Greetings and welcome to progressive muscle relaxation.
This is a mindful practice incorporating tensing the body and releasing it.
It is intended to allow the body to feel looser,
Less tense than it was before.
So we're going to go through each body part,
Tensing and releasing.
Let's go ahead and find a comfortable position to sit or lay.
If you're sitting,
I encourage you to not cross legs during this type of practice and to allow them to be parallel next to each other.
Feet on the floor,
Sitting or lying.
If you feel ready,
Finding your place,
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Let's take a bit of silence to allow the brain and the body to come into the space and to connect with self.
Let's begin by going through each part of the body,
Tightening and releasing,
But beginning with some brief breath work.
We're going to inhale for a count of six and release for six.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Release two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Let's repeat that once more just to further calm the body to prepare for the practice.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Out six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Let's begin at the feet and work our way up the body.
We're going to begin by scrunching up the toes and holding and I'll let you know when to release.
Go ahead and begin by scrunching up the toes and release.
Allow the toes to spread for a minute and then let them draw down to a natural position.
Next we're going to tighten the whole foot.
Tighten the whole foot and release.
Now I want you to tighten the ankles and that may mean flexing the feet to tighten the ankles.
Hold that tension and release.
We're going to move to the lower legs,
The calf area.
Go ahead and tighten the calves up.
Tighten the calves up and release.
Kneecaps,
Bring tension to the kneecaps and release.
If there's any area that you're not able to tense,
It's okay.
Please don't judge or criticize yourself if there's any areas you shouldn't tighten due to injuries or anything.
That's okay.
Just skip them and take that time to focus in on the breath.
Let's move to the upper legs.
Tighten the quads,
The hamstrings,
The upper legs as much as you're able to.
Hold that tension and release.
Now we move to the hips.
Tightening the hips.
The glutes may tighten with them and that's okay.
Tighten the hips and release.
Now we move to the glutes.
Tighten the glutes.
Tighten them and release.
Moving up the torso,
We engage the abdomen area.
Hold that engagement and release.
Very good.
Let's move to the chest.
Tighten the chest as much as you're able to.
Hold that tension and release.
Moving to the lower back and again if there's any area you're not able to do,
That's okay.
Just please don't do anything you shouldn't.
Let's begin engaging,
Constricting the lower back.
Just the lower back.
Trying to concentrate on that area and release.
Now we're going to move to tightening the mid-upper back.
Go ahead and tighten the middle and the upper back.
When you're doing that,
Your shoulder blades are rather coming away from each other.
You're tensing the back and release.
We're going to tense the shoulders by drawing them up.
Draw them up.
Hold that and let them drop.
Take a mindful breath in.
As we move to the arms,
We'll begin with the hands.
We're going to make a fist and squeeze the hands and the fingers.
Squeeze the fist and release.
Let the fingers spread for a moment and then bring them to their natural position.
Let's move to engaging the forearms.
Squeeze the forearms.
Other muscles may squeeze with it,
But we are focusing our attention on the forearms and release.
Let's move to the biceps.
Flexing,
Tensing the biceps and release.
Let's roll the shoulders out for a moment.
Rolling them forward or backward,
Whatever feels best to you.
Let's move to the face.
This one can feel weird.
It can feel funny.
That's why I left it for the end,
But we are going to tense the face by squishing the face.
Scrunching the face.
Go ahead.
Scrunch the face.
Forehead,
The brows,
The mouth.
Scrunching all of it.
Not bringing tension to the jaw or the mouth.
Just scrunching the face.
Hold that and release.
We move to even the ears.
Flexing,
Scrunching the ears,
Feeling the movement in them as we focus our mind on it.
You may feel your scalp engage with it.
That is great.
And release.
Mindful breath in and out.
After this exercise,
I want you to scan through your body.
Let's take a moment to do that.
Scan through your body.
Notice how it's feeling.
Notice what's present.
Scanning through each and every part just as we did our progressive muscle relaxation.
Scanning through,
Releasing any tension that may have returned.
Noticing how each part feels as well as the overall body.
Taking a moment just to take a little inventory before we move on with our day.
Very good.
I hope you're feeling relaxed after your progressive muscle relaxation.
Breathing mixed in there and a little scan at the end.
You can allow yourself to wake by moving fingers and toes,
Hands and feet,
Small stretches,
Small movements,
And slowly bat the eyes open when you're ready.
Feel free to take your time.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for joining.
