My body starts to tense up the more relaxed I get and it affects my meditation and sleep?

It's like my body doesn't wanna go to sleep so it tenses up so it doesn't have to.. Like a fear of letting go.. It takes me on a good day 45 minutes to an hour and a half (sometimes 2-3 hours) just to go to sleep

I can't relax as much during my meditations

Am just wondering how to stop my body tensing up when I'm relaxed?

I've tried tensing all the muscle groups up slowly but I end up getting muscle cramps and it hurts like hell

Is their any other way?

I can stop the tension after I realise I'm tensing up but after a few minutes somewhere else will tense up...

Thank you in advance :)

Perhaps if you do some physical activity before bed, you could tire your muscles out?

Besides this, I actually don't know...

Every problem is based on resistance. You are resisting what IS. In this case you want to stop being tense but because you have this desire it prevents you from letting go.

Fully accept it and just sit still for as long as you can, but when the tension is unbearable, lightly allow yourself to move for a bit and then instead of thinking "I failed and now I stop" think "Ok let's continue and see what happens." This way you stay in the process and go deeper into the process and over time you'll notice that tension no longer disturbs you anymore, but even if it does you know how to accept it and you know how to make it a part of your practise rather than a distraction.

Other than that, think about how you live your life in general and ask yourself "WHY" you are tense. And yes as ParanoidLlama recommended physical exercise is a great way to relieve tension.

Peace! :meditate: