Seven-point relaxation

This can be a nice and short relaxing exercise to start your meditation session with. You go through the body part by part in the following order:

1. top of the head

2. face

3. shoulders

4. arms and hands

5. chest and upper back

6. belly and lower back

7. legs and feet

And at every part you do two things:

What	Duration
Feel the part without trying to change anything. Tension, discomfort, or ease—anything is fine. Try to be really curious and explore the area.	5-20 sec
Actively relax that part. I often do this with every out breath, relaxing everything a little bit more. But feel free to wiggle the shoulders or breathe a little lower, when you come to those areas.	5-20 sec

After you have gone through all the parts, open your attention to the whole body. Some tension might have crept back into certain parts, just take a moment to relax those areas again.