Progressive Muscle Relaxation Transcript

One Speaker Only (00:00):

Hello everyone. My name is Emily and I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist practicing in the state of California. Today I'm going to lead you through a progressive muscle relaxation. This is an exercise that is often used to calm the body when someone is feeling anxious or stressed out. I use this with my clients and I also do it myself when I'm feeling really overwhelmed. What I'm going to have you do is tense different muscles, starting with the muscles in the face, and moving through the body all the way down to your toes when you tense the muscle. Make sure to use some force, however, not enough to strain anything since we don't want you to hurt yourself. And when I say relax, you'll go ahead and just quickly let go of the tension in that muscle feeling. The muscle kind of instantly relax.

(00:47)
Just so that you know, we'll tense each muscle for about five to seven seconds and have about 12 to 15 seconds between each muscle. Don't worry about the timing, I'll keep that for you. I'm just letting you know so you don't get confused by any silence. Alright, so why don't you start by getting yourself into a comfortable position. I usually suggest sitting on a floor with your back, sorry, sitting on a chair with your backstreet and feet firmly planted on the floor. But some people prefer to lie down. If you feel safe and comfortable, you can close your eyes. If not, just soften your gaze so your eyes unfocus. Alright, the first thing that we're going to do to start is just take a few long deep breaths. I'll go ahead and count you for the first one, so take a big inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, two, three, exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Hold, two, three. And again, inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, two, three, exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

(02:10):

And one more time on your own.

(02:23):

Okay. As we move along, try to remember to breathe gently and comfortably. If you notice your mind start to wander, this is completely normal. Just go ahead and gently bring your attention back to whatever muscle it is that we are working on. Let's start. So keeping your eyes closed, raise your eyebrows as high as you can and hold

(02:50):

And let them fall. Feeling those muscles relax. Next, smile widely, feeling your whole face sort of squish and hold and relax.

(03:23)
Next, squeeze your eyes tightly closed as hard as you can and relax. Then lift your shoulders up towards the sky and relax. Then pull your shoulders back as if you were trying to make them touch behind you and relax. Next, you'll stiffen your arms, tensing the muscles in your arms, and relax and ball your hands up into a tight fist and relax. Breathe in as much air as you can and suck in your stomach and relax. Next, you'll tense your thighs and relax. Then point your toes upward as though pointing them at your chest and relax, and then curl your toes downward and relax. Finally, you're going to tense all of your body at once, everything that you can just squeeze together and relax and let your entire body soften. Bring your attention back to your breathing. Breathing slowly and deeply, feeling your entire body calm and at ease. Give yourself whatever reminders

(08:45):

You might need for your day, maybe telling yourself that it's okay to make mistakes or okay to not get everything done. That whatever, whatever you're capable of today is enough. Perhaps you're reminding yourself that you are worthy of love and belonging exactly as you are, or giving yourself permission to not be your best today. Whatever kindness and grace you need to offer yourself, go

(09:12):

Ahead and just do that now.

(09:28):

Go ahead and just take about three to five more long, deep breaths, and when you're ready, you can open your eyes and come back into the room. I want to go

(09:57):

Ahead and thank you for joining me today. I did this progressive muscle relaxation with no background noise or background music because that is how I prefer it. There are lots of other free progressive muscle relaxations available on YouTube. So if you find one where you like the timing better or the background noise better, there are some other options there as well. If you just type progressive muscle relaxation into the search bar, if you did like this one, feel free to save it, mark it, share it with your friends, and yeah, thank you guys all so much and I hope beautiful day.