By: Tobin R. Lovell, Psy.D.
Georgia Southern University Counseling and Career Development Center
Close your eyes and take a deep, deep breath... all the way down deep into the belly... Hold the breath for a second and then exhale... good... Now repeat this breathing... take another deep, deep breath, visualizing the air coming in through the soles of your feet and spreading upward, upward, upward all the way to tip top of your head, collecting all the debris, the tension, the stress. Watch this being expelled as you exhale this breath. Now I would like you to focus on your body and how your body is feeling right now. Go into yourself and explore... is your body heavy, is it light, is it tense, is it relaxed, do you feel calm, do you feel anxious? Go into your body and see how your body is feeling right now.
Now I'd like you to pay attention to your right wrist... clench your right fist, making it tighter and tighter, tighter and tighter, good, hold it, hold it, hold it, and now relax... notice the contrastÉthe contrast between a tight muscle and a loose one. Notice that a pleasant sort of burning may occur as the muscle relaxes.
Now I'd like you to pay attention to your left wrist... clench your left fist, making it tighter and tighter, tighter and tighter, good, hold it, hold it, hold it, and now relax... notice the contrast... the contrast between a tight muscle and a loose one.
You are feeling more and more relaxed, deeply relaxed, calm secure, stress free, and relaxed.
Now focus on your elbows and tense your biceps. Tense them as much as you can and notice the feelings of tightness... hold it, hold it, and now relax and straighten out your arms... let the relaxation flow all the way down your arms.
You are feeling more and more relaxed, deeply relaxed, calm secure, stress free, and relaxed.
Now focus on your head and wrinkle your forehead as tight as you can... hold it, hold it, hold it, and now relax... smooth it out... let yourself imagine that your entire forehead is smooth, relaxed, smooth and relaxed.
Now clench your jaw, bite hard and notice the tension in your jaw... hold it, good, now relax. Really appreciate and feel the contrast between tension and relaxation in your jaw right now.
Now shrug your shoulders all the way up to the sky. Keep the tension as you hunch your head down between your shoulders, good, hold it, hold it. Now relax and feel the relaxation spreading through your neck, throat, and shoulders. Enjoy how loose and easy your neck now feels as it is balanced on your relaxed shoulders.
Now concentrate on your back. Arch it slightly, making sure not to strain. Focus on the tension in your lower back. Feel this tension and then relax. Focus on letting go of all the tension in the muscles of your lower back and abdomen.
You are feeling more and more relaxed, deeply relaxed, calm secure, stress free, and relaxed.
Now curl your toes downward, making your calves tense. Study the tension and hold it, hold it, hold it, and now relax and enjoy the feelings of relaxation in your calves.
Now bend your toes toward your face, creating tension in your shins. Relax, enjoying the feeling of heaviness and peace that spreads everywhere in your legs.
Feel the heaviness in your entire body now. Enjoy it. Feel yourself heavier and heavier, heavier and heavier, more and more deeply relaxed. Your feel calm, secure, relaxed, so deeply, deeply relaxed.