Breathing

I take off my coat.  I realise how tense I am.  This tumultuous day has taken hold of all the muscles in my neck and shoulders and just tugged and tightened slowly over the hours.  My arms are tight, my legs and feet are tense.  Everything is wound up.  I didn't notice until this moment.

Sigh.

I tell my self I need to relax.  Take some breaths.  Sloooow breaths.  Focus on the breathing.  Nothing else.  Quiet those swirling thoughts.  Power down.  Unwind.  It occurs to do some Progressive Relaxation Techniques so I sit down on the chair in the kitchen, lean back and just focus on relaxing my face, with focus and awareness, from my forehead to my cheeks, to my chin, then my mouth.

Often when I'm really wound up I have to tighten and loosen alternately a few times so I can get a feel for the fully relaxed state of the muscles and get them to stay there.  Tonight, it is hard to get the feel for my muscles as I move through my usual PRT routine.  I refocus, take more breaths.  Always more breaths.  I move to my neck, linger there a while just really appreciating the feeling of those muscles being fully relaxed.  Starting to get into the groove more now.  More breaths.

Shoulders.  Back.  Getting easier to clear my mind.  More breaths.  I imagine I am breathing in light and purity and goodness, relaxation and rejuvenation while I breathe out all my stress, tension, frustration, confusion and fatigue.  I let my body sink into the chair.  I feel the relaxation in my legs, in my calves and my ankles, in my wrists and my fingers.  I lavish in the sensations of total relaxation.  Aaaaaah... It's okay to be here.  It's okay for me to be here.  I can relax.  It's okay to be relaxed.  I breathe in the light and relaxation, breathe out the tension and stress.  Breathe in the light and relaxation, breathe out the tension and stress.  Breathe out the tension and stress.  Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat...

Keep breathing.