day 10

Mind Alchemy Day 10

We’ve covered a lot of ground over the last previous 9 days and have worked on some potentially life changing exercises.  Well it’s time for a little chilling out for a few days

Today is another Daily Practice exercise. If you have been following this course you should now be reading your outcomes every single day and hopefully you are already seeing the benefit of focusing on your outcomes for 10 minutes per day. Now I want to introduce another daily practice, and it’s something we might take for granted and that’s relaxation.

We all know how to do it, we all know the benefits and yet very few of us practice relaxation of any form.

What is relaxation?

Relaxation is taking our bodies and our minds and letting them chill out for 10-15 minutes per day. No agenda, no stress around doing it, no formal training, no going to meditation or yoga classes, just sitting, or lying, down and letting your mind and body be calm for 10-15 minutes every day.

“There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.”

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Relaxation technique

There are many many forms of relaxation and if you are not used to it here is a very simple technique for practising it.

1. Choose a quiet haven for you. Your bedroom, the bathroom, the garage, anywhere where you won’t be disturbed.

2. Do a few gentle stretching exercises to loosen up your muscles, so muscle tension won’t be a distraction for you.
3. Get comfortable in a chair, or lye down on a mat of some kind.
4. Start to slowly breath in, as you breath in let your lungs fill and push your stomach out, a la pregnant pose. When you exhale, do it slowly, and when you exhale pull your stomach in to try and get your stomach to the inside of your back, in other words pull your stomach in as far as you can. Do this 5 times.
5. Now gently tense, then relax, each part of your body starting from you feet and work your way upwards.
6. As you are tensing each area, think of a warm glow coming into that area, with a relaxed heaviness.
7. If any thoughts come to mind, just let them drift by without attaching to them. This can be tricky at first but with practice you will learn to let thoughts drift through your mind.
8. Once you have completed a round of tensing and relaxing your body. Take a few minutes to go to a place in your mind that you find extremely relaxing: A garden, a waterfall, the beach, anywhere that brings you a feeling of peace and serenity.
9. Stay like this for about 15 minutes. Now take some deep breathes in, pushing out your stomach, and exhale slowly pulling in your stomach. Lie for another few moments before getting up.

This is a simple routine that can be practised on a daily basis. You might already know another technique for relaxing, or you might do some meditation, tai chi or yoga that will get you into this frame of mind. The important part is that you do this every single day and make it as much a part of your daily routine as brushing your teeth is.

I guarantee you after a few weeks of doing this every day you will be a much calmer, relaxed, and focused person. It will increas your mental well being and is an extremely effective tool for preventing stress and anxiety.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I want to continue with the theme of relaxation and have a guided meditation for you, which I hope you’ll love.  Until tomorrow my fellow Mind Alchemists……..