Progressive relaxation exercised are based upon an awareness of tensions within various parts of your body and an awareness of how these same parts of your body feel when they are relaxed.

Once you are able to recognize the difference between tension and relaxation it is then a matter of slowly learning how to focus your attention on relaxation of any tense areas to bring about both fast and effective relief.

Although we often think that we know what it feels like when we are tense or when we are relaxed, few of us have ever really taken the time to consider in detail just what these states feel like and would find it very difficult to describe our feelings.

Here is an exercise that is designed to help you to learn to sense both tension and relaxation within various areas of your body.

1. Find somewhere that is quiet, either indoors or outside, and lie on your back in a comfortable position. Take a few deep, cleansing breaths, breathing in through your nostrils and then out through your mouth.

2. Then, starting at your feet, begin to tense your muscles one group at a time. Begin by making fists with your toes and, as you hold the tension in your toes, add further tension to your whole foot. Now, start work progressively up your body adding tension to your ankles, calves, and knees. Throughout this exercise it is important to focus your attention on specific muscle groups but you should also be careful to ensure that you continue breathing normally.

3. Gradually and slowly work your way up your body moving on to your upper legs, lower abdomen, chest, hands, arms and shoulders all the way up to your neck and head. Contract the muscles of your face, your eyes and your jaw. By now, your entire body should be one tight ball of tension.

4. Hold this tension for a moment and pay particular attention to how it feels. Are your muscles quivering? Does it ache? Do you feel any pain?

5. Now imagine that from a source high above your head an immense "shower" of relaxation begins to flow over you. Imagine warm, soothing water pouring first onto the top of your head and then running down across your face and relax those muscles in response to this shower.

6. Work slowly concentrating your attention of just one part of your body at a time and imagine the water continuing to flow over you, relaxing all of the muscles in your body as it moves down through each part of your body in turn until it reaches your toes and you are completely relaxed.

7. Once you reach your toes, continue to picture yourself bathed in relaxation and take note of just how your muscles feel now and how the gentle "burn" of your muscles spreads a warm glow throughout your body.

Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth several times to help restore oxygen to your muscles and, if you still feel tense, then simply repeat the exercise until you feel completely relaxed.