Day 90: Relax! Go To It!

I am really excited about today's relaxation technique! This is my go-to way to relax when my mind and body are wound up. Sometimes I don't know how wound up and tense I am until I do it, but when I'm done, I feel like a new woman. Or I just fall asleep because I am so relaxed!

The key concept for this technique is called an "Isometric Contraction": it's a fancy term for working the muscle without moving it. Here's a practical example: imagine you are holding up a bucket of sand. This is an isometric contraction.The muscle is working, lifting the bucket, but since it is heavy, your arm does not go up more, it stays static, in one place. If you need to move the body parts in order to understand how to engage it, that's ok.

I take the time to explain this because doing isometric contractions are a key part of today's 5 Ways in 5 Days to Handle Stress.

Coming soon: Watch the Video!

Technique #2: Contract & Relax Muscle Relaxation 
This is a great technique to pair with meditation or to use on it's own. I use it when I can't fall asleep.

Lay down (face up) in an area where you will not be disturbed for at least 30 minutes without being disturbed. It is best to lay with your arms laying relaxed and loose at your sides. **The fingers, hands, feet and toes are the only regular contractions you will be doing. The rest will be isometric (static or not moving, but squeezing then relaxing)**.

• Starting with your toes, take a deep breath as you flex your toes tightly in toward your foot, and hold both your breath and the muscular contraction for 5 seconds. 
•  As you are holding the contraction and your breath, notice how tight your toes feel. 
• Relax the muscles of your toes as you exhale, and let your whole body sink into the floor.

• Next, with  both feet, take a deep breath as you flex both feet , and hold both your breath and the contraction for 5 seconds (the heel comes down, as if you are pointing your toes, but clench the toes also).
• As you are holding the contraction and your breath, notice how tight your feet feel. 
• Relax the muscles of your feet as you exhale, and let your whole body sink into the floor.

Continue these steps with the rest of the muscles on the back of the body. These will be an isometric (static) contraction. Focus on squeezing the muscles this time, as if there were something keeping them from moving.

Back of the Body
Flex toes
Flex foot
Flex calves
Flex hamstrings & Butt - back of upper leg/hip
Flex the back: the torso-arch the back
Back of neck - your chin goes straight up
Back of the Head and face - first open your eyes wide and pull the jaw back

Front of the Body
Front of the head and face - squint or close your eyes and make a pucker face
Front of the neck- drop the chin down to the chest
Flex the abs: torso - crunch forward
Flex  front of hip - raise the pelvis
Flex the front of upper leg - relax the knee and let the upper leg raise
Flex the front of lower leg - quad will engage to let the whole leg raise
Extend top of the foot and point the toes

Again, for each part of the body, the steps are;
1. Inhale and squeeze the muscle of that body part
2. Hold your breath at the top and focus on the squeezed, tightened muscle
3. Exhale and relax, let you body sink into the floor and feel your body relax
4. Hold your breath at the bottom and focus on the way the relaxed muscle feels.
5. Switch to the next area of the body and repeat steps 1-4.

I try to do at least two cycles of this, starting and ending at the toes as 1 cycle.

If you are using this technique to help you fall asleep, you can repeat this as many times as you need to until you fall asleep.

I hope you try this technique and let me know how it goes!


FOOD
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with WW toast
Snack: a banana and a HBE
Lunch: a leftover Portobello Pizza! and some mini bell peppers
Snack: an apple and a string cheese
Dinner: homemade turkey chili

EXERCISE
It's another cold day and a work day, so yeah, call me a lazy bum, but I stayed in bed again. :(

Thanks so much for reading!!