Hello,
My name is Sam and welcome to this guided meditation for Tension.
How was your day?
Did it present challenges and leave you feeling tense?
And this is the perfect meditation for you.
Find a comfortable position where you won't be disturbed.
If you're about to go to sleep for the night,
Then you can get into bed and drift off into slumber at the end.
In this session we'll use a muscle relaxation technique which tenses different parts of the body bit by bit,
Which is very effective for bringing about swift relaxation.
It just allows the body to let go and find rest.
First of all,
Let's take an enormous breath in and stretch the whole body,
Moving your hands as far away from your feet as you can and enjoy the feeling of lengthening.
Let go whenever you're ready and release your breath.
Let's do that once more.
Take a big breath in and then let go of everything,
Including the breath,
All at once.
Now bring focus to your feet and curl your toes up as tightly as you can.
Hold for a few seconds and as you breathe out,
Relax the toes.
With the next breath in,
Push your heels away firmly,
Flexing the ankles.
Hold for a moment,
Then breathe out and let go.
As you breathe in,
Point your toes like a ballerina and soften them as you breathe out.
Moving up the body,
Let's focus on the kneecaps.
Take a breath in and lift the kneecaps high into the thighs,
Contracting the thighs as strongly as you can.
Feel the muscles get very rigid and strong.
Then breathe out and let it all go.
Now we move to the back of the thighs.
This one's a bit more tricky,
But do your best.
Try to tighten the back of the legs.
Hold and then release after a few seconds.
Let's move now onto the bottom.
Take a breath,
Clench your butt cheeks,
Hold and then breathe out and release.
Time for the tummy.
Moving in,
Pull in your tummy as far as you can and contract as if you were bracing for impact.
Then release and breathe out.
Try now to find the muscles in the lower back and contract those.
This will feel like a very subtle movement if and when you find it.
Hold for a few seconds and then release fully.
Breathe in again and this time draw the shoulder blades together in towards the spine as if you wanted to hold a dollar bill between them.
And let go.
As you breathe in,
Shrug your shoulders right up to your earlobes and hold for a few seconds.
Then breathe out and let your shoulders drop right back down.
Let's do the arms and hands all together.
So,
Take a big breath in.
Now stretch out your fingers,
Your palms and your whole arm as far and as wide as you can.
Hold and then release everything.
Moving up now into the head area,
Inhale and jut your chin forward so you feel the skin across the throat stretching.
When ready,
Breathe out and let go.
Now the next couple will feel a little funny but have a go.
Firstly scrunch up your face as if you wanted to hide your nose with the rest of the face.
As tightly as you can and release.
Now the opposite.
Open your mouth and your eyes as wide as they will go.
Lift your eyebrows up and notice how good it feels to really stretch these hard working muscles.
And if you want extra fun,
Stick your tongue out as far as you can.
Just like the hacker warriors.
And release.
Let's take another full body stretch now.
So breathing in,
Stretching everything you can find in every direction.
And for 5 seconds if you can.
And then sigh the breath out and let everything go floppy.
Allow the body to be still and to rest now.
Feel a sense of relaxation washing over you and a sense that the body is becoming heavier.
Allow yourself to sink into whatever is supporting you.
Take a few moments to simply enjoy this feeling of stillness and comfort.
If your mind starts to wander off into thoughts and feelings,
Just bring the focus back to the breathing and start to observe every aspect of the breath.
Things like where the breath travels to in your body.
How it moves the different parts of your body inside and out.
Noticing any sound the breath makes.
Noticing how the air feels both when entering the body and when it leaves.
Continue to focus on the breathing for a minute or two longer.
Allow yourself to drift away into sleep if you so wish.
Likewise,
In your own way and in your own gentle time,
Slowly bring yourself back to alertness ready for the rest of your day.
I hope you enjoy this meditation and I wish you all the best.
