This is a progressive muscle relaxation practice.
This is an active practice,
So I invite you to get into any comfortable seated or lying down position and we'll begin together.
Start by making fists with the hands,
Drawing the fingers in,
The thumbs in,
Tight fists,
Really squeeze,
And then release the fingers one by one,
Soften the hands,
Soften the fingers,
Relax the hands,
Feeling the arms pull into the body,
Forearms,
Hands,
Elbows,
Draw into the body,
Squeeze,
Get tight,
And then release the arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Hands,
And fingers.
Feel that relaxation that comes from releasing engaged muscles.
Shoulders,
Take the shoulders up to the ears,
Squeeze them up,
Really feel them lift,
Feel those trapezius engaging,
Flexing,
And then release the shoulders,
Draw them down,
Let them down,
Really release.
Shoulder blades,
Squeezing the elbows back behind you as if the elbows could touch each other,
Feeling the shoulder blades squeeze,
Tightening behind you,
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
And release,
Coming back to a neutral position,
Relaxing the shoulder blades,
Belly and solar plexus area,
Squeeze the belly,
Draw it in,
Squeeze,
Make it tight,
Really engage all those muscles in your tummy,
And release,
Gently let the tummy relax,
No holding.
The pelvic floor,
So for this one we're drawing up on the pelvic floor muscles as if we were squeezing to try to hold our urine,
So pulling up and in,
Squeezing those muscles,
Squeezing up like you're doing a Kegel,
Holding,
Pulling in,
Tight,
Tight,
Tight,
And gently release all those muscles,
Soften,
Soften,
Release,
Squeezing the glutes here,
So squeezing the butt muscles,
Tightening them up,
Feeling them engage on both sides,
Tight,
Tight,
Tight,
Really squeeze,
Relax the glutes,
The buttocks,
The upper thighs,
Squeezing the thighs,
The quads,
You can do this if you're sitting in a chair by pressing the feet into the ground,
If you're lying down,
Flexing the feet in some way,
Tightening the legs,
And release the thighs,
Release any muscles that are holding in the legs,
And the feet,
Curling the toes in,
Squeezing the feet,
Tight,
Tight,
Tight,
And release,
Relax the feet,
All the toes,
All the little muscles in the bottom and the top of the feet,
Finally let's move up to the face,
Starting with the jaw,
Squeezing,
Let's push the jaw out like we're making angry face,
Squeezing out the lower jaw,
Feeling the muscles in the neck tighten as you do that,
The front of the neck,
And release,
Bringing the jaw back to a neutral,
Relaxed position,
Squeezing the nose up like squinching the nose together as if you smelled something unpleasant,
Squishing the nose,
Tightening up,
And then release the nose,
Soften,
Soften,
Soften in the face,
And the eyes,
Squeezing the eyes closed,
Tight,
Tight,
Tight,
Squinching the eyes,
And release,
Soften,
Soften,
Soften,
Relax the area around the eyes,
In the eyes,
Behind the eyes,
And the forehead,
Squeezing the eyebrows up like you're squeezing the eyebrows,
Making wrinkles in the top of the forehead,
Squeezing the eyebrows up towards the top of the head,
And relax,
Relax the forehead,
The eyebrows,
One last squeeze here,
This time the whole body,
Squishing in the feet,
The calves,
The thighs,
The pelvic floor buttocks,
And belly,
The glutes,
Squeezing the chest and shoulders in,
The arms,
The hands,
The face,
Squeezing the jaw,
The nose,
The eyes,
The forehead,
And then release everything little at a time,
The face,
Soften,
Feeling the shoulders soften,
The chest,
The arms,
The fingers release,
The whole torso,
The back and spine,
The belly soft and released,
Hips,
Pelvis,
Pelvic floor,
Feeling the legs soften and release,
Feeling the tingling as you let the legs release,
Releasing,
Relaxing calves and feet,
Taking a deep breath in through the nose,
Hold the breath in the body,
And full breath out through the mouth,
Release some tension as you let the breath go,
Again,
Breathing in through the nose,
As you breathe in,
Feeling any tension in the body,
Holding that breath in,
And then releasing,
Releasing,
Relaxing everything with the exhale,
Letting some of that tension go,
One last breath,
Inhale through the nose,
Hold the breath for a moment in the body as you feel any remaining tension that's still here,
And with the exhale releasing physical and emotional tension,
Letting it go,
And just rest,
Let the body settle,
Tune into any sensations of tingling,
Warmth,
Comfort,
Release,
See if you can let the thoughts go,
Let any trying or efforting go,
And really just be,
Let yourself be.
