Progressive Relaxation

This relaxation meditation takes you on a journey throughout the body, tensing and relaxing various body parts to cultivate a sense of deep peace. This is best practiced before bedtime or when feeling slightly stressed.

Music by Chris Collins

Transcript

Welcome to your meditation.

This practice is best done lying down on your back.

But by all means if this isn't comfortable for you,

You can lie on your side with pillows or you can sit in a chair.

This meditation is a progressive relaxation practice and allows you to reduce the stress and tension stored in your body by having you slowly tense and then consciously relax each muscle.

This practice despite being guided is entirely your own unique experience.

If you feel discomfort throughout,

You're welcome to skip any areas of your body you choose not to focus on.

But for now finding a comfortable position that you can rest in for a little while.

At any point throughout this meditation should you need to move in order to be more comfortable,

You're welcome to.

Beginning by feeling into your body and making any adjustments needed so that you can relax.

You can have the eyes closed down or if you would prefer to keep them open,

Finding one point to focus your attention on.

We'll start this meditation by taking a few deeper than normal breaths in through the nose and maybe out of the mouth.

You can take as many breaths like this as you feel you need in this moment.

Whenever you're ready,

Just letting go of trying to change or control the breath in any way and allow the body to breathe itself.

As you allow the body to begin to breathe itself,

You'll take a step back into the role of observer.

Watching the breath moving in,

Watching the breath moving out.

Observing the natural unfolding of sensation in the body,

Breath and the mind,

Moment to moment.

Feeling the body touching the ground beneath you.

Maybe noticing the temperature of the air touching the skin.

Noticing any sounds that you can hear around you.

Begin to draw your awareness inwards,

Noticing the sound of your body breathing.

Observing the sound of the breath in and the sound of the breath out.

In your own time,

Starting to deepen the breath in a way that feels effortless.

At the top of the breath in,

Notice if you can pause and maybe hold the breath momentarily.

When you're ready to breathe out,

Breathing out as slowly as you can.

Breathing in,

Pausing and holding the breath in.

Then breathing out as slowly as you can.

With every exhalation just allowing the feelings of tension stored in the body to slowly dissolve.

Starting to move your attention towards your feet.

As you begin to feel the feet,

Starting to tense the feet,

Scrunching the toes,

Curling the feet as much as feels comfortable for you.

Holding onto this tension,

Noticing how your feet feel when they're squeezing and curling in.

And then whenever you're ready,

You can release the tension,

Relaxing the feet.

Noticing the new feeling of relaxation.

Moving awareness up into the lower legs,

The shins and calves.

It's tensing through the lower legs,

Maybe the feet as well.

Feeling the sensation,

Activation and tension through the lower legs and the feet.

And then when you're ready,

Just releasing the tension.

Relaxing the lower legs,

The feet.

Reconnecting back into your breath.

Feeling into a new felt sense of relaxation through the feet and the lower legs.

Moving awareness up into the knees,

Thighs,

Upper legs,

Pelvic floor and pelvis.

When you're ready,

Tensing through the upper legs,

Maybe moving the thighs together,

Engaging the pelvic floor.

Staying with this activation and tension of the muscles.

And then when you're ready,

Releasing the tension.

Relaxing through the knees,

The thighs,

The upper legs and the pelvic floor.

Feeling into the sensation of relaxation as you consciously release tension from the legs,

The feet,

The toes.

Moving awareness up into the stomach and the chest.

You're starting to engage the muscles in the front of the torso,

Maybe drawing the stomach in,

Holding onto tension.

And then allowing the body to let go.

Relaxing the stomach and the chest.

Maybe noticing how the breath moves through the front of the body as you breathe in and out.

Taking deep breaths in,

Holding the breath at the top of the inhale momentarily.

And breathing out as slowly as you can.

Every exhalation brings a sense of letting go.

Moving your awareness into your back.

Starting to tense the muscles of the back by bringing your shoulders together behind you.

Tensing the back muscles as hard as you can without straining the body.

Holding onto this tension.

And then when you're ready,

Slowly releasing tension and holding from the back.

Feeling the tension leaving your body as the whole back line of your body softens into the ground beneath you.

Noticing every breath moving through your body.

A sense of letting go every exhalation brings.

Beginning to move awareness into your shoulders,

Down your arms and into your hands.

Making fists with your hands and squeezing all the way up into your arms and your shoulders.

Holding the tension in your shoulders,

Arms and hands.

And slowly starting to release tension.

Letting the hands uncurl,

The arms relax,

The shoulders to relax.

Noticing how the arms feel and allow the shoulders to soften into the ground beneath you.

Moving your arms,

The whole body,

Feeling relaxed.

Moving awareness up into your neck and the head and to the face.

Starting to scrunch all of the muscles through the face.

Tensing the muscles in the neck and the throat and holding onto tension.

And then allowing the muscles through the neck and the face and throat to let go.

Relaxing through the forehead and around the eyes.

Relaxing the mouth and the jaw.

Softening through the forehead and the space between the eyebrows.

Relaxing through the throat and neck.

Feeling the head sinking down into the spaces beneath you.

Finally,

Starting to tense your whole body from the feet into the legs.

Tensing through the stomach and the chest and the back.

Arms,

Hands,

Head,

Neck.

Tensing the whole body as hard as you can without strain.

And then when you're ready,

Allowing the whole body to face to relax.

Letting go of tension and softening into the spaces that you rest upon.

Every muscle fibre softening,

The breath moving through the body with ease.

Every inhale bringing a sense of expansion.

And every exhale bringing a sensation of relaxation.

You're welcome to stay here,

Feeling into the new felt experience of complete relaxation.

You can stay here for as long as you would like.

Using the sound of the breath as the anchor for your mind.

Whenever you're ready,

You're welcome to begin to close this practice.

By taking a few deeper than normal breaths in through the nose.

And maybe long slow breaths out of the mouth.

With every exhale,

Feeling the body touching the ground beneath you.

You're welcome to bring your awareness into the sensory experience of this moment.

Noticing the temperature of the air touching the skin.

Maybe noticing the sounds around you.

Maybe noticing any smells and tastes present.

As you rest here completely present within this moment.

Starting to notice your body once again.

Slowly starting to wiggle the fingers and the toes.

Maybe extending this into bigger movements where you're stretching and moving intuitively.

It's taking as long as you need here,

Moving in whatever way feels good for you.

In your own time,

You're welcome to start the journey of rolling over to your side.

Staying on your side as long as you would like.

Eventually making your way to a seated position.

Returning back into the space.

Reviews

Great guidance and music. Turn down the reverb effect a bit.