10 sessions

Background Brief - Overview of The Physiology of Stress and the Relaxation Response

Eli Bay provides a fundamental understanding for the Outer Stress • Inner Calm program by discussing the nature of stress, the scope of its effect on the body and mind, and why deep relaxation is an effective, scientifically proven way to do it. The Background Brief is the only “talk” presentation by Eli. All of the following 10 sessions only involve experiential learning where you get to experience real relaxation as you learn the techniques. (40 minutes) 

Each of the ten sessions begins with the Dystension Exercises segment. These teach and guide you through a series of light physical exercises to relax tense muscles in your neck, shoulders and stomach and develop better breathing patterns. Your tension release becomes very tangible as your efficiency with them improves from week to week.

Session 1: Relax Now guides one through Empowered Breathing and Progressive Muscle Relaxation. These are two of the most body-centered techniques and work well even for those who are inexperienced with relaxation or have difficulty concentrating. Slow, deep breathing alters the internal chemistry of the body and induces relaxation. Muscle tightness and release deepens the relaxation significantly. (53 minutes)

Session 2: Tranquility teaches the Spiral Relaxation as a quick and effective way to focus and concentrate the mind, followed by the guided exercise, Imagine a Space, which invites focused concentration on specific body parts by imagining a "space". Each of these techniques has proven to be valuable for quieting the mind (good for eliciting sleep) and for conscious tension release (56 minutes)

Session 3: Resilience teaches Serenity Breathing a deep breathing technique that’s great to help you to quickly settle down, expand your general lung capacity and even enable you to calm yourself during episodes of high anxiety. The Resilience Experience builds upon the relaxation base produced by Serenity Breathing, delivering a guided process of Progressive Muscle Relaxation and concluding with the evocation of sensations of Loose, Heaviness, a powerful way to produce deep relaxation.(56 minutes)

Session 4: Healing Release begins with Polarity Breathing, deep, full breaths coupled with mental imagery to gently connect emotions with the process of unwinding. It then moves into The Healing Light, an guided voyage that uses a series of intriguing images to keep the mind focused, calm and alert.(47 minutes)

Session 5: Inner Stillness starts with several minutes of slow, deep Long Breaths and then shifts into The Cortical Relaxation, a guided exercise that focuses the attention onto the left and right hemispheres of the brain with simple, accessible images. Good for quieting an overactive mind. and stimulating creativity (38 minutes)

Session 6: Replenish guides one through Is it Possible, an exercise that invites focused attention by imagining the distance between different parts of the body. Then the process moves into Autogenic Relaxation, an auto suggestive relaxation technique that evokes sensations of heaviness and warmth in the body to produce deep relaxation. (37 minutes)

Session 7: Threshold begins with Serenity Breathing and adds a third component to it. Doing the three parts of Serenity Breathing together is a very powerful way to unwind, even when wired, agitated or panicked, and can even be effectively done with open eyes. In The Threshold Experience, one is led to imagine sensations of Loose, Heaviness to let go of muscle tensions and the mind is focused by a guided journey through a meadow and forest, culminating with a Wise Person Visualization experience intended to generate creative insights and profound relaxation. (63 minutes)

Session 8: I Am Calm is a process that begins with a breathing exercise, 3-3-6, emphasizing exhalations longer than inhalations as a method for unwinding. The process then moves into Imagine a Space, a mind focusing technique for releasing muscle tightness and focusing the attention. The process continues with a meditative exercise involving the silent internal repetition of the phrase I Am Calm. (45 minutes)

Session 9: A Clear Mind uses the full Serenity Breathing to initiate a significant calming of both body and mind. In The Clear Mind Experience, various techniques including Hollow Body imagery, focusing upon Nostril Breathing, 3-2-1, 10 to 1, and the Scan lead one into a calm state that enhances the meditative focus required to do the Counting 1 to 4 concentration technique. (62 minutes)

Session 10: Focused Intention starts with Rainbow Breathing, slow, deep breaths that are coupled with images of colours to keep the mind focused. Then, using several of the practiced techniques, including the evocation of sensations of Loose, Heaviness and working with Nostril Breathing, 3-2-1, 10 to 1, and the Scan, the state of relaxation is optimized to get the left brain, the right brain, the body and the mind, all working in concert, enabling attention to be directed with laser-like focus. Designed for self-healing and mental rehearsal for success. (39 minutes)