RELAXATION TECHNIQUES I

                                October 8, 1989


    RELAXING THE BODY

    Close your eyes.  Get yourself comfortable,  and  concentrate  on  your
    breathing.

    Pay  close  attention  to  your breathing.  Recognize how slow and deep
    breathing will help to induce relaxation.  Exhale.  Then  take  a  deep
    breath  in  through  your  nose  and  blow  it  out through your mouth.
    Breathe from your abdomen, deeply and slowly.

    As you concentrate on  your  breathing,  focus  your  attention  on  an
    imaginary  spot in the center of your forehead.  Look at the spot as if
    you were trying to see it from inside your head.

    You will begin to realize that your eyelids have become tense.

    Get  a  sense  of  how tense the eyelids can become as you stare at the
    spot that you can compare this feeling with relaxation.

    When your eyelids become strained and  uncomfortable,  let  them  drop.
    Notice  the  feeling of relaxation that radiates all through and around
    your eyes.  Allow that feeling of warmth and relaxation to move out  to
    the temples and across the forehead.

    Let  the  relaxation  then  radiate  to your scalp, to the back of your
    head, to your ears, temples, cheeks, nose, then to your mouth and chin.

    As you feel all the tension leave your face, relax  your  jaw  muscles.
    Let  your  jaw open slightly, so that all the tension can smoothly flow
    away.

    Relax the muscles in your neck.  As you do, let your head  tip  forward
    gently so your chin just about touches your chest.

    Let  this  feeling of relaxation flow down into your shoulders and from
    there into the muscles of your arms and hands,  then  down  your  back,
    over  to the front of the chest, on down to the abdomen, and then allow
    it to reach all the way down to the base of the spine.

    Let the buttocks go completely loose and limp.  Allow  the  warmth  and
    relaxation  to  spread  to  the  thighs,  on down the legs, down to the
    ankles, and down through the feet to the tips of the toes.

    Now you feel completely relaxed.  Take a moment, starting from the  top
    of  your  head  and working down, to check to see if any part of you is
    not yet fully relaxed.

    If you find any part of your body not fully relaxed,  simply  inhale  a
    deep  breath  and  send  it  into the area, bringing soothing, healing,
    relaxing, nourishing oxygen  to  comfort  that  area.   As  you  exhale
    imagine  blowing out right through your skin any tension, tightness, or
    discomfort.  By inhaling a breath into that  area  and  exhaling  right
    through  the  skin, you are able to replace tension in any part of your
    body with gentle relaxation.

    When you find yourself quiet and fully relaxed, take a few  moments  to
    enjoy  it.