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Serenity Now
Learn to let go
Use this meditation exercise to help you regroup after a stressful day, to help you relax before going to sleep or as a tool for visualization. This is an adaptation from the yoga position called "the corpse pose". You want to gradually relax every region of your body where you are holding tension. You have spent all day holding you body up, now it is the floor or mattress turn.
- Place a mat on the floor or lie on a bed. Lying on your back, have room for your legs to splay apart (about a foot) with your arms along side your body and the palms facing up. (Make sure you are comfortable before moving on.)
- Either have a partner, or yourself talk you through the relaxation process. Starting with your feet, scrunch, grip or tighten them as hard as you can for 5 seconds then let go, and imagine all of the tension from that part of your body emptying out. Breath in when you grip and out when you release. Proceed at a relaxed pace up your body to your calves, then knees, then thighs, etc. When you get to your arms work from the hands to your shoulders. Relax your eyeballs last.
- Now empty your mind of all thoughts and visualize a blank blackboard or white room. From here you can go several places with the exercise. If you're trying to forget a horrible day, visualize your favorite place to be, and pretend that your body has lifted into the air and traveled to that place. Once there, enjoy it. Or, if have a big soccer game practice in your mind scoring the winning goal.
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