What words can yoga teachers, other practitioners and everybody else use instead of RELAX?
Relax can come to be one of the least relaxing words because it can be overused and associated with negative emotional states. In short, it can trigger the opposite of the desired effect.
So what can we say instead? I’m writing this article as a YogaFit Master Trainer so I have chosen to write some of these in the format of our wonderful transformational language. Want to know more about this style of instruction? Drop me a comment, a message or head on over to YogaFit’s website. As an NLP practitioner, I have written some are written in I statements for you to use in your own practice.
Instead of Relax…
I choose to relax (now, my shoulders, my mind, my body etc.) Nick Ortner uses this one allll the time. I realize the word relax is still here, but the emphasis on CHOICE elicits a different response in the mind and body.
I know that I am safe here.
The tightness in my body no longer serves me. I acknowledge it, witness it and am comfortable with it leaving my body.
I allow my stress and tension to move and pass through me.
Inviting our muscles to release.
Noticing where we feel tension in the body. Encouraging this tension to dissipate if it feels ready to do so.
Giving in, surrendering, letting go.
There is no need to hold ourselves up here. Allowing the earth to hold us up knowing that with it’s size and strength, we are featherlight and easy to carry. (Inspired by Vidymala Burch’s Body Scan instructions)
ZenwithGwen 