Sixty-One-Point Relaxation
This relaxation technique falls under Yoga Nidra.
nidra – sleep
The Sixty-One-Point Relaxation Exercise is a deep systematic relaxation. Use this techique regularly to feel refreshed, rejuvenated and restored. You can do this practice sitting up or lying down. If you are able to do it lying down without falling asleep, it will serve very well as a deep relaxation exercise. Done sitting up it serves more as a kind of calming concentration exercise.
Environment
- As quiet and still as possible
- Rip out telephone lines, smash cellphones
- Chase the kids and spouse away for a bit
- Ignore the doorbell
- This is your time. Claim it.
How it Works
- Use your mental awareness to travel through the sixty-one different points in your body.
- Keep your attention fixed at point one for several seconds until you feel that your awareness of the location is clear and distinct. Think of yourself being located at this point. Before moving on to the next point, you should feel a sense of warmth and heaviness at this spot. The timing can either be to your breath (ensuring the point is held on an exhale, as your exhale is more relaxing) or to a clock – about 2-5 seconds.
- Visualise a blue dot at each point and imagine it expanding around the point – healing, relaxing and releasing everything in the vicinity.
- Do not allow your mind to wander.
- As you travel through your body, you may encounter marma points that are:
- Rajasic (energetic): you may feel your body flinch or you get a sudden vivid memory, thought, or emotion.
- Tamasic (dull): you might become disoriented and fall asleep or you will forget what you are doing, where you are, and what is going on. If you fall asleep during the practice, don’t try to pick up where you left off. Don’t be disappointed when these things happen; falling asleep is cleansing.
Posture
- Shavasana (corpse pose): lie down on your back with your palms toward the sky, your feet as wide as your shoulders.
- Put a little pillow under your head to prevent pressure in your oesophagus.
- Make yourself fully comfortable – cover yourself with a light blanket, visit the bathroom and satiate your thirst. These are little things that can become distracting when they needn’t be, so take care of them beforehand.
The Sixty-One Points
- Gently start to visualize a blue dot the size of a marble.
- Use your mind to travel slowly to each point
- Imagine the blue marble expanding around the point – healing, relaxing and releasing everything in the vicinity.
- Start at the point between the eyebrows
- Hollow of the throat
- Right shoulder joint
- Right elbow joint
- The bend of the right wrist
- Tip of the right thumb
- Tip of the right index finger
- Tip of the right middle finger
- Tip of the right fourth finger (ring finger)
- Tip of the right small finger
- The bend of the right wrist joint
- Right elbow joint
- Right shoulder joint
- Hollow of the throat
- Left shoulder joint
- Left elbow joint
- The bend of the left wrist joint
- Tip of the left thumb
- Tip of the left index finger
- Tip of the left middle finger
- Tip of the left fourth finger (ring finger)
- Tip of the left small finger
- The bend of the left wrist joint
- Left elbow joint
- Left shoulder joint
- Hollow of the throat
- Heart center
- Right chest
- Heart center
- Left chest
- Heart center
- Solar plexus (just below the bottom of the chest bone)
- Navel center (two inches below the physical navel)
- Right hip joint
- Right knee joint
- Right ankle joint
- Tip of the right big toe
- Tip of the right second toe
- Tip of the right third toe
- Tip of the right fourth toe
- Tip of the right small toe
- Right ankle joint
- Right knee joint
- Right hip joint
- Navel center (two inches below the physical navel)
- Left hip joint
- Left knee joint
- Left ankle joint
- Tip of the left big toe
- Tip of the left second toe
- Tip of the left third toe
- Tip of the left fourth toe
- Tip of the left small toe
- Left ankle joint
- Left knee joint
- Left hip joint
- Navel center (two inches below the physical navel)
- Solar plexus
- Heart center
- Hollow of the throat
- Center between the eyebrows