Relaxing Tension

Learn to relax and release unconscious tension held in the body. This practice can be done seated of lying down. www.dannyzmorris.com

Transcript

In this practice we'll explore relaxing and releasing a sense of unconscious tension that's held in the body or a sense of physical contraction that is held in the muscles.

It's recommended that you do this practice lying down although it's possible to do it in the seated posture.

You can experiment with doing it lying down and seated and seeing how that goes.

If you do choose to lie down,

Find a comfortable place to lie down on your back.

Lying down on something that is not too comfortable but is not too hard as well.

So finding that balance,

Letting your legs separate a couple inches apart,

Letting your toes fall away to the sides,

Letting your arms be at about a 45 degree angle,

Palms facing up,

And letting the back of your head softly either rest on the earth or on a very small pillow to give your neck a little bit of support.

Once you're lying on the ground allow yourself to take a deep exhale and let your awareness scan from the top of your body all the way through your body down to the place where you make contact and connection with the earth.

Feel that whole plane of contact where your body touches the ground and allow your body to become heavy,

Releasing any holding or any tension that you're aware of at this moment.

Let that tension kind of be heavy as it releases down into the earth.

It's almost as if you're scanning your awareness through that tension and kind of pulling it down and letting it come into the space underneath you.

Relaxing,

Releasing that tension down into the earth.

Let your breath be natural.

As the body sinks and relaxes deeper and deeper with each out-breath.

Then beginning by scanning the body one part at a time,

Trying to identify any sense of tension or tightness and simply giving it an invitation to soften and relax without any expectation or any aggression or any force.

And if it doesn't relax,

Just moving on to another place in the body and letting it be as it is for now.

Starting by bringing your attention to the top of your head,

To your forehead,

The sides of your eyes,

The jaw,

The back of the neck,

The whole head.

Feeling the whole head and releasing any tension,

Especially that you might be holding in the eyes or in the jaw.

And imagining as if that tension is just melting down into the space beneath you.

Bringing awareness to the throat,

To the right shoulder,

The left shoulder,

The right elbow,

The left elbow,

The right wrist,

The left wrist,

The right hand,

The left hand,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

Both arms together.

Feeling both arms,

Noticing any tension,

Any contraction,

Inviting a sense of softening and releasing any tension down into the space beneath you with an exhale.

Feeling the upper chest and the upper back,

The space in between,

The rib cage and the mid back,

The belly and the low back.

Feeling the whole torso,

Identifying any tension,

Resistance,

Contraction.

Simply inviting a sense of relaxation,

Of letting go,

Of release.

As you sweep your awareness through that tension and then down into the space below you.

Feeling the right hip,

The left hip,

The right knee,

The left knee,

The right foot,

The left foot,

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

Both legs together.

Feeling any tension,

Tightness or contraction in the legs.

And then opening up to that experience,

Inviting some softness,

Allowing that tension to drain down into the space below.

And then feeling the whole body.

Let the awareness fill the space of the whole body.

And with every out-breath,

Just inviting a deeper sense of relaxation,

Releasing of effort,

The softening in your skin,

In your muscles,

In your joints.

Then letting your awareness float throughout the body while maintaining this overall general sense of the whole body in the background.

And simply identifying any area of held tension that's still present,

A sense of contraction,

A certain location in the body.

Let your awareness come to that space.

Noticing the space around the tension.

Zooming your awareness out until you kind of find the boundaries of that area.

Then holding your awareness in that boundary,

In that space.

Simply allow yourself to feel the tension,

Feel the contraction,

Without any resistance towards it.

And this might be a mental resistance and attitude.

Or there might be a tangible,

Physical resistance in your felt awareness.

And so just identifying any resistance that's present.

And softening,

Letting go of that resistance.

Maybe the tension remains.

And so allowing yourself to feel it fully without resisting it.

You can stay with it as you hold a wide coverage,

Feeling the space around it as well.

Noticing that with your natural breath,

There's a subtle pulse of the space around this experience.

A subtle expansion and contraction.

Even within the sense of tension or contraction.

You might try sweeping your awareness through this space.

So maybe identifying the bottom edge of this experience.

And as you inhale,

Sweeping your awareness through the space to the top.

And as you exhale,

Sweeping your awareness through the space to the bottom.

It's almost as if you're massaging the experience with your awareness.

Scanning and sweeping,

Linking that movement with your breath.

And either way,

Identifying and letting go of resistance.

And maybe staying with that experience or finding a different place in the body.

Or there's tension identified.

Being with it in the same way.

Finding the space around.

Sweeping your awareness through.

Identifying and letting go of resistance.

And starting to pick up the flavor,

Pick up the scent of equanimity.

Of a releasing of resistance.

Of an allowing and a willingness to experience.

And of an intentional softening,

Deepening of relaxation.

Letting the body continue to be heavy.

Sinking deeper and deeper into the space of the earth below you.

If there happens to be an experience of contraction or tension that is persistent throughout most of the body.

