Relaxation Exercise

woman meditating

When you get really tense, it helps to relax your body. You can read this exercise to yourself or have another family member read it to you.

  1. Concentrate on your feet. Feel the bones inside your feet. Feel the muscles that move these bones. Tense your feet by curling your toes. Now, relax your toes. Feel a soothing, tingling sensation that comes into your feet. Notice the difference between when they were tense and the way they are now.
  2. Now tense your legs. Point your toes and lift your legs up off the floor an inch or two. Now let your legs drop. Let all the tightness drain out.
  3. Now tighten your fists. Clench them really hard. Now let them go limp.
  4. Now imagine that you're a turtle. Shrug your shoulders up toward your head, like you're going to pull your head into your shell. Feel the tension around your neck. Count to five and let all the tension go away.
  5. Just lie there and imagine that you're in a warm bathtub.
  6. Move your jaw back and forth, then let your jaw and tongue go limp.
  7. Very gently check your whole body with your mind. Find any part of your body that's not fully relaxed. Take a deep breath and, when you let the air out, imagine that you're blowing the air right out through your skin where there's any tension or tightness.
  8. Start at the top of your head. See if there's a place where tension is still hiding out. Move down your shoulders, your arms, and your chest.
  9. Keep taking slow deep breaths and picture yourself in a place that makes you feel very comfortable and safe.

Pressed for time?
Take a deep, slow breath. When your lungs are full, let the air out slowly. As you breathe out, let your shoulders go limp and let your forehead and mouth relax. Tell yourself that you will stay calm.

Source: Shari L. Wade and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Putting the Pieces Together: An Online Intervention for Pediatric Brain Injury. Materials adapted from study. 2002.