A Yoga Nidra Technique to Find the Place of Peace Within

To make peace, find the place of peace within.

If on this day, or any day, your mind is infused with concern about the past, worries about the future...anxious for yourself, for your friends, for

vulnerable members of your community, for those who struggle, both in and out of sight, you might spend a few moments coming home to the place of peace within you.

The circumstances of this day and all others require us to be clear-sighted, open-hearted, and loving. Everything and everyone we love needs our courage, our intelligence, our compassion.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR, is a relaxation technique developed by Dr. Edmund Jacobson. It's quite simple to do and is profoundly beneficial. Even if you just have a few moments, I encourage you to give it a try.

It involves the systematic tensing and releasing of muscle groups. PMR has been shown to relieve chronic muscular tension, relieves burdens like anxiety, fatigue, headaches, and insomnia, promoting calm, clarity, non-reactivity, and trust in our ability to work skillfully with others and the challenges we face.

How do you do PMR? Easy!

-Select a muscle group and tighten it without straining, letting your other muscles stay loose.

-Hold 5-10 seconds. Focus on the sensation of tension building up.

-Release and relax, allowing 10-20 seconds to recover. Notice how the release feels.

-Move on to the next muscle group and repeat.

Work with each major muscle group in the body once. If you find a particularly tight area, feel free to repeat for that specific spot.

Dr. Jacobson asserted that "An anxious mind cannot exist in a relaxed body." Give PMR a try and see if he was right.

As my teacher Thich Nhat Hanh often said: Peace in the heart, peace in the world. 🕊

If you'd like to learn more simple yet powerful relaxation techniques such as this one, I invite you to check out my book - The Book of Yoga Nidra Meditation Scripts: 30 Yoga Nidra Scripts for Deep Relaxation, Inner Peace, & Manifesting Your Joy. Inside you'll find a wide range of scientifically proven techniques to bring peace, calm, and relaxation to you whole being. These techniques can be practiced on their own or as part of a complete Yoga Nidra meditation practice. Available on Amazon!