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Your head is quite heavy and the neck muscles needed to keep it steady have to be strong. Sit up straight in the chair with your feet flat on the floor, your chin parallel to the floor and your shoulders down. Feel the muscles at the back of your neck. When your head is well balanced they will be soft, but if they are tense they will feel hard, ache and give you headaches. Move your head around until you feel the muscles relax, then enjoy that feeling.
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Keep your lips and jaws slightly apart and let your tongue rest on the bottom, behind your lower teeth
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Close your eyes and look straight ahead as if into the middle distance. Then open your eyes very wide and make the ugliest face you can, stretching all the muscles as far as you can. Now think about smiling, without actually smiling. This is calming and it gives your face a very calm appearance
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Stretch out your fingers as far as they will go and relax them. Feel the warmth.
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Notice how often people show their tension in their hands. They are probably the easiest part of the body to relax and when they are relaxed the rest of you feels more at ease.
Try to keep your hands apart, by your sides or resting on your knees. This is more difficult than you might think, but when your hands are clasping each other, they immediately create tension.
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Many people hold or twist their legs tightly together even when they are alone and resting. Try to remember to relax your legs by letting your thighs fall apart and keeping your ankles relaxed.
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Tighten your shoulders just a little. This is only the amount of tension you use when you are anxious and stressed. Recognise this feeling and let the tension go so that your shoulders drop, then relax them even further.
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Many people show tension in their shoulders, either by hunching them up or by drawing them down stiffly. Men who carry bulging briefcases to work every day, students who carry all the books they need for a full day at school or women who always carry heavy shopping in one hand are particularly likely to suffer from tense and painful shoulders.
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