Tense and relax each group of muscles, from your toes to your head.
How To Do It
Lie or sit down comfortably. Spend 5 seconds holding and then relaxing different muscle groups, one at a time, starting with your feet. Clench and release your toes, then work your way up as you tighten the muscles in your legs, stomach, back, [arm, neck and face. Finish by doing each group in reverse back down until you reach your toes. Once there, take 10 deep breaths.] Breathe slowly and deeply, and concentrate on the feelings that come from fully relaxing the muscle groups.
Why It Matters
Tensing and relaxing your muscles helps you to understand what complete relaxation feels like. This can make you more aware of needing to relax muscles when tighten in response to stress. As you relax your body, your mind also relaxes.
Fun Fact
The masseter, the jaw muscle used to chew food, is the strongest muscle in the body. It can close the teeth with a force as great as 200 pounds on the molars.
-- From meyouthealth.com
They taught us this relaxation technique in PT school. It's called progressive relaxation and I love it personally. I added a bit to their directions. I like the feeling of a complete circle with my relaxation... all feng shui.
If you'd like something more guided, here's a youtube video that does basically the same stuff, in a slightly different manner.
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