy and supported by the chair or the bed.
Relax even more by noticing your breath again.
Just feel how calm your breathing is.
In and out.
In and out.
And just keep breathing.
There is nothing to do right now except to relax quietly.
See how calm and relaxed you feel.
It feels good to be calm and relaxed.
Your relaxation time is about to finish soon and it will be time to return to your usual activities.
Keep your eyes closed for a few more moments while you wake up your body and your mind by gently wriggling your fingers and toes.
Making small movements with your arms and legs and moving our head gently from side to side.
And then if you're lying down slowly with your eyes closed we make our way into a seated position.
And we just sit still now for a moment.
Continue breathing in and breathing out.
And then slowly open our eyes to look around the room and when you're ready gently get up and return to your usual activities.
Feeling refreshed,
Relaxed and calm.
