Relaxation Techniques, Part II
Sandi Anders, M.Div., R.Y.T.
Reduce the Response to Stress with Relaxation Techniques
By consistently practicing stress management and relaxation techniques you can train your mind to become less responsive to stress. Relaxation helps you regain a sense of balance in your life and enhances your inner sense of contentment and tranquility. Relaxation techniques make it easier to deal with everyday life and daily challenges. When you practice relaxation techniques and have the ability to bring about the relaxation response, you promote well-being and improved health as well as reduce a number of the health risks linked to chronic stress.
Benefits from the Practice of Relaxation Techniques
Research indicates that relaxation techniques have a number of positive effects on health and wellness. Some of the benefits gained from learning and practicing relaxation techniques are:
Other physical benefits you can gain from the practice of relaxation techniques are fewer headaches, less back pain, more vitality, superior concentration, improved capacity to manage difficulties and becoming more effective in the course of day to day activities.
List of Well-Used Relaxation Techniques
Listed here are many of the most well-used relaxation techniques:
Meditation
There are several types of meditation. Most meditation is either "concentration" meditation, which includes transcendental meditation, or "insight" meditation, like mindfulness. Although many suppose meditation to be complicated, most people can easily learn how to meditate with a little practice.
If you are practicing concentration meditation, you bring your attention to focus on your breath, a word, a phrase, a sound, a symbol, a comforting image or the dancing flame of a candle. For example, you choose a word or phrase that has meaning for you -- such as “peace”, or “calm”, or perhaps “deep” -- and then silently repeat that word each time you exhale.
Mindfulness or present-moment awareness is another very beneficial kind of meditation. To practice mindfulness meditation you focus your awareness on whatever is happening in the present instant, attending to any sensations you perceive, such as sound, taste, touch, smell or sight. Mindfulness can be practiced in a formal way, setting aside a certain time each day to focus your awareness. It can also be practiced as you go through your day in a more informal way by being fully engaged in whatever is happening in the present moment. This meditation can be incorporated into a variety of activities in everyday life, from sitting at your desk to taking a shower, driving or walking.
Guided Meditation
Guided meditation, also referred to as guided relaxation or guided imagery, is among the most effective ways to recover a sense of balance. In guided meditation the soothing voice of a teacher or guide leads you in meditation. The words are often coupled with calming music or soft sounds of nature. Many people find guided meditation to be easier to use because they can let go, relax, and follow the voice which leads them to greater peace, clarity and stillness.
Visualization
The use of relaxing visualization and imagery allows you to draw the mind's attention away from its perception of danger or threat while you direct your attention to relaxing and healing images. Using this relaxation technique, you visualize yourself in a peaceful, safe place of your choosing. You might select a wooded landscape, the ocean, the warmth of a fireplace, as well as a fictional sanctuary that might not physically exist. As you go on your inward imaginary journey to this safe, peaceful place, endeavor to use as many senses as you can, including smells, sights, sounds and textures. Sense everything surrounding you in this ideal place. The more realistic your image and the greater your body sense is of being here, the more relaxed your will feel when you come back to reality.
For example, if you visualize relaxing at the sea, consider the warmth from the sun's rays, the sound of the surf rolling into the shoreline, the feel of the grains of sand as well as the odor of the salt water.
Breathing
When you are stressed, your breathing patterns often reflect that stress. Therefore, you might find your breath to be uneven, or shallow, or rapid. If you slowly allow your breath to become more deep, slow, quiet and regular -- which characterizes the state of being more relaxed -- you move your body into the Relaxation Response, creating a body experience that is more relaxed. This change in the pattern of breathing relays a message of safety and non-emergency to the brain, which enables the brain to "stand down" from its state of vigilant emergency and switch off the Stress Response.
As you allow your breath to shift in these ways, see if you can let the breath move deeper down in to the belly. Notice if your belly is tense. If so, let it become softer. Then breathe into that softness. This soft-belly breath is another way of experiencing the relaxation response.
See if you can mindfully notice what is happening with your breath. Allowing yourself to fully feel the physical sensations of breathing, making mental noting of the in-breath and the out-breath. This concentration allows you to become more centered, grounded and peaceful.
Slow, deep, controlled breathing can quiet both body and mind. For instance, if you feel stressed, slowly breathe in and out for a number of minutes. The deeper and slower that you breathe the greater the relaxation you will experience.
Deep breathing is an easy and practical method you can use to relax, It is a central component in several other relaxation techniques. You can practice deep breathing just about anywhere, and it's easy! Simply take 10 deep breaths, completely filling your lungs, followed by a complete release of that breath. Each time you take a deep, full breath, your body will relax just a bit more, and you can feel the tension and tightness begin to flow out of your muscles.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation and the Body Scan
Progressive muscle relaxation involves systematically contracting and tensing various groups of voluntary muscles, followed by a release of that tension in those muscles. All the while, you maintain a focus of your awareness on the sensations that each of these actions produce. After practicing progressive muscle relaxation for a period of time, you can develop enhanced sensitivity to rising tension levels in your body and can begin to learn how to release that tension, thereby creating more of the Relaxation Response during your everyday activities.
A Guided Body Scan is designed to take you on a journey through your whole body, bringing breath and focus to every part of it. While you follow the instructions given to you by a soothing voice, you gradually discharge tension where it is no longer needed in your body, As you do this, you can become more relaxed and conscious of your body. With this relaxation and awareness, your body grows more still and soft, and your mind and heart can open to a peace, stillness and balance.
Mindful Movement
I consider mindful movement to be a kind of meditation in motion. There are numerous varieties of this, including:
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Yoga
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Tai Chi
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QiGong
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Walking Meditation
These types of relaxation techniques involving mindful movement emphasize breath and body awareness. They encourage a relaxed body, awareness of the breath, and focused attentiveness. As tension is released in the body, a relaxed and calm mind will follow.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback relies on equipment and/or a computer program to measure the body's responses to stress. The biofeedback device documents adjustments in your body caused by stress, like an increase in skin temperature or additional tension in your muscles. When you have this kind of information, you can discover how to better manage your body's response to stress. When you incorporate biofeedback along with your practice of relaxation techniques, you can learn to be aware of when stress is adversely impacting your body and take steps to reverse those consequences.
Biofeedback devices like the StressEraser enable you to visibly observe how your breathing rate impacts your pulse rate. As you slow your breathing by means of relaxation techniques and discover your optimal breathing rate, you will literally start to see the pattern of your pulse rate move from jagged waves to long, smooth ones.
Practice Relaxation Techniques
Keep in mind that relaxation techniques are skills. As with every other skill that you learn by doing, your ability to relax increases with practice. Have patience with yourself -- don't let your attempt to practice relaxation techniques become another stressor!
Spend just a few moments every day with relaxation, and discover the power in this simple practice!
