Relaxation is a process that reduces the effects of stress on the mind and body. Relaxation techniques can help you deal with everyday stress and stress related to various health problems such as heart disease and pain. Chronic stress can have a negative impact on your body and mind. It can put you at risk of health problems such as high blood pressure, stomach pain, headaches, anxiety and depression.
Using relaxation techniques can help you feel calm. These exercises can also help you manage stress and relieve the effects of stress on your body. For many of us, relaxation means lying on the couch at the end of a stressful day and switching off in front of the TV. However, this does little to reduce the harmful effects of stress.
Rather, you need to activate your body’s natural relaxation response, a state of deep calm that slows stress, slows your breathing and heart rate, lowers your blood pressure and rebalances your body and mind. You can achieve this by practising relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, rhythmic exercises, yoga or Tai Chi. We all face stressful situations throughout our lives, from minor annoyances like traffic jams to more serious concerns like the serious illness of a loved one. Regardless of the cause, stress floods our bodies with hormones.
Your heart pounds, your breathing quickens and your muscles tense. Pause for a moment, then exhale. Do you feel more relaxed? Breathing exercises are one way to relax. Learn how to relax your body and mind here.
Being relaxed can help relieve stress. It can also relieve anxiety, depression and sleep problems. There are a variety of breathing exercises you can do to relax. The first exercise, abdominal breathing, is simple to learn and easy to do.
It is best to start with this if you have never done breathing exercises before. The other exercises are a little more advanced. All of these exercises can help you relax and relieve stress. Abdominal breathing is easy to learn and very relaxing.
Try this basic exercise whenever you want to relax or relieve stress. This exercise also uses abdominal breathing to relax you. You can do this exercise either sitting or lying down. Deep breathing can help you calm down and relax, he says.
Relaxation techniques are practices that help bring about the body’s “relaxation response”, which is characterised by slower breathing, lower blood pressure and heart rate. The relaxation response is the opposite of the stress response. If you have a heart condition, talk to your doctor before starting progressive muscle relaxation therapy. Meditations that cultivate mindfulness have long been used to reduce stress, anxiety, depression and other negative emotions.
Life is stressful, and sometimes stress can overwhelm you, but there are steps you can take to learn how to relax. Through regular practice, you will become familiar with how tension and complete relaxation feel in different parts of your body. Smith, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Roosevelt University, founding director of the university’s Mindfulness Initiative and author of numerous books on relaxation practices. Below are six relaxation techniques that can help you elicit the relaxation response and reduce stress.
By practising regularly, you can reduce stress and anxiety in your daily life, sleep better, have more energy and good mood, and improve your overall health and well-being. There are many simple and inexpensive ways to bring a little calm into your life – listen to music, go for a walk, read a book, get creative, talk to a friend, exercise, take a hot bath or whatever helps you to release the stress from your mind and body. You probably already know how much a professional massage at a spa or gym can help relieve stress, ease pain and release muscle tension. Body Scan Meditation by Jon Kabat Zinn (VIDEO) – Follow a full-body scan meditation led by Jon Kabat Zinn, professor emeritus of medicine and founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Both involve physical and so-called ‘meditative movements to reduce stress and lower blood pressure. A large body of research suggests that increased stress levels impair the ability to cope with physical illness. You may be suffering from insomnia (inability to sleep) due to malaise, stress from personal worries or side effects from your medication.
