Posts Tagged ‘Relaxation tips’

Thank you to Kemila Zsange, C.Ht, RCH for providing us with this exclusive article

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When some clients tell me, “I just can’t relax. No matter what I do, even under hypnosis.” I would recommend to them the book Relaxation Response, written by a very mainstream medical doctor, Herbert Benson from Harvard Medical School, in 1975. It became national bestseller and was updated and reprinted in 2001. For those who like “scientific measurements”, this book is full of diagrams and charts.

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This book is especially helpful for people with chronic stress and high blood pressure.

People can’t relax because our usual thinking is concerned with events outside ourselves. Through emotional attachment, social feelings, ideological beliefs and sensory contacts, we are constantly diverting our thinking toward external factors. Any attempt to redirect this outwardly directed consciousness requires a different mental process.

The book explains “Fight or Flight Response” in details. This term was fist described by Dr. Walter B. Cannon at the turn of the twentieth century, as an “emergency reaction”, in the same institute as Benson – Harvard Medical School.

Fight or flight response is the inborn mind mechanism. In the past, it had considerable evolutionary significance. Individuals with this response could survive more effectively, passing it on to their offspring. However, we are living in a very different world now than our ancestors.  Nowadays, this mechanism is activated when we face stressful events. We may differ in what is stressful to us individually, depending on our own value systems, but our society poses enough stressful circumstances to affect all of us. When this happens, blood pressure increases, including heart rate, increased rate of breathing, increased body metabolism, or rate of burning fuel, and marked increase in the flow of blood to the muscles of the arms and legs.

People then start to have associations, and develop fear, or phobia. And chronic elicitation of the fight-or-flight response leads from the transient elevations in blood pressure to a permanent state of hypertension. In the brain, it is hypothalamus that controls the evocation of he fight-or-flight response. When a single situation requiring behavioral adjustment occurs again and again, the fight-or-flight response is repeatedly activated.

When the fight-or-flight response is evoked, a part of the involuntary nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system becomes highly active. It deals with the everyday bodily functions that normally do not come into consciousness, such as the maintenance of heartbeat and blood pressure, regular breathing, the digestion of food. The sympathetic nervous system acts by secreting specific hormones: adrenalin or epinephrine and noradrenalin or norepinephrine. These hormones, epinephrine and its related substances, bring about the physiologic changes of increased blood pressure, heart rate, and body metabolism.

The fight-or-flight response happens in an integrated fashion, as it’s controlled by a part of an area in the brain called hypothalamus. And as it’s involuntary, we think we don’t have control over it.

We don’t need to give examples of monks who meditate years to show you it is absolutely possible to control and change your blood pressure, heart rate, breathing or metabolism. We as hypnotherapists, can show you, and guide you, to use the power of your mind to achieve this by hypnosis and self-hypnosis, because there is another response in us that we can activate and it can lead to a quieting of the sympathetic nervous system. This is Relaxation Response.

Your hypnotherapist can help you activate this involuntary response anytime you want. So that we don’t have to change your environment to avoid fear, phobia or stress, we can train ourselves to have a different response.

Think of those surgeries without anesthesia. Your mind has greater power than you want to give credit for. Needless to say all my clients may feel hot, warm, or cold, raise one of the arms… and last but not lest, feel relaxed by simply accepting the suggestions. By the way, hypnosis is mentioned in this little book and is described as “a widely known but still poorly understood technique”.

Just in case that you are curious. The way to bring forth the Relaxation Response is to have the following four components:

1. a quiet environment
2. a mental device – a mantra or sound, or a fixed gaze
3. a passive attitude
4. a comfortable position

We don’t always have an excess of the time, money or energy that some relaxation techniques require. Many of the best methods of relaxation are quick, easy and cost little to no money to perform. The guide below contains five quick ways to relax that can be used at almost any time.

1. Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is perhaps the most simple and effective way to relax. When we are calm and relaxed our breathing becomes deep and slow. This can be “back engineered”, for want of a better term, by focusing on breathing slowly and deeply.

By taking slow, deep breaths you increase the oxygen supply around your body which allows you to function much more optimally. This reduces any stress and anxiety you may be carrying.

2. Take a Break

If there is a specific task or chore you are performing that causes you stress then the best thing to do is take regular breaks. This allows you to stay fresh and alert, preventing stress for building up so that you can stay relaxed.

You can do any number of things on your break, including some of the tips on the list. You could also take a quick walk as being outdoors and getting exercise is a great way to relax naturally.

3. Make a Change

Sometimes there isn’t time to take a break. When that is true the next best thing is to make a change. As the saying goes “A change is as good as a rest”. Depending on the task a change can be as simple as performing it in a different room or listening to some gentle, relaxing music whilst you are doing it. This stops you getting into a rut which can drag you down.

4. Hypnotherapy

If you have a computer or MP3 player then hypnotherapy is an excellent way to relax. It typically takes between fifteen and thirty minutes and takes no more effort than getting comfortable and allowing a hypnotherapist to guide you into the deeply relaxing state that hypnotherapy provides.

There are many great hypnosis videos on YouTube floating around such as the one below.

Alternatively if you prefer a MP3 you may enjoy this relaxation hypnosis session.

5. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that involves tensing your muscles and then allowing them to completely relax. This is a great way to reduce any physical tension you are feeling. If you would like to learn more about PMR then visit our article Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

I’ve written about meditation and its many benefits before here on Relaxation Haven – check out the archives for more information. Some people still find it difficult to find time to meditate or struggle to ease themselves into a meditative state. That’s why I’ve come up with these easy to follow tips on meditation.

Start With Short Sessions

It’s easy to get thrown off by the idea that you need to meditate for an hour to gain any benefit, however this is simply not true. You can experience significant benefits just by meditating for five minutes a day and you’ll probably find it a lot easier to meditate for a short amount of time to begin with.

Be Comfortable

Wherever you choose to meditate make sure it is a place that is comfortable for you. For most people this means a warm temperature and soft flooring. The way you hold your body is also important. You don’t have to sit in the lotus position if you don’t want to but that is a great posture for a beginner to meditation. You can sit however you want though, although it is recommended that you keep your back as straight as possible.

The clothes you wear can also make a difference. The best type of clothes for meditating are loose, soft and comfortable.

Breathe Slowly and Deeply

Meditation is all about focusing the mind on one thing. The easiest thing to focus on is your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply through your nose and focus on how their air feels as it enters and then leaves your body.

Don’t Worry

One of the aims of meditation is to reduce conscious thought. However it is common, especially for beginners, to find conscious thoughts entering the mind while they’re trying to meditate. If this happens, don’t worry, your session is far from ruined. Just allow the thought to flow in and out of the mind.

Create a Routine

Meditation is most effective when it is done regularly. It is better to meditate for five minutes everyday than for an hour once a month. Find a window of time that you can use everyday and use it to meditate. You could also create a routine around this time. For example you may want to have a nice warm bath before you meditate to loosen your muscles and then perhaps read a book or listen to relaxing music for awhile afterwards.

I hope these tips will help you to enjoy meditation and all the benefits it offers.