Full Body Tension Release (Physical, Mental & Emotional)

This Tension Release practice starts with a calming body scan, followed by a series of progressive muscle contractions and guided breathwork to remove any negative physical, mental, and emotional tension from each part of your body. Use this Sophrology practice anytime you feel the need to energetically release tension or frustration and return to a state of calm. Sophrology is a mind-body wellness modality that has been popular in Europe for over 60+ years.

Transcript

Welcome to this physical,

Mental,

And emotional tension release.

I'm Marianne DeCler.

In this practice,

You'll start with a body scan relaxation,

Followed by a series of body contractions and guided breathing to remove any negative physical,

Mental,

And emotional tensions from each part of your body.

Start by taking a moment to get comfortable,

Either on a chair or lying down on the floor,

And know that you can change your position at any time during the relaxation.

Find the many feelings or sensations with self-compassion,

Openness,

And non-judgment.

Take this time for yourself to connect within.

Get into a position in which you feel no tension.

Carefully close your eyes and let your body begin to relax.

Take a deep breath,

Filling the chest and the belly with air,

And exhale,

Allowing the chest and the belly to fall.

Take a normal breath.

Become aware of your body comfortably settled in your seat or lying down.

Feel all the points of contact between your body and the support beneath you,

The back of your head if you're lying down,

Your arms,

Your hands,

Your back,

Your buttocks,

Your legs,

And your feet.

Feel your body begin to naturally stretch out and relax even more,

And feel the serenity settling into your body.

Bring your awareness to your head and your face,

And feel your scalp begin to relax.

Soften your forehead.

Feel all your expression lines smoothing out and disappearing.

Relax your eyebrows,

And maybe try to find some space between your eyebrows.

Feel your eyelids getting heavy.

Relax all the muscles around your eyes.

Relax your temples,

Your cheekbones,

Your nostrils.

Notice the cool air around your nostrils on each inhale,

And the warm air around your nostrils on each exhale.

Relax your cheeks.

Relax your jaws.

Maybe find some space between your teeth or slightly open your mouth,

And let your tongue rest gently in your mouth.

Feel your throat relax and swallow freely.

Become aware that your face is completely relaxed.

Let the release continue down into the nape of your neck,

Your shoulders.

Allow your shoulders to naturally relax downwards,

And let this feeling of relaxation continue into your upper arms,

Your elbows,

Your forearms,

Your hands right down to your fingertips.

Become aware that your upper limbs are completely relaxed.

Bring your attention to your back.

Imagine it stretching out bit by bit with each breath.

Relax all the muscles along your spine from your upper back down to your lower back,

And become aware that your back is completely relaxed.

And now bring your awareness to your chest.

Observe the movements of your ribs.

Feel your ribcage opening with each inhale and closing with each exhale.

And notice how your heartbeats are calm and regular.

Feel your belly relaxing,

Letting go.

Observe the movements of your belly.

Feel your belly rise with each inhale and lower with each exhale.

And notice these calm and regular movements.

Now let this feeling of relaxation diffuse into your pelvis.

Relax your hips,

Your buttocks,

Your perineum,

And become aware that your upper body is completely relaxed.

And now allow the feeling of relaxation to continue down into your legs.

Relax your thighs,

Your knees,

Your calves and your shins,

Your ankles,

And your feet down to the tips of your toes.

Become aware of your lower limbs completely relaxed.

And become aware of your whole body completely relaxed.

I'm now going to guide you to let go of any residual physical,

Mental,

Or emotional tensions.

Here's a little explanation.

In a moment when I give you the signal,

You'll expand your belly as you breathe in through your nose,

And you'll lightly contract your whole body as you hold your breath.

And then you'll relax everything as you exhale loudly.

Here we go.

Inhale and your belly expands.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your body from your head and face down to your feet.

And exhale loudly as you get rid of any residual tensions.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And bring your awareness to the calm sensation in your whole body.

And we're going to do the same thing three times with each part of the body,

Starting with the head and the face.

Bring your attention to your head and face.

Notice any points of tension.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your forehead,

Eyes,

And jaws.

And exhale loudly as you get rid of any residual tensions.

Relax and take a normal breath.

Allow the feeling of relaxation to enter your head.

Then again,

This time imagining exhaling all your worries.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your forehead,

Eyes,

And jaws.

