Podcast Ep. 2 ~ Relaxation Meditation

In this podcast episode, you will hear the first track of the 3 Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation Meditation MP3 series.

We intend to use these first few podcasts to provide some background information on yoga and meditation. Once we have covered the basics, we can dive deep into the more amazing aspects of Indian philosophy and its esoteric traditions.

Probably the most basic and fundamental aspect of yoga and meditation is relaxation.

Though it is a foundation practice, that does not mean it is easy. In fact, it is a lot more difficult than most people think. True relaxation means more than just muscular relaxation. It means having a relaxed mind, emotions, and personality.

What happens for most people who start to meditate is that they begin with some basic relaxation technique or use a simple form of meditation to relax their body and mind. They aim to reduce the adverse effects of stress and calm an overactive mind. Most people can only relax the more superficial layers of their body and mind. It can be challenging to penetrate relaxation into the deeper layers of the mind and emotions because of a lifetime of stored stresses, traumas, tensions, and the demands of a busy life. To achieve more profound relaxation to remove the adverse effects of stress or trauma, you need other practices that help to remove deeper tensions and restore balance.

We have two MP3 series and one course on Relaxation Meditation:

Introduction to Yoga Nidra and Meditation – Yoga Nidra Meditation is the most popular relaxation meditation in the world today. There are three meditations in this Yoga Nidra package.

3 Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation – This series of yoga and meditation techniques takes you step by step through the process of relaxation and how to handle stress with greater resilience, mental calm, and understanding.

Relaxation Meditation – Relax, De-Stress, Recuperate – This is our main course on Relaxation Meditation. It is a deep dive into stress, tension, and relaxation meditation. It guides you toward mastery of relaxation meditation so that you become a more relaxed person with the ability to remain relatively relaxed under difficult and challenging circumstances.

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Podcast Transcript ~ Episode 2

Welcome to Light on Yoga and Meditation Podcast. My name is Dr. Swami Shankardev. I am a co-creator of Big Shakti, along with my partner Jayne Stevenson. This podcast is dedicated to providing you with authentic, accurate knowledge and access to a range of powerful techniques from different wisdom traditions to achieve health, enlightenment, and prosperity. We are also very interested in how to use yoga and meditation to increase both lifespan and health span, reduce chronic illness, improve physical and mental resilience, and accelerate your spiritual evolution.

We intend to use these first few episodes to provide background information on yoga and meditation. Once we have covered the basics, we can dive deep into the more amazing aspects of Indian philosophy and its esoteric traditions.

Probably the most basic and fundamental aspect of yoga and meditation is relaxation. Though it is a foundation practice, that does not mean it is easy. In fact, it is a lot more difficult than most people think. This is because true relaxation means more than just muscular relaxation. It means having a relaxed mind, emotions, and personality.

What happens for most people who start to meditate is that they begin with some basic relaxation technique or use a simple form of meditation to relax their body and mind. They aim to reduce the adverse effects of stress and calm an overactive mind. Most people can only relax the more superficial layers of their body and mind. It can be challenging to penetrate relaxation into the deeper layers of the mind and emotions because of a lifetime of stored stresses, traumas, tensions, and the demands of a busy life. To achieve deeper relaxation and remove the adverse effects of stress or trauma, you need other practices to help remove deeper tensions and restore balance.

We have two MP3 series and one course on Relaxation Meditation. Of course, the most popular relaxation meditation in the world today by far is Yoga Nidra. Our Yoga Nidra package has an introductory lecture, a Yoga Nidra practice that I have used in my medical practice since 1987, and a wonderfully healing deep relaxation meditation practice, which is perfect for recuperation from stress, exhaustion, illness, surgery, and so on. That meditation has been broken down into the Three Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation guided meditation series. This unique training program takes you step by step through the process of relaxation. If you want to go even deeper, then we recommend that you do our Relaxation Meditation Course, which is a dive into stress, tension, and using relaxation meditation to be able not just to reduce the adverse effects of stress but be better able to handle stress with greater resilience, mental calm, and understanding.

In this episode, you will hear the first track of the 3 Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation Meditation MP3 series.

When relaxation is mastered, you are a relaxed person and possess the skills to remain relatively relaxed under challenging circumstances. We support you in developing this skill through our relaxation meditation MP3s and courses.

Introduction to Yoga Nidra and Meditation

3 Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation

Relaxation Meditation – Relax, De-Stress, Recuperate

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 Relaxation

Relaxation is both a normal function of the nervous system and also a skill that can be learned.

