Letting Go Progressive Muscle Relaxation

18:40

18:40

Letting Go Progressive Muscle Relaxation

by Angie Pringle

Rated

5

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

11

Progressive Muscle Relaxation What it does: This guided meditation helps you notice and release tension in your body, one muscle group at a time—teaching the difference between holding on and letting go for more softness and ease. Why it’s helpful: Releases built-up tension and stress. Increases awareness of where you “hold” stress. Supports better sleep, recovery, and emotional balance. Helps you feel lighter and more present. Let’s try it together: Find a comfortable spot and give yourself permission to let go. Gently tense and relax each muscle group, working from the shoulders down. Notice the difference between tension and relaxation. If your mind wanders, gently return to the sensation of releasing. Rest in stillness and enjoy the ease you’ve created.

Relaxation Stress Sleep Emotional Balance Body Awareness Muscle Relaxation Yoga Nidra Tension Release Deep Breathing Emotional Release Isometric Tension Release Shoulder Tension Release Arm Tension Release Body Tension Release Foot Tension Release Symbolic Tension Release

Meet your Teacher

Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Meet your Teacher

Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Transcript

All right my love, Go ahead and find a comfortable seated position. You can be lying down for this if you'd like but it's ideal that you're sitting up and alert in a comfortable position. I've grabbed a couple yoga blocks to prop up my knees and I've got a bolster here for this practice. So when you're ready and you've found that beautiful comfort that is the queen of your practice, Go ahead and gently close down your eyes and we're going to move through this beautiful yoga nidra meditation. So go ahead and I want you to simply start to create tension into the back of the shoulders. Pull the shoulder blades together and squeeze for five, Four, Three, Two, One and gently release that tension all the way as you exhale. Begin again as you inhale, Pull the shoulders together, Maybe creating a little bit of a shrug, Holding that tension for another three, Two, One and release as you exhale. Let's do that one more time, Pulling the shoulders together, Feeling those shoulder blades and the tension created in the muscle, Squeeze and hold for another three, Two, One and release. Go ahead now and we're going to bring the arms out, We're going to make fists and I want you to squeeze the muscles of the upper arm and the lower arm from the fist to the shoulders. Go ahead and squeeze, Hold for five, Four, Three, Two, One and fully relax the tension, Dropping the arms back down to your sides. When you're ready, Inhale the arms up again, Making that big t-shape, Make fists and squeeze, Create as much tension in the arms as you can, Holding for another three, Two, One, Exhale, Release the arms, Release the tension. As you inhale, Bring the arms up one more time, Create fists and squeeze, Five, Four, Three, Two, One and exhale, Release. Taking a couple of deep breaths now, Breathe in through the nose, Good. Moving into the abdomen, Bring your hands to your belly, I want you to breathe all the way in. As you're breathing in this time, You're going to squeeze the abdomen, Creating some tension, Maybe gently giving yourself a few taps into the abdomen as you hold that tension for another three, Two, One and release. Inhale, Create that tension, Squeeze the abdomen, Squeeze and hold that tension tight for another three, Two, One and exhale, Release. One more time, Breathe in, Pull the abs, Start to feel that pelvic floor coming up a little bit as you hold the tension for three, Two, One and release. Good, Bring your attention now to the muscles of the thighs, Bringing the hands up and down the thighs, So run your palms down to your knee and up to your thigh, All the way along that femur bone. Good, Go ahead and find the energy in that space and when you're ready, Breathe in and I want you in whatever seated position you're in, I want you to pull your kneecap up towards your hip bone and squeeze, Bringing tension into the thighs. Hold for five, Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze, Another three, Breathing shallow while you hold that isometric tension, Exhale, Release. Good, Don't worry if you have tension in other areas of the body as well, Continuing to bring the hands up and down the thighs in between reps. When you're ready, Go ahead and inhale and go ahead and create that tension in the thighs, Squeeze for five, Squeeze for three, Two, One and release. Good, Maybe feeling the glutes or the back starting to release or respond to this practice as well, Running those hands up the thighs and back, Up the thighs and back. Good, Go ahead, Breathe in again, Find that isometric tension in the upper leg one more time, Shallow breath, Squeeze, When you're ready, Release. Go ahead and turn the palms up to the sky, To the universe, Just taking a couple breaths here, Breathing in through the nose and exhale. Good, Taking one more area, What we're going to do in whatever position you're in, Whether you're on cross-legged or sitting in a chair, I want you to think about your feet, Think about the bottom of the foot and the toes and we're going to create isometric tension there and release. Let's go ahead and breathe in, Squeeze the muscles of the feet and hold for five, Four, Breathe in, Find that tension in the feet, Squeeze and hold it, Squeeze and hold, Squeeze and hold and squeeze the muscles of the feet, Pull your toes up and in, Shrivel them in as much as you can, Holding for another three, Two, One. As we practice letting go and we really emphasize the letting go of the tension in all of these different areas of the body, We're going to run through a few more repetitions so that now you