Relaxation

Doing relaxation exercises is a great way to reduce the physical effects of stress; think of headaches, poor sleep and muscle tone. Also, doing relaxation exercises is a good way to promote better focus, which is often less when people are tense. If we continue doing relaxation exercises, the physical signs of stress can be more easily recognizable. This may mean that you can influence these symptoms more easily: if you have light symptoms, you can intervene before they worsen.

You can not avoid all stress. Stress is simply a part of life. What you can do is learn how to provoke a response which is the opposite of the stress response. The stress response prepares your body quickly for fight-or-flight and is obviously very useful in case of body threatening situations, but it draws all energy from your body when it is constantly present. Besides, it is not useful, even damaging, during a long period of time (please see General Adaptation Syndrome).

The relaxation response brings back some balance in your body. It brings peace in your breathing, reduces stress hormones, slows your heart rate and blood pressure and relaxes muscles. The relaxation response requires some practice, but you can, with a little effort, pick the fruits of your effort.

A relaxation exercise does not take a very long time. The more you practice, the sooner a certain level of relaxation can be reached within a few minutes.

There are several ways to relax. One method is based on respiration. This method is through feeling and experiencing breathing as clearly as possible, which will make you less tense. This can also be attempted through slowing down breathing, which then becomes a bit more relaxed. In tension, the breathing frequency increases. When the respiratory rate is reduced, the tension will drop as well.

Another method is the method of Jacobson. In this method muscle tension is reduced through initially increasing the tension of the muscles. Relaxation through contraction. Every muscle has a base voltage, a certain degree of tension is always present. When you contract a muscle (eg you make a fist), then the tension rises in the muscles that you need to make that fist. After you release the fist, the tension decreases in the muscles of course, but it goes a bit further than its initial state it had before straining. The voltage restores again to the normal level at the start. In this period of reduced tension the muscle recovers from his effort, and Jacobson uses this phenomenon. You exert, and the muscle relaxes.

Incidentally, doing fun things is very relaxing too! Have you done, seen or experienced something nice today?

An example of a relaxation exercise:

Lie down at ease, assume that you are relaxed.

Close your eyes. Let thoughts that arise just go by.

Let rest come naturally. Rest comes naturally.

Try to feel that your feet rest on the substrate. Move your attention further and further up, until you feel your head resting on the surface. Feel that your body rests on the surface.

Feel that you breathe. Just let that happen. Don't try to control your breath, just let it happen.

Continue feeling that you lie on the surface.

Imagine that you are getting heavier. Imagine that each time you exhale, you sink a little bit into the ground.

Your breathing is an undulating movement.

If you manage to keep this for a while, then hopefully relax comes naturally. If it does not, then do not give up. Keep trying. If you're very tense, it is sometimes very difficult to relax with a relaxation exercise. Your brains and your body will have to get used to not being tense.

If you have symptoms you do not understand, go to your doctor.