Posts Tagged ‘Techniques’

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (commonly shortened to PMR) is a relatively new relaxation technique. PMR was invented in 1934 by American physician Edmund Jacobson and has been further developed by many others since then. The basic idea behind Progressive Muscle Relaxation is to focus on one muscle group at a time, creating tension for 10 seconds and then relaxing the muscle group. This technique actually reduces tension once it has been performed as well as lowering anxiety.

Tense your fist and then relax it.

This is something you can try right now in front of your computer. Take your hand off of your mouse for a second and form a tight fist for ten seconds, then relax for a couple of seconds. Now fully extend your fingers so it causes tension and hold again for ten seconds before relaxing the muscles. Feel how relaxed that hand now feels. Now imagine feeling that level of relaxation all over your body. That is entirely possible using Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

In has been discovered that relaxed muscles actually require less oxygen than tense ones. This means that after using Progressive Muscle Relaxation your breathing slows down and becomes deeper, adding to the relaxation process. It is almost like a positive spiral down into a deeper state of relaxation.

To begin practicing PMR it is best to be either seated or laid down in a comfortable position. Bear in mind you will have to both tense and relax many of your muscles and thus must be in a position to do so.

It should be noted the Progressive Muscle Relaxation is not a good idea if you are recovering from a broken bone, pulled muscle, tendons and other similar injuries. Tensing muscles is this way can slow down the healing process.

Start off by opening your eyes as widely as you possibly can for 10 seconds, you will feel the surrounding muscles begin to sting and burn during this time. This is the tension in the muscles building up. After the 10 seconds is up let your eyes relax.

Open your mouth wide for 10 seconds and then allow it to completely relax. You should find that when you relax your mouth there is a slight gap between your top and bottom set of teeth and your jaw is nice and loose.

Next tilt your neck forward and until the muscles are tense, again for 10 seconds. After this time allow your muscles to loosen and put your head back into a more comfortable position. At this point your head and neck should feel loose and relaxed with no tension remaining.

You can go down the rest of your body in this way from you shoulders, to your biceps, triceps, forearms and hands, then to your chest and stomach. Moving down to your buttocks, your thighs, calves and finally your feet.

This Progressive Muscle Relaxation exercise will take you between 5 and 10 minutes and when you are done all of your muscles will be free of tension.

One of the biggest causes of premature aging is stress. Because we live in a fast paced world it can be easy to live life at 100mph without every taking a break. When you feel stressed your mind activates its survival instincts, a throwback to our more primitive days. This survival mode directs blood to the more essential organs needed to live. The skin isn’t one of these “essential” organs and neither is the digestive system. This means that not only does your skin suffer directly but you are also failing to intake the proper nutrients required to maintain youthful looking skin.

Retain your youthful looks.

So it’s clear that to stay looking young you need to relax and reduce your stress levels. If you follow the advice below your skin will noticeably improve and stay looking young.

1.  Sleep

Sleep helps to rejuvenate the body and mind, meaning everything functions better. This includes the health of your skin. Typically people require from six to eight hours sleep a night. If you struggle with your sleeping patterns you may want to look at another article – Ways To Sleep Better.

2.  Diet

Your skin needs the certain nutrients to keep its youthful appearance. To make sure you are getting these nutrients you should up your intake of fruit and vegetables while reducing the consumptions of salty or sugary foods. Omega fatty acids such as those found in fish are also incredibly beneficial to your skin so you should aim to try and eat at least two or three portions of oily fish a week.

3.  Exercise

Exercise is one of the cornerstones of any health regime. It even has a positive effect on your skin. Exercise has been shown to lower stress levels and is well known to give people a “healthy glow”. Just thirty minutes of walking a day will visibly improve your skin. One point of note though is that sweat contains salt, so after working up a sweat you should make sure to wash it off with warm water.

4.  Facial Massage

Treat yourself to a few bottles of massage oil. Every night you can gently massage the oil around your face (be careful around the eyes). This relaxes the facial muscles and stimulates blood flow.

5.  Relaxation Techniques

There are a number of relaxation techniques you can use to improve your skin and stay looking young. Perhaps the best of all the options is hypnotherapy. Not only does hypnotherapy relax you but you can get sessions specifically catered towards skincare. For example HypnoBusters have Sensation Skin Hypnosis and Hypnotic Botox MP3s that can work wonders. This can be listened at bedtime, they will also help you drift off to a deep, restful sleep.

Evidence of the practice of yoga goes as far back as 3000 BC. Archaeologists have found seals of the Indus Valley Civilization depicting people as well as godlike entities in various forms of meditative and yogic poses. The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit yuj, which means to unionize. This is in reference to the way yoga unionizes the mind and the body.

The Purpose and Goals of Yoga

A young woman in a yoga stretch.

The original purpose of yoga was a spiritual one. While spirituality has almost disappeared from Western society we have still managed to find a place for yoga in our lives. A poll taken in 2006 revealed that over fifteen million Americans practice yoga on at least a semi-regular basis. Now people tend to treat yoga as another form of exercise, a way to improve flexibility and overall fitness, however without even realising many of these people will feel the mental benefits yoga provides.  Through a combination of physical poses, breathing techniques and meditation yoga you will feel much more centred, calm and relaxed after you have practiced yoga.

The goals of yoga depend on the individual. Some practice yoga to loosen their muscles, others to find enlightenment, while others still do it to reduce their stress levels and relax after a busy day. Whatever your goal yoga can probably help you to achieve it. And the great thing about yoga is it can be tailored to anyone of any age, size or level of fitness.

Getting Started

It’s hard to describe many yoga positions or exercises textually which is why I posted a video earlier which contains a great beginners guide to yoga. You might like to try these exercises for a few weeks before purchasing a DVD full of yoga exercises or alternatively many leisure/rec centres and gyms hold regular yoga classes with fully qualified instructors.

Useful Yoga Resources

Here are a number of sites, articles and videos that you might to like to visit to find out a little more about yoga and its many positive effects.

Yoga Movements

Yoga Journal

Yoga Equipment Store

Disabled Vet Walks Again Thanks to Yoga *MUST SEE*