As we have seen, a relaxed body and a clear, peaceful mind are necessary for good sleep. They’re also excellent tools in their own right, and they feel good. They are physical pain relievers, make us cope better with the stresses of life, and are essential tools for the next step beyond merely relieving depression: they assist us to becoming better than “normal.” Also, stress interferes with digestion, raises blood pressure, and shuts down the immune system. Regular relaxation and meditation are essential holidays from the craziness of “normal” living. In addition, learning to relax specific muscle groups is useful when exercising.

Muscular Relaxation

There are many methods for learning to relax your body. Most of them derive from the work of Edmund Jacobson, an early 20th century physiologist. Here is the version I have used and taught for many years. This is a two-stage process. Learning the technique takes about two weeks of daily practice. At first, a session lasts 15 to 20 minutes. Later on, you can speed up, but why hurry, since the exercises feel pleasant and do you good?

At the end of the two weeks, you’ll also have created a tool for yourself that can relax your whole body with a single thought.

Learning stage

Choose your environment carefully while learning. Once you have an established skill, you can relax your body in almost any set of circumstances. But at first, make sure you’ll be undisturbed, and as free from pain and discomfort (full bladder, hunger, cold, heat etc.) as possible. If you wish, you can play relaxing music to mask distracting noises.

Get comfortable. A reclining chair that supports the back of the head is good. Lying on a firm but soft surface like a carpeted floor is the best, unless you have difficulty with lying flat, or with getting up afterward. A bed tends to be too soft during this learning stage. Many people find that small cushions under the knees and head increase comfort. Your body temperature will drop during relaxation, so wear loose, warm clothes and perhaps cover up with a rug.

You’ll need to memorize the order of exercises. You can record them, or have someone else read them for you the first few times.

Each exercise involves the following:

• Take a comfortably deep breath and hold it. Unless it causes pain, breathe so your abdomen rises and falls rather than only your chest.

• While holding the breath, tighten the relevant muscle group. Concentrate on what muscular tension there feels like.

• As you breathe out, say “LET GO” (or a keyword/phrase of your choice) within your mind. Relax the tension in the relevant muscle group, and concentrate on what it feels like now. Compare it to the previous feeling of having it tight.

Do each muscle group twice. If you notice tension anywhere you’ve already relaxed, go back and “let go” again. There are 16 groups. This means that during a session, you will relax muscles and associate this with breathing out and saying “let go” 32 or more times.

As far as possible, concentrate all your attention on the current exercise, on the sensations within this muscle group. If any thoughts or external distractions intrude, allow them, but just ignore them.

Here are the muscle groups I use, and instructions for tensing and relaxing each:

•Left hand and lower arm: Make a fist, like squeezing a lemon. To relax, open the hand and let everything flop. Your fingers become limp, uncooked sausages.

•Right hand and lower arm: same with the right hand.

•Left upper arm: Leave your lower arm where it is, relaxed if possible. Bulge out the muscles of your upper arm like a male model or bodybuilder (or Popeye after eating spinach). When it’s relaxed, feel how heavy your lower arm becomes.

•Right upper arm.

•Left lower leg: Tighten the calf muscles by pointing your toes like a ballerina, but be careful not to get a cramp. When it’s relaxed, feel how soft and warm the leg and foot have become.

•Right lower leg.

•Left upp