Exhale loudly as you get rid of any worries.

Relax and take a normal breath.

Observe your face relaxing more and more.

Do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Become all the feelings of relaxation.

Become aware that your whole face is completely relaxed.

Now bring your attention to your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms,

And hands.

Notice and locate any points of tension.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms,

And hands.

Exhale loudly as you get rid of any tensions that are of no use to you.

Relax and take a normal breath.

Allow the feeling of relaxation to enter your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms,

And hands.

Then again,

This time imagining exhaling all your feelings of resistance.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms,

And hands.

Exhale loudly as you get rid of any resistance.

Relax and breathe normally.

Observe your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms,

And hands relaxing more and more.

And do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Welcome all the feelings of relaxation.

Become aware that your upper limbs are completely relaxed.

And now bring your attention to your back and chest.

Notice and locate any points of tension.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your back and chest.

Exhale loudly as you get rid of any tensions that may be lingering.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And allow the feeling of relaxation to enter your back and chest.

Begin again,

This time imagining exhaling all your negative emotions.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your back and chest.

Exhale as you get rid of any negative emotions.

Relax,

Breathe normally.

Observe your back and chest relaxing more and more.

Do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Welcome all the feelings of relaxation.

Become aware that your back and chest are completely relaxed.

And now bring your attention to your pelvis and buttocks.

Notice and locate any points of tension.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your pelvis and buttocks.

Exhale as you get rid of any tensions that are of no use to you.

Relax,

Breathe normally.

Allow the feeling of relaxation to enter your pelvis and buttocks.

Begin again,

This time imagining exhaling anything that is holding you back or stopping you.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your pelvis and buttocks.

Exhale loudly as you get rid of anything that is holding you back or stopping you.

Relax,

Take a normal breath.

And feel your pelvis and buttocks relaxing more and more.

Do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Welcome all the feelings of relaxation.

Become aware that your pelvis and buttocks are completely relaxed.

Bring your attention now to your legs and feet.

Notice and locate any points of tension.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your legs and feet.

Exhale as you get rid of any tensions that are of no use to you.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And allow the feeling of relaxation to enter your legs and feet.

Begin again,

This time imagining exhaling any blockages that you may have.

Inhale.

Hold your breath,

Lightly contract all the muscles in your legs and feet.

And exhale loudly as you get rid of any blockages that you may have.

Relax,

Take a normal breath.

Observe your legs and feet relaxing more and more.

And do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Welcome all the feelings of relaxation.

Become aware that your legs and feet are completely relaxed.

And now bring your attention to your whole body.

Notice and locate any lingering tensions.

Exhale and your belly expands.

Hold your breath and lightly contract all the muscles in your whole body.

And exhale loudly as you get rid of any residual tensions.

Relax.

Breathe normally.

Welcome and observe the feeling of calm inside of you.

Become aware that your whole body has been freed and liberated from these tensions.

Integrate this feeling.

Remember that these sensations are always inside you.

And think about activating them in your everyday life.

Come back to the points of contact of your body with the support beneath you.

Feel the back of your head if you're lying down.

Your arms.

Your hands.

Your back.

Your buttocks.

Your legs.

And your feet.

Imagine the space that you're in.

And bring your awareness to the sounds outside.

Take a deep breath in through your nose to energize you.

And exhale through your mouth.

Take a normal breath.

And start to slowly move your hands and your feet.

You can move the rest of your body.

Maybe take a big stretch or yawn.

And when you're ready,

You can gently open your eyes.

While you're still in this state of relaxation,

I invite you to take a moment to think about any feelings or sensations that may have come up for you with self-compassion and non-judgment.

Know that you can come back to this recording any time you feel the need to release negative tensions.

Thank you for joining me here today in this physical,

Mental,

And emotional tension release.

And thank yourself for going through this practice today.

I'm Marianne DeClare.

Reviews

A wonderful practice! I especially appreciated the emotional/metaphorical release. I’ve not found a progressive muscle relaxation that has covered that as much before

I carry a lot of tension in my upper body, surprising with bio feedback how much also in the other parts of my body. Good guidance, nicely paced, giving time to release and let go with the breath. 🙏

Hello beautiful 🌺🌼🌺🌼🌺🌼Thank you so much for the wonderful meditation with so much ☮️and ☀️and 🌈and 💛have a blessed day 🙏Namaste