The Letting Go & Starting Again Relaxation Training Exercise (may help cognitive anxiety)

Begin this Relaxation exercise by thinking about the idea of ‘Letting Go.’ I believe it is helpful to know exactly what you are attempting to let go of, so your chances of success are increased. First, let go of your breath by exhaling completely all of the stale air that may be trapped in the lower lobes of your lungs. Next, begin letting go of your muscle tension in your shoulders by putting your shoulders as close to the floor as you can get them. Let go of all of the muscle tension in your shoulders and allow them to feel heavier to you and your neck to feel longer to you as you continue to slowly exhale all the air from your lower lungs. Letting go completely of all muscle tension in your shoulders and breath in your lungs, so that there is no holding of breath or holding of muscle tension in your lungs or shoulders, letting go a little more on each gentle and complete exhale. Gently press the back of your head into the furniture so your collarbone muscles will release in the front of your neck, too. These are the necklace muscles. Relax your necklace muscles. Continue gently letting go of more muscle tension from your neck, forehead, jawline and ribcage as you continue letting go of all of your breath on each gentle exhale, more and more letting go of breath and upper body muscle tension very slowly. When you notice any holding of muscle tension or any holding of your breath in your lungs, just start again and let go gently and slowly of your muscle tension and breath, again and again as you gently exhale and slowly relax again. The tightening of upper body muscles and the holding of breath is a reflexive process and cannot be turned off. So, it is important for all of your daily activities to stay mindful of letting go of upper body muscle tension and breath again and again throughout your busy day.

Continue the letting go & starting again process now by letting go of your mental judgment regarding stressful topics in your daily life. Continue just letting go of your muscle tension in your shoulders and exhaling fully as you choose to refuse to judge yourself or your life right now. Instead, be more matter of fact or ‘it is what it is’ about those same life stressors happening now. The judgment of self and life as good or bad adds extra stress in the form of breath holding and shoulder muscle tension, no matter what you are doing. So, choose to tell yourself, ‘it is what it is’ and that is all, without judging it, too. It is a tough time, or whatever, that is all. Refuse to think further about it right now. Let go of judgment about yourself or your life, let go of your breath and let go of your upper body muscle tension more and more on each gentle exhale. Allow your eyes to move freely as you move them gently side-to-side, relaxing your eye muscles a little bit, too. As you continue letting go of breath and personal judgment and muscle tension again and again on each gentle exhale you may notice your thoughts about yourself and your life have shifted to become a little better feeling & friendlier, too. This auto-correct of our negative thoughts to become kinder, more accurate thoughts happens after muscle tension, breathing patterns & personal judgment are relaxed, not before. So, if you don’t like your thoughts about yourself or your life, just take a moment to let go of breath, muscle tension and personal judgment, so that there is no holding of breath, no holding of muscle tension and no holding of judgment, and start again on your busy day. You have completed the Letting Go & Starting Again RTE.