At a very primitive level, we are designed to respond to the stresses of life by becoming more alert and mobilizing energy so that we can respond quickly and efficiently. We are also programmed to rest deeply to recuperate from daily stresses. Recuperation allows us to regain our energy and prepare for the subsequent stress.

The sympathetic nervous system is the part of us dealing with stress. It is instinct, designed to help us fight or retreat from a situation. It is meant to be turned on for short bursts of activity to respond to stresses and emergencies.

The part of us designed to allow us to rest and recuperate energy is called the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system controls rest and relaxation, slows the heart rate and breathing, lowers blood pressure, and digests food. It is in charge of digestion, restoration, and recuperation so that we are full of zing and vigor. This is called “the relaxation response.”

We are born with a natural ability to relax …

… hardwired into the nervous system. However, this normal ability to relax can be altered by our upbringing or by life’s experiences. For example, if we are constantly in a stressful environment, the nerves and chemicals that are designed to handle stress may be turned on too frequently. We may then find it difficult to turn this function off when we do not need it. It may also be difficult to turn on the parasympathetic nervous system in order to relax. This can occur, for example, with people who have witnessed severe traumas leading to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Most of us live in a world bombarded by stressful stimuli. In a typical busy lifestyle, there are a lot of things to think about, lots of worries, and too many demands and pressures. For this reason, our bodies and nerves are often pushed in the direction of stress, and many people cannot relax and lose touch with the relaxation response. Fortunately, this response can be learned, or rather, taught to the body-mind.

Relaxation is a relatively easy skill to learn. Like any skill, we learn to relax in organized steps. We take manageable chunks that we can easily practice and digest. We practice these until we have a handle on the process and then progress to the next step. Practice is essential in turning the natural ability of relaxation into a skill.

The yogic approach to relaxation training is very simple and very systematic and allows us to go very deep. It takes us sequentially into the relaxation of both the body and the mind.

There are three basic steps to learning deep relaxation. The first is called body scanning. The second is to learn to observe the natural, spontaneous breath. And the third is to learn to control the breath.

The first step in yogic relaxation is called “Body Scanning.”

In body scanning, we take our awareness around the body so that we begin to consciously feel where we are holding tension. We can then learn to relax this tension.

It is common to create and hold tensions without us even knowing it. So, the first step in learning to relax is to focus on areas of the body where we may be holding tensions so that we can become aware of where we are unconsciously contracting.

We can hold tensions in almost any part of the body where there are muscles. This includes the limbs and joints, the neck and shoulders, the jaw, the eyes, and the scalp muscles. Or, we can hold tension in the muscles of our internal organs, and this could cause odd pains in the muscles around the blood vessels, causing high blood pressure. (5:10)

It is best to scan the body by following a set routine or ritual, starting in one area of the body and moving sequentially to the next area. For example, we might start at the feet and then work our way through the body until we get to the top of the head. Or we might start from the top and work down.

Scanning is like shining a torch light into an area of tension. It allows us to see, feel and know where we are holding tension and to begin to get a sense of how much tension we are holding. We can also begin to feel the pressures we unconsciously exert on ourselves. Once we know we have tensions, we can begin to do something about them.

Simply becoming aware of tensions can be enough to release them. Or we may use our breath to aid the release of tension. Releasing tension turns on the relaxation response. So, scanning the body is an important and effective tool in locating and eradicating tension.

Step 2 of relaxation is called “Observing the Breath.”

The breath is one of the most important tools we have to induce the relaxation response. By taking our awareness to the breath, we begin to exert subtle conscious control over the breath, which can have a profound effect on how we feel. When we are unconscious of breathing, the breath can become tight, shallow, and erratic, causing us to feel uneasy without really knowing why.

When we are tense, worried, or anxious, we will often shorten our breathing or even stop breathing. We tense our muscles around the chest and diaphragm so that the breath becomes very shallow and erratic. This can cause us to sigh a lot or even gasp for air.

Holding or stopping breathing causes imbalance, such as fatigue. Tensing muscles of the body against stress is called “bracing”. We often unconsciously brace against real or imagined pressures. Unfortunately, bracing reduces efficient breathing and often makes everything much worse because we lose energy.

We can use the breath to remove tension from the muscles of the body and from the internal spaces and organs. This will help us to more effectively deal with the stresses of life. We begin by observing and tuning into the feeling of the natural breath. This very simple exercise has an immediate and automatic calming effect on the mind and body and increases our energy.