can focus more on the release than creating the tension itself and while we're focusing on both, We want the nervous system to respond to that letting go effort. So let's go ahead and come back to the top of the shoulder blades, We're going to find tension in the shoulder blades again, Only this time we're going to put more time and emphasis on the release rather than the tension we're creating. So we're going to create tension for two seconds and we're going to exhale and release for five. So let's go ahead with the hands on the thighs, Pull the shoulder blades together, Squeeze moderate to high intensity, Pull the shoulder blades back now for one, Two, Exhale release for five, Feel the tension slowly letting go, Maybe drawing the ears down to the neck on either side as you pull the shoulders back into a relaxed position. Let's do that again, Breathing in, Pull the shoulder blades together, Hold for one, Two, And release all the way for five. Drop the shoulders, Relax the neck, Take another breath in, Fully exhale. Allowing your body to memorize that release. One more time with the shoulder blades, Pull them in, Hold tension for one, Two, And release for five. Exhale four, Three, Two, And one. Good. Bringing the arms up into that T-shape again, Make fists. We're going to squeeze tension into the arms for a count of one, Two, Fully release over five. Three, Two, And one. Bring the arms up, Squeeze, Make fists for one, Two, And let go. Ah, Taking some nice deep breaths in with that audible sigh. Let it all go. Bring the arms up again one more time, Make fists, Squeeze for one, Two, Exhale, Release. Good. And as we move into the abdomen, The thighs, And the feet, I want you to create thematic, Symbolic areas of your life now that have tension or strain that you would like to release. Any previous thoughts or experiences or feelings that you're holding on to that are creating tension or taking up space in the body as we move through these areas, Think of that. So move into the belly. We're going to create a hard contraction in the abdomen for two seconds and release. And I want you to think about something that's currently creating tension in your life and let it go with this release. All right, Breathe in, Hold tension in the abdomen, Squeeze for one, Two, And fully let it go. Feel the belly soften, Feel the back relax, Feel the shoulders round forward, Feel yourself letting go. Do it again. Breathe in, Stand up tall, Squeeze the abs, One, Two, And release. And exhale, Release that tension all the way. Good. Breathe in, Squeeze the abs, Ready, Go one. Grab up that tension in some other area of your life, Get ready to let it go, Release the contraction. Soften the belly, Soften the back, Soften the shoulders, Let it go. Good. Find your thighs. Again, If palpation helps, Go ahead and rub the thighs from the top of the thigh and the hip down to the knee. Good. When you're ready, Let's squeeze and find tension in the thighs. Go for it. Breathe in, Squeeze for one, Two, Release. As you release, Let something go. If it's a thought, A feeling, An experience, Something that's still taking up space and weight in your body, In your heart, On your mind, We're going to let it go. Find tension in the thighs. Go ahead, Squeeze for one, Two, And release. Feel the melting, Feel the softening. One more. Breathe in and create the tension. Squeeze, One, Two. Exhale, Release it. Good. Starting to feel how successful this technique can be as you bring it to any area of your life that needs release. Let's come to the toes and the feet now. Big breath in, Squeeze your feet, Curl your toes in, Hold that tension. Hold for one, Two, And let it go. Again, Letting the feet go. Let all the tension go. Let's identify before we move into the second contraction of the feet. What's something that you need to release? I have something on my heart right now that I want to let go. I want you to find yours. What do you need to let go with me in this exact moment right now? What's the first thing that came to your mind? Breathe in, Squeeze your feet hard. Pull those toes in for one, Two. Breathe in, Find tension in the feet and the toes. Curl them up and squeeze hard for one, Two, And let it go. Bringing yourself into that beautifully comfortable position now, We're going to sit and take 10 full breaths all the way in and out to fully release whatever is here that is no longer serving you. Holding space in your basket that you want to be empty and clear and free so you can move on with your day clear-minded with a clear heart. Breathe all the way. Exhale through the mouth. As we take that exhale breath, I want you to sigh out any tension that's left. Breathe in, Exhale. As you take these final two breaths with me, Feel the tension releasing from the upper body, The shoulder girdle, The midsection, The thighs, And the feet that ground you to the earth beneath you. Breathing in, Bringing the hands to heart center in prayer pose, Letting the eyes slowly open. Hello my love, Welcome back. I hope that you found that finding the contraction and the release is going to help you to highlight anything else that you need to release. Whenever you're feeling stress or tension or you just need to reset, Please come back to this longer meditation and run from top to bottom all the way through or at any time through the day. If you want to create tension in one area of the body once, Twice, Or three times for a few seconds and then practice that release and let it go, You will find this beautiful reset to your body, To your mind, And to your spirit. Please share this practice with anyone you think might benefit from it. Thank you so much for being here. Use this this week as many times as you need as you start to identify and recognize how full your basket is and allow the release one item at a time with this practice. Thank you for letting go with me today. Have a beautiful day. Namaste.