Relaxation Exercise

For Molly....

This exercise is meant to relax oneself, find peace of mind, rejuvinate. A lot of people fall asleep. I used it when I was drama director at Camp Wise and I also use it to attempt to have a dreamscape or out of body experience. This is just the jist of it. You can alter it to work for you. When I would do this at camp, it would take about half an hour.

Find a peaceful, quiet place to lie down - a bed, a floor (a room filled with 50 people). I like to listen to worldless music - Enya, Ocean sounds, a sampler that I honestly hope I still have but haven't used in a long time. You can either have someone tell you what to do, or you can think it to yourself.

Speak (or think) in a very slow, very melodic voice. Tighten your toes. Tighten them, tighten them. Now relax them. Do this again. Keep them tight. Feel them. Now release them. Feel them getting heavy.

Now tighten your whole foot. Tighten it. Tighten. Now release. Feel your foot getting heavier and heavier. It feels like it can sink through the floor.

You're going to do this with every part of your body - first individually, then as a whole. You should really try to feel each and every muscle. Really try to separate each body part and then feel your whole body working as a whole. Tighten and release 2-3 times. Calves, thighs, stomach, chest, fingers, hands, arms, face head, whole body.

By the end you should feel very, very heavy, sinking lower and lower.

Then, slowly, you will feel like you are lighter and lighter and lighter.

You feel yourself rising up. You are getting a little higher and a little higher. You can stop, turn around, and look at yourself lying on the ground. Float through the ceiling of where you are laying, float higher and higher into the sky. As you float, notice what's below you and what's above you. Float towards the cosmos and then come back down.

When you come back down, you find yourself in a glen or by a stream or a mountain, or whatever other peaceful, remote location you can think of. Feel the air lulling around you - feel the leaves and the grass. Hear the water moving, the sound of the birds in the distance, your hair moving about your face. Smell the sweet flowers and rain that recently fell. Taste the cool water as you bring it to your lips. Use all of your senses as you walk along, experiencing, noticing everything around you.

If you want, float to another location and experience what it has to offer. Follow a ball that's bouncing down the street to see where it leads, go on a journey.

Surround yourself in color. When you feel ready, it's time to come back to where you're lying. As you are coming back, notice again everything around you. What's around the house or building that you are in, what's the bigger picture? Are there other people you will notice? Then you see yourself lying there again and you lie down with yourself.

When you feel ready, slowly turn onto your side and slowly, slowly get up (or if this is to help fall asleep at night - keep dreaming those pleasant dreams).