Progressive Relaxation
When I was a boy, There were times when I would have so much
energy that I couldn’t sleep at night. I knew I was tired, but just couldn’t
relax enough to go to sleep. I tried
everything I could. I drank warm milk (even though I severely disliked the
taste), I took hot baths, I even tried just laying there and closing my eyes.
My body and mind just would not let me go to sleep.
On those nights, my father would come in to my room and sit
at the edge of my bed and just talk to me. He seemed to have a secret that I
didn’t know about. He told me to close
my eyes. So I did. He then began to walk
me through what I now know to be a progressive relaxation routine. It worked every time.
Let me take you through the routine that my father guided me
through when I was young.
Lay down in a comfortable position. Don’t cross your legs or
arms as this may get uncomfortable after a short while.
Close your eyes and take a deep breath. As you let out that
breath, tense up every muscle that you can in your body and hold it. Tense your
face muscles all the way down to your toes. Keep holding it until you can’t
hold it any longer.
All at once, let all those muscles relax. Take another deep
breath and let it out. Concentrate on
your breathing. Feel the oxygen move through your body as you inhale and
release all the toxins in your body as you exhale.
Now, focus all of your attention on your toes. Imagine that
there is a ball of soothing light hovering above them. This light is pure relaxation. Allow that
light to sink very slowly in to your toes. As soon as it touches your toes,
they become extremely relaxed.
As the light moved down in to your feet you feel all the
muscles relaxing completely. The light moves in to your ankle and up your lower
legs. All the muscles completely relax and feel wonderful. The light moves up
your legs and in to your lower torso. With each muscle it touches, immediately
that muscle will relax. Your lower body is now completely and totally relaxed.
Now allow the ball of relaxation to move in to your chest
and feel your breathing slow and your heart slow to the speed it would if you
were sleeping. The light moves down your
arms and engulfs your hands and fingers. Now your torso is completely relaxed.
The light moves up your neck relaxing every muscle it
touches. All the tension of the day just drifts away. The light moves in to
your face, the muscles in and around your eyes become relaxed. The ball of
relaxation continues to your scalp and out the very tip of your head. Now your
whole body is completely relaxed and you drift off into a wonderful, restful
sleep.
Now that I am grown and have gone through my Hypnotherapy
training, I understand what he taught me so long ago. Progressive relaxation is
a process that allows you to relax your body in small sections. This gives your
brain a shut down process. When you are full of energy, it is better for your
brain to shut down in steps than try to shut down all at once.
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