The breath is divided into three main components: inhalation, exhalation, and the space between the breaths. For relaxation, we mainly use inhalation and exhalation. The component of the breath most aligned with relaxation is exhalation because it is a passive process. Inhalation is an active breath and requires some muscular contraction to suck air into the lungs. It requires some effort and energy. Exhalation does not. To consciously relax, we use the passive “letting go” aspect of exhalation to turn on the relaxation response.

This has a powerful effect on the nerves of the body as well as on the mind and thinking. The sense of relaxation is conveyed to the mind via the nerves. If we practice these skills even after a short period of time, we begin to feel a deep sense of confidence because we know we can create more relaxed feelings anytime we want to.

Step 3 of Relaxation is called “Breath Control.”

Once we have mastered the skill of observation of the passive breath, we can learn to control the breath. Controlling the breath allows us to deeply influence the nervous system. The process of inducing relaxation quickly becomes second nature to us, and we can begin to use this skill anytime and anywhere we need it.

Inhalation takes in oxygen and energy, which nourishes and strengthens the body. Inhalation also gently stretches the body facilitating the release of tension. Inhalation is followed by exhalation, and exhalation induces a deepening sense of relaxation. It leads to a very joyful sense of letting go.

In its most simple state, this can be felt when we take a deep breath in, hold it for a moment and then let go. There is a deep body sense of letting go and relaxation.

During step 3 of relaxation, we learn to consciously lengthen the breath. There are several methods of lengthening the breath. And one of the easiest methods is to count each breath in and each breath out. For example, up to 3 or 4.

Which positions are used for relaxation?

It is good to learn to relax in any position, sitting on the floor, lying down, or in a comfortable chair. It is also a good idea to learn to relax in all three primary positions, standing, sitting, and lying, to maintain a relatively relaxed state under most conditions.

If you use a chair, it is best to use one that supports you well and allows you to have a relatively straight spine and to breathe freely. If we slouch, we squash our lungs, which interferes with our breathing. Experiment with different sitting postures, chairs, and so on until you find the posture that is most comfortable for you while keeping your spine straight.

The easiest posture for relaxation is lying on the back. When we lie on our backs, all the muscles of the body are in their neutral position and are supported by the surface we are lying on. No effort is required to support the body, as occurs in the upright posture. The problem tends to be that it’s easy to fall asleep. Therefore, when practicing relaxation in the lying position, it’s important to remain awake so that you can consciously direct the process of relaxation to get the benefit of the deeper and more healing stages.

If we are tired, it can be difficult to stay awake during the practice. Under these circumstances, sleep is not a bad thing. Over a period of time of practicing relaxation, we will recoup energy so that we can remain awake. We can then remain aware throughout the process in order to feel and experience what happens. The feeling of deep relaxation is truly joyful and healing. (13:04)

The aim of learning to relax…

… is so that we can apply the techniques to our everyday life. Ultimately, we learn to bring relaxation skills into many and varied conditions so that we remain relatively more relaxed and better able to think and respond to life’s varied stresses and demands.

The more we practice something, the more available it is when we need it, especially in trying times. We practice relaxation so that we embody relaxation. Relaxation becomes a natural part of our make-up, our personality, and our attitude. We become a more relaxed person. We develop a more relaxed attitude towards life in general. In fact, over time, it is possible to learn to enjoy facing stresses and to see these as challenges to grow from rather than as parts of life we seek to avoid.

The more we practice, the more we connect to the positive in life, and this gives us better health and strength, peace, and wisdom at all levels of our being. Relaxation is a side-effect of aligning ourselves with the positive in life.

You will find it becomes easier and easier to relax…

Once you have practiced a few times, you will find it becomes easier to apply the techniques to your everyday life. You will then be able to relax more deeply whenever you want or need to, anytime and anywhere, with your eyes open or closed.

You can easily induce a more relaxed state, even during stressful and busy times, during an unpleasant experience, or a negative situation or emotion. All you need to do is to remember to use your technique. Experiment in finding new ways to apply what you have learned. In this way, you will handle all the situations in your life much more successfully.

Learning to relax has many positive benefits, including improved health, better decision-making, better concentration, better memory, greater confidence, a sense of self-control, and greater emotional calm. By learning to relax, you will develop more confidence in dealing with stress. At the same time, you are learning to create your own positive feelings. You are learning to take more control of your life.

I wish you every success in your journey to a more relaxed and aware state of being. (16:08)

Thanks for listening

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Unwind, take a break from your daily activities, and learn how to use different forms of meditation to achieve inner tranquillity, happiness, fulfillment, and spiritual awakening. You learn the keys to a healthy lifestyle, a calm, clear mind, emotional resilience, and spiritual insight.

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