This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing...
...practice progressive muscle relaxation. Find a quiet place where you can lie down comfortably and spend 10-15 minutes systematically tensing and relaxing each muscle group in your body.This is about inducing a sensations of relaxation and being really mindful of what we are doing. Thoughts will come and go, just notice whenever you are distracted and come back to the task at hand.
Start with your toes and work your way up through your body: feet, calves, thighs, stomach, chest, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, and face. For each muscle group, tense the muscles for 5-10 seconds, really focusing on what this feels like, then release and relax for 10-15 seconds, noticing the difference between tension and relaxation.
Try to keep your breathing slow and regular as in the standard breathing exercise, as you work your way through my body, tensing and releasing one muscle-group at a time.
Once you are comfortable with this practice, add Progressive Muscle Relaxation to your Personal Coping Kete for times of stress and distress.
Here is a recorded exercise you can use to guide you as you learn.Click the link below to download the MP3 file to your device.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation audio by Miriam Larsen-Barr
