July 30, 2011

Following an energy work session, people often ask how to relax on their own. Below is a combination of guided visualization and progressive relaxation, which is can be used to help you detach from the stress of the day.

To begin, make yourself comfortable in a place where you can safely close your eyes and will not be disturbed. Take two slow and easy breaths. For this process, there is no right or wrong way to breathe. Simply breathe.

Now, imagine a ball of light above your head. It can be any color. Let the light gently flow down into the top of your head. Allow the light to relax everything it touches as it slowly moves downward. Feel it begin to relax your head.

Let it flow down across your forehead and your eyebrows, then down, inside and behind your eyes, relaxing everything from the front of your head to the back. Let the light flow down to your ears, cheeks and nose. Let everything go. Gently breathe in and out.

Let the light flow down to your mouth, allowing your jaw to relax, then down to your chin, and through your throat and neck. Feel yourself becoming more relaxed. Gently breathe in and out.

Allow the light to flow down through and around your shoulders. Feel your shoulders becoming more and more relaxed. Then, let the light flow down through your arms and elbows, and gently through your wrists, hands and fingers. Let everything go. Gently breathe in and out.

Beginning again at your shoulders, let the light flow down into your back, through your shoulder blades and through all of your back muscles, flowing down your spine to its base. Let your back relax. Let everything go. Gently breathe in and breathe out.

Returning to your shoulders, let the light flow gently down the front of your body. Down through your chest, under your ribs and down through all of your vital organs. Let everything go. Feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed. Gently breathe in and out.

Let the light flow down into your hips and through your thighs, and gently through and around your knees. Let it flow down into your lower legs and ankles and then into your feet, from your heels to your toes. Let everything go. Gently breathe in and out.

Enjoy the feeling of being relaxed.

Dave Gorczynski is president of SPARK, a non-profit organization that has provided free energy work sessions and workshops across New York City since 2002. He writes a regular column about energy work and meditation for the Compact News in New York City's Chinatown. E-mail him at dave@sparkenergy.org.