BONG Lengthen your spine and relax your shoulders and arms.
Bring your attention to relaxation in your body.
You can focus on relaxation in a part of your body or your whole body at once or let your attention be naturally pulled from one location of relaxation to another.
You can create relaxation by intentionally releasing muscle tension or just noticing relaxation that's happening naturally like when your chest muscles release during the out-breath.
If you're having trouble creating relaxation,
Try tightening all or part of your body,
Then letting go.
This makes the feeling of relaxation more obvious.
Every few seconds,
Acknowledge the presence of relaxation and then focus on it.
For example,
As you relax your shoulders,
You clearly notice that you're feeling relaxed.
Then intently focus on it for a few seconds.
After that,
You might continue to relax your shoulders or you might be drawn to relaxation that's already present somewhere else or you might intentionally create relaxation somewhere else.
Any pattern is fine.
One way or another,
You're engaged in a rhythm of clearly acknowledging relaxation,
Then intently focusing on it.
You're noting relaxation.
There are two metaphors for noting.
One is more active,
The other more passive.
Feel free to use either of them.
In the active metaphor,
Acknowledging is like aiming your attention and the intent focusing is like pitching it towards the sensory experience.
In the passive metaphor,
You can think of the acknowledging as a friend greeting you and the focusing as being hugged by that friend.
In either case,
You get clear about what you're focusing on and then you spend a few seconds getting to know it.
People often think of stress as something that occurs in their mind,
But the body also plays an important role.
Noting relaxation can reduce stress in your mind because your body and mind are connected.
Continue to note relaxation.
If your attention wanders to other experiences like thoughts or sounds,
That's okay.
You don't have to stop the thoughts and the sounds don't have to go away.
Just let these distractions come and go in the background and continue to note relaxation.
As you note relaxation,
Try to notice details.
Notice where the relaxation is.
Notice if the relaxation is stable or flowing.
Notice if the area that's relaxed has a size or shape.
Notice if the relaxation is subtle or intense.
Become curious about the fine details of what it feels like to be relaxed.
Every few seconds,
Acknowledge then focus on what it feels like to relax.
This is what it means to note relaxation.
May this practice be expressed in your actions,
Interactions,
And decisions.
