Muscular Relaxation

from Mind, Mastery, Meditations by Valerie V. Hunt

You will learn to consciously increase the flow and the coherency of the field using conscious imagery. When first learning it's better to lie on your back on a firm surface in a quiet place. Feel your muscle tensions release and rest securely on the firm surface.

  • First tighten muscles in your feet and legs until you feel the tension quite strongly. Let half of that tension out. Stop and be aware of your feeling of tension. Now let go one half of what remains. Follow with a slow, continuous relaxation until your legs rest firmly and the tension in your legs is gone. Pause for a minute feeling the lessened tension.
  • Now less strongly contract the muscles in your hips and buttocks. Let one half of that tension out. Pause to sense this amount of tension. Now let one half of the remaining tension go. Follow with a slow, continuous relaxation. Without pushing downward allow your hips to rest firmly on the supporting surface. Pause again to experience the absence of tension.
  • Next slightly tighten your arms and shoulders until you feel tension. Let out half of that tension. Hesitate for a few moments to sense the decrease in tension. Now let out one half of the remaining tension. Continue a slow, progressive relaxation until your arms rest firmly on the supporting surface. Then let them relax further as though they were dropping downward in water. Hesitate to experience the growing relaxation in your legs, hips and shoulders.
  • Now lightly tighten the muscles in your neck. These mucles accumulate tension as you attempt to screen out extraneous signals to and from your brain. Visualize your neck as a suspended bridge that sags gently in the middle with the weight carried on your head and shoulders. Allow half of this tension out. Pause to feel the difference. Now allow one half of the remaining tension to go. Follow with a slow continuous relaxation. See if your neck feels like a soft connection between your head and body.
  • Take a series of full breaths which you let out with a big sigh. This relaxes your diaphragm.