Hello Everyone,
Although relaxing with energizing seeming to be the ultimate goal of the Journey On relaxation exercise, I could see such an exercise helping with insomnia.  I choose to lie down on the sofa in my family room with the lights off, and in the adjoining living room, I had only a strand of white Christmas lights on.  My son was asleep, and my daughter in her room doing home work.  Millie, my kitten, was nearby on the top of the sofa. The time, place, and position one chooses to do this exercise in would have a bearing on the outcome, and I did this exercise at 8:30 on a Sunday evening when I was already tired.  Even though I did not feel energized, I found the exercise quite relaxing and could definitely see it having an energizing effect on me earlier in the day.
Participating in this exercise and feeling the minds powerful effects on my arms and hands, I was reminded of a recent experience in which my mind's inability to process stress made me ill, and saved me.  During a severe, and life-changing anxiety attack one week prior to starting this course, I was nauseous, sweating profusely, and loosing consciousness.   This happened at restaurant, and a friend walked me to the restroom, and managed sit me on the toilet in handicapped stall just before my legs gave out.   People thought I was having a heart attack, or was diabetic, and called 911.  As I was loosing consciousness on the toilet of a Chinese Buffet I didn't really want to go to, I felt my friends fear and heard it in her voice as she was telling me, "Don't do this, Misti...stay with me".  Suddenly, I summoned all the inner-strength I could muster, and willed myself not to die (which is what it felt like was happening).  I started speaking to myself, much like the relaxation exercise, and I started to come out of it.  By the time the paramedics arrived, I knew I was okay, and the test at the ER showed nothing life-threatening.
The mind's phenomenal powers of healing, and/or harming our body's are not "just in your mind"; neuropeptides imprinted with the stress or serenity of the mind, circulate throughout the body causing damage or promoting healing.   With the recent experiences that led to the anxiety attack, and the subsequent efforts toward healing, I am going to keep doing relaxation exercise.