Sometimes,
Despite our best efforts,
The stresses of life can get hold of us.
The causes are irrelevant,
But how we choose to deal with them are very important.
We can hold it in and allow it to fester,
Or we can release it and let it go.
Oftentimes,
I find that performing a simple body scan helps me to melt away any stress that I have built up.
By focusing on one part of your body at a time,
Flexing a muscle group and then relaxing.
In a relatively short period,
You can regain peace in your day.
If you're ready,
Relax,
Get comfortable in a quiet area,
Either sitting up straight or lying down with your arms by your sides.
Now close your eyes and let the worries of the day go by.
Notice your breath in and out,
Breathing deeply and slowly.
Just breathing in and out,
You are becoming more relaxed.
Just focus on your breath,
Taking a deep breath in and hold it for a moment,
And then release,
Letting it all out.
Notice how your breath feels as it enters your body,
And see if it feels any different as it passes out of your body.
If you have any discomfort or areas in your body where you're holding on to stress,
Just breathe into those areas.
As you breathe in,
You inhale positive,
Healing energy.
As you breathe out,
You're exhaling the discomfort or stress that you may have been holding on to.
Continue to focus on your breathing,
Taking in healing energy with each inhale,
And releasing all of the energy that may be holding you back with each exhale.
As you continue to breathe and relax,
Notice the thoughts that come into your mind.
It's completely fine if those thoughts keep popping in.
Don't pay them any attention.
Just acknowledge them and let them pass away.
Let your mind be the sky and your thoughts be the clouds.
The sky knows that the clouds are there,
But it doesn't give them any attention.
Simply let them drift on by and continue to focus on your breath.
When you focus on breathing in and breathing out,
It's impossible to focus on the thoughts that pop in.
So let those thoughts just drift on by.
Now that you're relaxed and you've gotten into a comfortable breathing cycle,
Let your focus shift from your breathing and just allow yourself to relax.
As we begin your body scan,
Contract all the muscles in your feet.
Pull in your toes and scrunch up your feet nice and tight and hold it and release.
Imagine a golden beam of sunlight shining directly on your feet,
Starting with your toes.
This beam of sunlight is warm and soothing and it relaxes anything it touches.
Let it relax your toes.
Just let them go and feel the relaxing sunlight moving into the balls of your feet,
Over your arches and back to your heels.
Now tighten the muscles of your ankles,
Lower legs and knees.
Hold them tight and relax.
Relax your ankles and your lower legs.
Just let them go.
Now feel a golden sunlight moving into and relaxing your lower legs,
Especially your calves.
Let any tension in your knees pass away,
Knowing that it's alright.
Relax the muscles of your thighs and hold them tight and let them go.
Now relax all of the muscles in your thighs as the sunlight moves up your body,
Totally loose.
Use your buttocks tight and hold it,
Hold it and now release and let your hips float in their sockets and feel your buttocks completely relax as if it were melted by the sunlight.
Let's shift now to your hands and clench them tightly together and squeeze and hold for a moment and let your hands go.
Again feel this relaxing power,
A little warmth,
A little tingle coming into the tips of your fingers.
Golden sunlight moving back across your hands to your wrists,
Relaxing everything it touches.
Just let them go.
Relax all the muscles in your lower arms,
Relax your elbows,
It's alright.
Now tighten the muscles of your upper arms and shoulders and squeeze,
Holding them tight for a moment.
Then relax.
Feel all of the muscles in your upper arms totally loose as the warm sunlight moves upward.
Relax your shoulders,
Let all of the cares of this day,
Of this time,
Of this life lift off your shoulders.
It's alright,
You're doing great.
Now tighten the muscles of your core,
Your upper and lower back as well as your abdomen and chest.
Just hold them firm and release.
The golden light now relaxes all of the muscles in your upper back,
It's totally loose.
Feel the relaxing power moving slowly down your spine,
A little warmth,
A little tingle,
Vertebrae by vertebrae,
All the way down to your lower back,
Totally loose.
You relax all the muscles in your stomach,
Relax your chest.
Just let them go.
Allow yourself to breathe comfortably.
Notice how deep and regular your breathing has become.
Feel your breathing,
Feel the rhythm of your breathing.
Notice the expansion and the contraction of your diaphragm and chest.
Now contract the muscles of your neck and jaw,
Clenching your teeth together,
Holding and release.
Now that golden light moves to the front part of your neck and you relax.
Relax the back part of your neck,
Relax your jaw,
Relax your chin.
Relax all of the muscles in and around your mouth as the light moves up,
Especially your lips and tongue.
Now squeeze your face nice and tight,
Hold that for a moment and relax.
I want you to relax your whole face from your nose all the way back to your ears,
From your forehead,
Over your eyes and down to your chin.
Your whole face feels relaxed.
Finally,
Contract the muscles of your scalp,
Holding,
Holding and letting go.
Relax all the muscles in your scalp,
Just let them go.
And feel a wave of relaxation passing gently like a breeze now from the top of your head,
Down your face,
Down your body,
All the way down to the tips of your toes.
Your whole body feels so very relaxed.
You may experience some feelings as you deeply relax.
You may feel a numbness or tingling feeling,
Perhaps in your arms or your legs.
Or you may experience both a numbness and a tingling feeling alternately.
You may also experience a lightness or a heaviness in your body.
And this is perfectly fine.
If you were to experience a lightness,
It would feel so buoyant as if you were floating above the chair.
And if you were to experience a heaviness,
It would feel like you were sinking deep into the chair,
Just like it was a big feather pillow.
Take a few moments to enjoy whatever you are feeling right now.
Continue to relax and take in all the sensations of the moment.
Enjoy the peace that you have brought to yourself.
And know that any time you need to release some tension or just enjoy a little peaceful time for yourself,
That you can come back to this body scan and let it all go.
