MENTAL RELAXATION EXERCISES: THE EXERCISE

Duration ten to fifteen minutes.

Choose a reasonably comfortable chair. If it’s too comfortable, your relaxation will come from physical comfort rather than the discipline of your mind. You need mental discipline if you are going to be able to relax anywhere at any time. As you become more skilled at this you will be able to do it in very uncomfortable positions. The yogis of the East deliberately contort themselves into painful lotus positions while meditating so they can develop deep mental relaxation as opposed to the superficial relaxation derived from reclining comfortably.

Only by learning deep mental relaxation can you calm yourself in difficult circumstances. Sit down, close your eyes or, if you prefer, fix your gaze on a distant point across the room and hold it for the duration of the exercise. Do this in an unhurried way, with pauses after each presentation, to give the idea time to register its effect in the brain. Say to yourself mentally: ‘I feel relaxed—so relaxed. It’s so good to feel so relaxed—my whole body feels relaxed—so heavy—so easy and so relaxed.’

When you begin to feel relaxed switch your attention to one area of the body and concentrate on relaxing it by visualising it and feeling it relax. It pays to start with the legs and work your way up through the body to the face. Mentally concentrate on one muscle group at a time, noting its presence and then feeling it let go. In the early stages this visualisation can be helped if you physically tense, hold and then relax the muscle in time to the mental commands: ‘My right leg feels relaxed—I can feel the muscles let go—my leg is feeling heavy now—so heavy and relaxed—so easy—gentle—heavy and relaxed— no tension—just relaxed—I can feel my left leg now—it feels relaxed too—I can feel the muscles in it let go.’

So it goes on. The process is repeated as you shift your attention from one group of muscles to another and gradually work your way up through the legs, torso, arms, neck and, most importantly, the muscles of the face. There is a very close relationship between the muscles of the face and the mind. When the mind is relaxed it’s mirrored in the muscles of the face. When the mind is agitated, the facial muscles tense and contort to reflect that agitation.

By the time you get up to the face you are already feeling pretty relaxed and you continue the exercise by feeling the relaxation in your face: ‘Feeling so relaxed—feeling so relaxed in my face—I feel my forehead letting go—feel my jaw letting go—I feel easy all over— feel so relaxed—I feel my eye muscles letting go—I feel my teeth separate—feel easy in the face—feel easy all through my body—feel heavy in my body—feel easy in my face.’

It is at this point that you transpose the feeling of physical relaxation onto the mind: ‘I feel so relaxed in my body—so relaxed in my face—I can feel the relaxation happening in my mind. My mind feels easy—calm—gentle—relaxed—just like my body—easy and relaxed.’ If you have any significant metabolic distortions, such as fluid retention, or high cholesterol, now is the time to work on them: ‘I feel my mind letting go—feel my body letting go—feel my tissues letting go—letting go of excess fluid—feel my kidneys letting go—letting go of excess fluid—it feels so good to be letting go—letting go of excess fluid.’

In the case of high cholesterol: ‘I feel my stress levels dropping— feel the stress hormone levels dropping—dropping—dropping—so good to feel them dropping—I feel my cholesterol levels dropping— dropping with my stress levels—dropping—dropping—dropping— so good to feel them both dropping.’

If you have a skin problem: ‘I feel my stress levels dropping—the stress hormone levels are dropping—dropping—dropping—dropping. The neurokinin levels are dropping too—dropping with the stress hormone—dropping—dropping—dropping—so good to feel the neurokinin dropping—skin is calming now—calm—easy— relaxed—quietening clown—neurokinin is dropping—skin is calming—feels good—feels calm—easy—calm—gentle—relaxed.’

Don’t feel cheated when you open your eyes and see your skin complaint is still there. It won’t disappear in one session. It takes time. It’s the cumulative effect of many sessions of menial relaxation that gives you control over your visceral functions. All you need for success is patience and persistence. IQ, education, personality type have nothing to do with it. Everyone has the ability to relax and control their stress hormone, cholesterol and neurokinin levels. Constant practice of the exercise produces longer tension and neurokinin free periods, and periods of cholesterol and metabolism balance.

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