Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation.
Day 7 – Touching Feeling Exercise
This exercise releases tensions in the neck and shoulders. At the end sit in the sitting position for five to ten minutes expanding your sensations and feelings.
- Sit cross-legged on a mat or cushion with your hands on your knees. Relax your belly.
- Inhale and slowly lift your shoulders as high as possibly, allowing the position of your hands to shift as needed. When you think your shoulders are as high as they can go, relax while holding them up, and you may find that they can be raised a little more. Let your neck settle down between your shoulders. Now hold your breath a little and slightly imagine the back of your neck to be fresh and warm like that of a happy baby.
- Very slowly exhale, as you do so rotating your shoulders back and down, feeling the sensations in the back of your neck and spine. Keep your belly relaxed. Let your hands and arms be very relaxed—you may feel sensations of warmth and softness there.
- Slowly continue to rotate your shoulders forward, up and down 3 or 9 times, spending at least 1 minute on each rotation. Then find a place in the movement where you can comfortably change direction and make 3 or 9 rotations the other way.