So this practice is a progressive muscle relaxation,
And Swaravsha will go through the body and invite different body parts to relax,
And the best way to get a muscle to relax is first to activate,
To use it,
To contract it,
And then to release it.
So we'll go through the body part,
Doing the body's body,
And doing this.
So whenever you're ready,
Finding a comfortable seat,
Or lying down,
And gently closing your eyes.
If you're not comfortable with the eyes closed,
You can keep them open,
And just gaze softly downward,
Gaze at a fixed point in the distance,
Or even light a candle,
And gently gaze at the flame.
And before we go into the progressive muscle relaxation,
Just on your own,
Scanning through your body,
Inviting it to soften,
To let go of any unnecessary holding,
Unnecessary tension.
Just inviting the body to settle into stillness,
And noticing,
Noticing where you can feel your breath.
So is it in the belly,
Is it in the chest,
The sides of the body,
The back of the body?
Is it in your throat,
Tip of the nose,
Where can you feel your breath?
Noticing what is the quality of your breath,
Is it deep or shallow,
Fast or slow?
What is the quality of your breath?
And you might even notice that it changes over time,
Maybe as you observe it,
It slows down,
Or maybe not,
Maybe it stays exactly the same,
Just observing the breath.
And then bringing your awareness to your hands,
Noticing where your hands are,
Noticing how your hands feel,
And then gently curling them up into a ball,
So into a fist,
And squeezing as tight as you can,
Just squeezing,
Squeezing your fist,
Activating all the muscles as much as you can in your hand,
Just holding,
Holding,
Holding,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Really activating those muscles in your hands,
In your fingers,
Just a moment longer.
And then letting go,
Softening,
Relaxing,
Just letting go of the holding,
The squeezing,
That activation,
And noticing how that feels,
How your hands feel as that activation dissolves into relaxation,
Just all that holding dissolving into stillness,
Into relaxation,
And how that feels,
The sensations in your hands as they relax.
And then bring your awareness to your shoulders,
And then springing your shoulders up towards your ears,
And squeezing your shoulders up really,
Really tight,
Holding them up tight,
Really activating,
Holding those muscles in your shoulders as you hold the shoulders up towards your ears,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Holding,
Holding,
Holding,
Activating,
Activating,
Activating,
Just using those muscles in your shoulders to hold them up towards your ears,
And then letting them go,
Letting them fall,
Letting the shoulders fall down,
Away from the ears,
Away from the face,
And tuning into those sensations of the activation dissolving into relaxation,
And how that feels,
How it dissolves,
How it softens,
And then bringing your awareness now to your face,
Your lips,
Your nose,
Your eyes,
And then scrunching up this face,
Squeezing the eyes,
Squeezing the cheeks,
Wrinkling the nose,
Squeezing the lips together,
Just activating all those many muscles in your face,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Holding,
Holding,
Holding,
Activating,
Activating,
Activating,
Just squeezing all those muscles around your face,
Just a little bit longer,
The eyes squeeze,
The forehead squeeze,
The cheeks squeeze,
The nose,
The lips,
Maybe even the tongue is pressed against the roof of the mouth,
Just holding,
Holding,
Holding,
And then letting go,
Letting that activation dissolve,
Melt,
Inviting all those muscles in your face to relax,
That activation dissolving into relaxation,
And just noticing the physical sensations and how that feels,
For the muscles in the face to soften,
To relax,
To melt,
And then bringing your awareness now to your feet,
Noticing the sensations around your feet,
Your toes,
Your ankles,
And then pointing the toes,
Pointing the feet,
Activating all those muscles in your feet,
And if you want you can extend it all the way into the legs,
So maybe length,
Activating the muscles in the calves and the thighs,
So that might mean lifting,
Lifting the feet off the floor,
But either just activating the muscles in the feet and the ankles,
Or maybe extending it all the way into the legs,
And holding,
Holding,
Holding,
Activating,
Activating,
Activating,
Contracting,
Contracting,
Contracting the muscles in your feet,
Your ankles,
Your legs,
Just using them,
Contracting them,
Holding them,
Just activating those muscles,
Just a little moment longer,
And then letting them go,
Letting the feet fall to the ground,
Letting that activation dissolve back into relaxation,
And noticing how that feels in your body to soften,
To melt,
To relax,
To let go,
Just being with the body,
Being with the experience of being alive,
Of softening,
Of melting,
Of relaxing,
And then maybe you want to stay here a little longer,
Or whenever you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes,
Coming back to the surroundings,
And slowly,
Slowly making your way back into the rest of your day.