We'll try a technique to sweep our attention through the body with breath to begin to loosen up any sense of stuckness or contraction or tension.

To find a more even sense of flow and relaxation throughout the body.

So bringing your attention down to your heels.

With your natural in breath,

Allow your awareness to sweep through the back of the body,

Up the legs to the hips,

Up the back,

Through the neck to the top of the head.

And then wrapping around the top of the head and on the exhale,

Letting the awareness scan and sweep through the front of the body,

Down the face,

The throat,

The chest,

The belly,

The top of the legs,

All the way down to the toes.

And then inhaling,

Looping across the back.

Exhaling,

Looping across the front.

So staying with this loop of your awareness with your breath.

That scans up the back body on the inhale and down the front body on the exhale.

As you sweep your awareness in this loop throughout the body,

Noticing what's happening in the space inside the loop.

In the space inside the body.

If anything that's stuck or contracted or tense,

It starts to loosen up and flow.

Keep that constant moving of your awareness constantly in flow.

Sweeping across the back of the body,

Sweeping across the front.

And tuning into your breath and finding a subtle breathing pattern that is slow,

Smooth,

Continuous.

No pauses or breaks or jerkiness in the breath.

The breath might become very subtle and very shallow.

But still allowing it to flow in a smooth and continuous way.

And if you notice any jerkiness in the breath,

With very subtle intention.

See if you can smooth out the breath as you continue to sweep your awareness along the back of the body and the front of the body.

And as you remain lying still on the ground.

Tuning into the sense of stillness,

The sense of relaxation that deepens over time.

Keeping your awareness rooted in the body.

And then letting go of the looping.

And once again,

Feel the whole body.

Notice the effects of sweeping and looping the attention in a continuous way throughout the whole body.

Begin to feel the space underneath you.

Let your awareness sink into the space of the earth,

Underneath the body.

With each exhale,

Imagine that your awareness is dropping down into the space below you.

And as the awareness drops down,

It pulls any sense of tension,

Any resistance,

Any tightness from your body down into the earth.

And then when you inhale,

Keeping your awareness as far down as you were able to get it.

And on the next exhale,

Allow it to drop down a little bit deeper.

Inhale,

Keeping it there.

And then exhale,

Dropping into the space below you even deeper.

And as your awareness drops with every exhale,

Slightly deeper into the space beneath you.

Feeling your body get heavy.

At the same time,

A sense of lightness,

A sense of release.

Total relaxation,

Any tension,

Any holding.

Continuing to let your awareness drop into the space beneath you with every exhale.

And then letting that go and once again feel the whole body.

And there may be areas where there are tension and contraction still.

At the moment,

See if you can intentionally identify any places in the body that seem especially relaxed or where there is a total absence of sensation.

Let your attention focus on those spaces.

And see if with each exhale you can deepen the sense of relaxation that is already present there.

Noticing that as you deepen the feeling of relaxation,

There might be a spreading outwards from that place of relaxation that begins to spread into the space around.

And maybe spreads and eventually fills the whole body.

Influencing the other areas where there is still tension or contraction.

And allowing this to be a slow and gradual process taking as much time as it needs.

Simply encouraging or influencing that sense of spreading of the relaxation that is already present somewhere in the body that you can identify.

So we've explored a couple basic strategies.

A couple basic techniques for deepening a sense of relaxation and letting go of resistance,

Tension,

Contraction.

So just taking maybe one of these that seemed especially effective.

Allowing yourself to stay with that exploration for a little bit longer on your own while you continue to practice.

And start to really tune into the flavor from your own direct experience.

Letting go of resistance to tension.

Allowing yourself to feel it fully.

And inviting a sense of relaxation or release to that experience.

And over time training your awareness to let go of resistance to tension.

And allow the

Reviews

Thank you, perfect pace very relaxing.

Helped me with my tension headache, will definitely use this again. Thank you

Useful tips, really liked the wording and the tone..

I really enjoyed ferling the tensions leaving my body.

Very peaceful and relaxing 🙏🏻

That was pretty awesome, a really good one to do just before bed. Thanks!

The first time i had to stop because I found the initial body scan part just too rushed. Second time I realized it is just the beginning. After that come different ways to release tension, all delivered very calmly and clear. Such a great experience!

Very helpful thank you

I so appreciate the techniques used in somatic meditation. Grounding to and into the earth, descending into the earth feel so safe and comforting, and natural. I had a muscle spasm in my mid back when I started this meditation. Typically I have to take muscle relaxers for this condition. The pain is gone after this meditation. The body is very wise, intelligent and creative, and I appreciate the guidance into this sacred space, the body.With a bow, I thank you Danny.

Loved it! Thanks Danny!

The body scan in the beginning is pretty fast. However, that techniques and practices in here are profoundly relaxing, especially the last one.

Excellent! A complete journey with interesting and effective techniques, wow!

Very nice! Nice, smooth voice. Thank you, Danny! Just what I needed.

Just what I needed! Great pace,relaxing.