Muscle Relaxation

Aaah Nice!

Muscle relaxation Technique:

This may take you ten to fifteen minutes once you have found a quiet calm place and have no distractions. Ultimately, you will be able to notice the difference between tense and relaxed without doing this exercise.

The following is a way to help find tight and tense muscles throughout your body. The technique uses breathing, muscle contraction, body awareness and self talk(mantra) starting from your head and working down to your toes.

Find a quiet place and shut off all devices that may break your silence(cell phone, computer, TV, radio). Ideally lie down or sit in a calm and peaceful place with uncrossed and unfolded arms, hands, fingers and toes. Breath in and out...slow and controlled. Try to let all thoughts go.

Starting with your brow; breath-in while squeezing your eyebrows together and saying to yourself 'feel the tension'. Slowly build the tension between your brow and reach the most amount of tension at your maximum inhalation. Once you fully tense your brow muscles and get a full inhalation. Slowly begin to release your brow muscles, starting to exhale, say to yourself 'release the tension' as you complete the exhalation. Take a slow and deep inhalation and exhalation recognizing the difference of muscle tension between contracted and relaxed. Even notice how your body is positioned differently.

Typical muscles that tend to get tight and tense are: brow, jaw, trapezius(upper neck), forearms, hands, hamstrings, soles of the feet and the lower back.

Release these muscles by doing the following motion matched to the breathing technique above.

The following exercise should be matched to the inhalation, reverse the description for your exhalation:

Brow-Inhalation-squeeze your eyebrows together like you are concerned. Exhalation-relax your brow back to normal.
Jaw-Inhalation-bite down clenching your teeth together. Exhalation-relax your jaw back to normal.
Trapezius-Inhalation-shrug your shoulders to your ears. Exhalation-drop your shoulders away from your ears.
Forearms-Inhalation-flex your wrist by curling your hand into your forearm. Exhalation-slowly straighten your hand.
Hand-Inhalation-make a fist. Exhalation-slowly extend and straighten your fingers.
Hamstrings-Inhalation-lie face down and curl your foot up to your backside. Exhalation-slowly straighten your leg.
Sole of the foot-Inhalation-curl your toes under your foot. Exhalation-straighten your toes and slowly pull them into your shin.
Lower Back- Inhalation-arch your lower back by sticking your tailbone behind you and slowly looking up to the sky. Exhalation-tuck your tail bone under, draw your belly in and tuck your chin to your chest rounding your back (every vertebrae).

Muscles that are at a normal length have greater power and strength potential, less chance of injury and decrease stress by allowing blood to flow freely throughout your body. Please try this technique on any tight muscles in your body. Email me if you have questions on how to contract any muscle.

Thank you:)
Ryan