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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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Hey! Welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. We've made it to day five, which means we're more than halfway through the program. Yesterday, we explored stepping out of our minds, stepping out of our thoughts and ideas and dropping into our bodies. But sometimes when we do that, we notice that there's a lot of tension we're holding in our bodies. So today we're going to explore some strategies to help relax and soften that tension.
This topic makes me think of, when I was in high school. I must've went four years in high school with my shoulders up like this, without even realizing it. I remember I went to a yoga meditation class in college and the instructor said, why don't you practice just relaxing your shoulders? And then, my mind said, what are you talking about? They are relaxed. I didn't realize how much tension I was holding. And she said, I'll show you something.
And she walked me through what's called progressive muscle relaxation. Where instead of just trying to relax, she said, actually tense the shoulders even more. So tense them even more. She said, now relax, and I went like this [sigh] — my shoulders dropped like three inches. It was amazing.
And it was the first time that I realized just how much tension my body was holding. And it's, it's true when we're holding stress or when we're experiencing stress, the body accumulates a lot of tension subconsciously. So, I want to walk you through a few progressive muscle relaxation strategies that you can do. We'll start with the shoulders, since that's often the most obvious one. So all you, all you need to do is just practice, bunching the shoulders up like this.
We're going to squeeze for three, two, one and, then release. Feel the contract there? This is what tension feels like. This is what ease feels like. It's important to start to train the body to know that. Let's do it with the face.
This one's interesting. Oh, hopefully nobody's looking. We're going to bunch the face up. So punch it. Squeeze the eyes, squeeze the nose, squeeze the mouth, the cheeks, holding for three, two, one, and then release.
Feel the blood flow, relaxing the face. Cool. And let's do it now with the hands and the belly. We'll link those two together. So squeezing the hands together into, into a fist and then also squeezing the belly.
So squeezing one, two, three, and then relax. Ah. You feel some of the ease that can come with that? A lot of times, since we're so used to walking around in a state of tension, we need to tense the body more and then relax so that we can feel the contrast. This is a simple strategy you can use throughout the day. Something before a tense presentation, or after you get out of a difficult conversation, or maybe in the shower in the morning, when you want to help release and melt away some of that tension.
You could do it with the entire body all at once, or you could do a body part to body parts, starting at the head, dropping all the way down to the feet. But the more you do this, the more you're practicing, releasing that tension. We'll do some more practices in the meditation today to help release some of this bodily tension. But the progressive muscle relaxation is something you can take into your day immediately. As always, thanks for your practice.
I'll talk to you shortly, and take care.
Melting Tension
Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Duration
Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.
Hey! Welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. We've made it to day five, which means we're more than halfway through the program. Yesterday, we explored stepping out of our minds, stepping out of our thoughts and ideas and dropping into our bodies. But sometimes when we do that, we notice that there's a lot of tension we're holding in our bodies. So today we're going to explore some strategies to help relax and soften that tension.
This topic makes me think of, when I was in high school. I must've went four years in high school with my shoulders up like this, without even realizing it. I remember I went to a yoga meditation class in college and the instructor said, why don't you practice just relaxing your shoulders? And then, my mind said, what are you talking about? They are relaxed. I didn't realize how much tension I was holding. And she said, I'll show you something.
And she walked me through what's called progressive muscle relaxation. Where instead of just trying to relax, she said, actually tense the shoulders even more. So tense them even more. She said, now relax, and I went like this [sigh] — my shoulders dropped like three inches. It was amazing.
And it was the first time that I realized just how much tension my body was holding. And it's, it's true when we're holding stress or when we're experiencing stress, the body accumulates a lot of tension subconsciously. So, I want to walk you through a few progressive muscle relaxation strategies that you can do. We'll start with the shoulders, since that's often the most obvious one. So all you, all you need to do is just practice, bunching the shoulders up like this.
We're going to squeeze for three, two, one and, then release. Feel the contract there? This is what tension feels like. This is what ease feels like. It's important to start to train the body to know that. Let's do it with the face.
This one's interesting. Oh, hopefully nobody's looking. We're going to bunch the face up. So punch it. Squeeze the eyes, squeeze the nose, squeeze the mouth, the cheeks, holding for three, two, one, and then release.
Feel the blood flow, relaxing the face. Cool. And let's do it now with the hands and the belly. We'll link those two together. So squeezing the hands together into, into a fist and then also squeezing the belly.
So squeezing one, two, three, and then relax. Ah. You feel some of the ease that can come with that? A lot of times, since we're so used to walking around in a state of tension, we need to tense the body more and then relax so that we can feel the contrast. This is a simple strategy you can use throughout the day. Something before a tense presentation, or after you get out of a difficult conversation, or maybe in the shower in the morning, when you want to help release and melt away some of that tension.
You could do it with the entire body all at once, or you could do a body part to body parts, starting at the head, dropping all the way down to the feet. But the more you do this, the more you're practicing, releasing that tension. We'll do some more practices in the meditation today to help release some of this bodily tension. But the progressive muscle relaxation is something you can take into your day immediately. As always, thanks for your practice.
I'll talk to you shortly, and take care.
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Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
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You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
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Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
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I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
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